Job details

Lead Environment Artist

About Applied

Autonomy is one of the leading technological advances of this century that will come to impact our lives. The work you'll do at Applied will meaningfully accelerate the efforts of the top autonomy teams in the world. At Applied, you will have a unique perspective on the development of cutting-edge technology while working with major players across the industry and the globe.

Applied Intuition provides software solutions to safely develop, test, and deploy autonomous vehicles at scale. The company's suite of simulation, validation, and drive log management software enables development teams to create thousands of scenarios in minutes, run simulations at scale, and verify and validate algorithms for production deployment. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Los Angeles, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Munich, Stockholm, Seoul, and Tokyo, Applied consists of software, robotics, and automotive experts with experiences from top global companies. Leading autonomy programs and 17 of the top 20 global OEMs use Applied's solutions to bring autonomy to market faster.

About the role

We are actively looking for a Lead Environment Artist to lay the foundation of our environment art workflow to produce AAA quality 3D environment art. Your role will be to create assets at the highest standards of visual fidelity. You will build a high performing team, mentoring other artists in matters of quality, correctness, and efficiency. We expect you to design and enforce workflows that enable our assets to be as flexible, variable, and photo-realistic as possible.

At Applied, you will:

Lead the environment art team in developing AAA quality environment workflows and assets and provide regular mentoring, review, and feedback on artists' work in a clear and constructive manner
Set up efficient outsourcing workflows and actively participate in the constant improvement of work methods and pipelines
Create a library of accurate 3D models for objects encountered during normal driving scenarios, as well as a library of PBR materials, master materials, and textures that enable variation and reuse
Work closely with simulation engineers to ensure generated models provide sufficient fidelity for simulation
Ensure models are built to work with procedural toolchain

We're looking for someone who has:

Expertise using a 3D modeling tool (eg. Maya) and a sculpting tool (Zbrush, Mudbox)
Strong background as a quality texture artist with thorough understanding of normalmap baking, substance tools, etc.
Proficiency with at least 1 AAA engine, like Unreal/Frostbite or other internal equivalent
Excellent understanding of PBR literature and light propagation mechanics

Nice to have:

Houdini experience
Prior experience in creating virtual worlds for AV simulation
Expertise in photogrammetry and similar approaches to recreate environments

The salary range for this position is $65,000 USD to $400,000 USD annually. This salary range is an estimate, and the actual salary may vary based on the Company's compensation practices.

Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applicants will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 upon commencing employment. Reasonable accommodations will be considered on a case-by-case basis for exemptions to this requirement in accordance with applicable federal and state law. Applicants should be aware that for external-facing roles that involve close contact with Company employees or other third parties on the Company's premises, accommodations that involve remaining unvaccinated against COVID-19 may not be deemed reasonable. The Company will engage in the interactive process on an individualized basis taking into account the particular position.

Applied Intuition Glassdoor Company Review

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