Principal Tools & Pipeline Technical Artist - Unpublished R&D Product

As a Technical Artist focused on Tools/Pipeline, you’ll employ your expert-level knowledge of 3D tools and problem-solving skills to build tools, maintain pipelines and provide technical support for artists on their most critical missions. You will critique work, mentor fellow Rioters and foster the long-term growth of an ambitious group of artists.

As a Principal Technical Artist on an unpublished R&D product, you will architect and lead the end-to-end art production pipeline for an upcoming title moving from prototype through release. You will build best-in-class, scalable art workflows that empower internal teams and external partners to deliver high-quality assets with speed, consistency, and performance integrity. This role sits at the intersection of Art, Engineering, and Design, and is accountable for ensuring that art pipelines are performant, production-ready, and built for scale. You will report directly to the Director of Game Production.

Responsibilities:

• Architect and maintain scalable art production pipelines across Character, Animation, Environment, UI, and VFX.
• Define and uphold technical standards for asset creation, integration, and optimization for game performance.
• Build tools, scripts, and automation that improve iteration speed and production reliability.
• Develop rigging systems and DCC workflows (Maya or equivalent) that integrate cleanly into Unreal.
• Establish clear asset specs and onboarding documentation for external partners.
• Implement validation systems and quality gates to ensure assets meet performance and visual standards.
• Partner with Engineering on engine workflows, shaders, runtime performance, and build stability.
• Collaborate with Art and Design to translate creative goals into scalable technical solutions.
• Identify pipeline bottlenecks and resolve production risks ahead of milestones.
• Support artists hands-on while continuously improving workflows.
• Ensure art systems are stable and performant throughout the product life cycle.

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience in Technical Art or Pipeline Engineering in game development.
• Proven experience building and scaling production-ready art pipelines through release.
• Strong expertise in game engines (i.e. Unreal Engine), including asset workflows and performance profiling.
• Advanced proficiency in Maya (or comparable DCC tools), including rigging and export workflows.
• Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency in C++ and/or C#.
• Experience supporting external vendors or distributed development teams.
• Experience with version control systems (such as Perforce and git)

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience building automated asset validation and CI-integrated tooling.
• Experience transitioning projects from prototype to full production.
• Background in both hands-on rigging/tool development and high-level pipeline strategy.
• Experience shipping at least one game through late production and launch.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly