As a Senior Technical Artist - Characters (Unreal) at Ubisoft Montréal, you will be the point of reference for technical matters related to character content creation, from concept handoff through in-engine integration. You will define how characters are produced on the project and put the end-to-end pipeline in place. You will guide the resolution of complex issues across modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning, and runtime integration, while advising on the project’s broader technical direction.
What you’ll do
- Identify technical needs across character creation, rigging, skinning, levels of detail, materials, and engine integration
- Shape the character technology vision with technical directors and associate technical directors, in line with the art and animation vision
- Define the character pipeline, including creation-to-engine workflows, naming and export conventions, and validation steps
- Set and share character standards for asset structure, versioning, rigs, skeletons, materials, and textures
- Create or recommend tools for character artists, riggers, and animators, including export automation, asset validators, rig builders, and batch processing utilities
- Optimize and debug character assets for geometry, draw calls, skinning cost, memory use, and shader complexity
- Resolve complex character issues, including deformation quality, cloth and hair integration, and modular character systems
- Collaborate with animation and programming teams on character features and runtime systems, and communicate progress to associates and technical directors
- Document standards and tools, follow developments in character technology, help align teams around shared goals, and contribute to performance evaluations within the specialty
What you bring to the team
- Hands-on experience with an end-to-end character pipeline, including how character assets are created and integrated into a game engine
- Knowledge of rigging and animation needs sufficient to guide the pipeline and work with animation teams
- Knowledge of technical budgets, polygon counts, materials, asset structure, and modular character customization
- Experience establishing workflows and standards for character production
- Experience with Unreal Engine 5, or relevant character pipeline experience with Unreal Engine 4
What to send our way
- Send your CV highlighting relevant skills and experience
- Share a portfolio or links to relevant projects