Lockwood Publishing

British mobile 3D social metaverse developer

Principal Environment Artist

3D ModelingConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-time

About the Job

Requirements

Expert knowledge of 3D environment creation, including hard-surface and organic modeling.
Strong understanding of color theory, composition, lighting, scale, and environmental storytelling.
Excellent low-poly modeling and topology optimization skills.
Advanced UV mapping and texture-creation experience.
Strong understanding of mobile optimization techniques.
Experience creating lighting setups within Unity.
Ability to create simple environment animations and visual effects.
Experience using AI tools for image generation, concept exploration, texture creation, material generation, and 3D asset generation.
Comfort working with proprietary tools, scripts, shaders, and internal production pipelines.
Ability to work effectively from briefs, mood boards, concept art, or AI-generated visual references.
Ability to manage time effectively and consistently meet production deadlines.
Proven ability to lead environment ideation and visual development from concept through production.
Experience mentoring artists and developing team capability.
Strong communication and presentation skills, including presenting work to Art Directors and senior stakeholders.
Ability to provide constructive art reviews and maintain consistent quality standards.
Experience collaborating across multidisciplinary teams, including Design, Technical Art, Engineering, Production, and QA.
Experience managing relationships with external outsourcing vendors.
Problem-solving skills and ability to balance artistic ambition against technical constraints.
Ability to plan and oversee environment and prop production.
Ability to estimate task complexity, effort, and production timelines accurately.
Strong understanding of game development production pipelines and milestone planning.
Comfort reprioritizing work as project requirements evolve.
Ability to communicate progress, blockers, dependencies, and risks clearly to stakeholders.
Strong understanding of asset validation, testing, and bug prevention.
Ability to identify and resolve technical issues efficiently.
Commitment to delivering polished, production-ready content that meets artistic and technical quality standards.

Responsibilities

Translate creative briefs into AI-generated visual concepts that develop the original vision while aligning with creative direction.
Transform briefs, concepts, mood boards, concept art, and AI-generated visual explorations into production-ready 3D environments supporting gameplay, narrative, and player experience.
Create interiors, exteriors, landmarks, and interactive spaces for Avakin Life.
Produce hard-surface and organic 3D assets meeting artistic and technical standards.
Design and create textures and materials that achieve a cohesive visual style and are optimized for mobile platforms.
Deliver lighting, simple environment animation, and visual effects that enhance mood, atmosphere, and player immersion.
Optimize environments and assets for performance across supported mobile devices without compromising visual quality.
Maintain and improve existing environments through bug fixing, optimization, and continuous polish.
Champion AI-assisted workflows across the environment art pipeline using internal tools and external AI technologies.
Use AI tools for ideation, concept generation, image enhancement, texture creation, material generation, lighting exploration, and 3D asset generation to improve production efficiency.
Evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify opportunities to improve quality, speed, and creative exploration.
Contribute to developing and refining internal AI pipelines, implementation standards, and best practices.
Promote responsible and effective AI adoption through documentation, knowledge sharing, and mentoring.
Set quality benchmarks and drive artistic excellence as a senior creative leader in the Environment Art team.
Lead environment ideation sessions, visual exploration, and workflow planning with Experience Designers under the Art Director's guidance.
Mentor Environment Artists and Prop Artists through feedback, technical guidance, workflow coaching, and AI knowledge sharing.
Review environment and prop assets and provide constructive feedback to maintain consistent quality.
Present work to the Art Director in coordination with the Lead Environment Artist, interpret feedback, and guide implementation.
Lead the team when needed during the Lead Environment Artist's absence.
Collaborate with Designers, Technical Artists, Engineers, Producers, and QA to ensure environments meet gameplay, technical, and production needs.
Prepare clear briefs for external outsourcing partners, review deliverables, and ensure outsourced work meets project quality standards.
Support planning and oversight of environment and prop production, help artists overcome blockers, and ensure timely delivery.
Break complex environment tasks into achievable work packages, estimate effort, and identify dependencies.
Prioritize environment work in alignment with production milestones and project objectives.
Adapt priorities as project scope evolves.
Report progress, risks, blockers, and delivery status to Leads, Art Directors, and Production.
Participate in creative discussions, planning meetings, and production reviews.
Deliver high-quality, bug-free assets ready for production.
Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve technical and artistic issues throughout production.
Apply quality-control practices to minimize defects and improve asset stability.

Desired Qualifications

Experience shipping live-service or mobile games.
Experience working on stylized game environments.
Experience developing or improving AI-assisted art pipelines.
Knowledge of procedural content generation tools and workflows.
Familiarity with performance profiling and optimization techniques for Unity.
Experience contributing to studio-wide art standards, documentation, and best practices.

Principal Environment Artist/ Lead

Lockwood Publishing · Nottingham, United Kingdom (Remote) · Full-time · Posted 2026-10-09

Salary: GBP 45,000–70,000

Workplace: remote

Department: Product

Description

Job Title: Principal Environment Artist/ Lead

Location: Remote, UK OR Hybrid Lisbon, EU
Reporting to: Game Experience Art Lead

Salary: £45k - £70k per annum / €45k - €60k per annum

Contract: Full time, 6 Month FTC (with possibility to move to permanent)

Company Overview

At Lockwood, our vision is to bring people together through Avakin Life, where players can play, share, and socialize in one of the world's largest and most populous metaverses. Avakin Life provides an immersive 3D life simulation experience for millions of users worldwide.

With a focus on innovation and collaboration, Lockwood offers a flexible and creative environment that empowers our teams to push the boundaries of what’s possible. We provide competitive benefits, including an employee share scheme, making Lockwood an exciting destination for those passionate about shaping the future of digital experiences. This position is available as a fully remote role, though there may be occasional meetups for social interaction and strategic sessions.

Role Summary

As a Principal Environment Artist, you will be responsible for defining and delivering world-class, immersive environments for Avakin Life, while driving artistic quality, technical excellence, and innovation across the environment art discipline. You will lead by example through hands-on creation, mentoring, production planning, and the adoption of AI-assisted workflows. Working closely with Art Direction, Experience Design, Technical Art, and Production, you will help shape the visual identity of the game while improving team workflows, scalability, and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

Environment Art & Visual Development

Translate creative briefs into compelling AI-generated visual concepts, enriching the original vision with innovative ideas while remaining aligned to the creative direction.
Transform briefs, concepts, mood boards, concept art, and AI-generated visual explorations into polished, production-ready 3D environments that support gameplay, narrative, and player experience.
Create visually stunning and immersive environments for Avakin Life, including interiors, exteriors, landmarks, and interactive spaces.
Produce high-quality hard surface and organic 3D assets that meet both artistic and technical standards.
Design and create high-quality textures and materials that achieve a cohesive visual style while remaining optimised for mobile platforms.
Deliver lighting, simple environment animation, and VFX that enhance mood, atmosphere, and player immersion.
Optimise environments and assets to achieve excellent performance across supported mobile devices without compromising visual quality.
Maintain and improve the quality of existing environments through bug fixing, optimisation, and continuous polish.

AI Innovation & Workflow Development

Champion the integration of AI-assisted workflows across the environment art pipeline, leveraging both proprietary internal tools and external AI technologies.
Utilise AI tools for ideation, concept generation, image enhancement, texture creation, material generation, lighting exploration, and 3D asset generation to improve production efficiency.
Evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify opportunities to enhance quality, speed, and creative exploration.
Contribute to the development and refinement of internal AI pipelines, implementation standards, and best practices.
Promote responsible and effective AI adoption across the art team through documentation, knowledge sharing, and mentoring.

Leadership & Collaboration

Reports to the Lead Environment Artist, acting as a senior creative leader within the Environment Art team, setting quality benchmarks and driving artistic excellence.
Under the guidance of the Art Director, lead environment ideation sessions, visual exploration, and workflow planning in collaboration with Experience Designers.
Mentor Environment Artists and Prop Artists through regular feedback, technical guidance, workflow coaching, and AI knowledge sharing.
Review environment and prop assets, providing constructive feedback to maintain consistent quality across the team.
Present work to the Art Director in coordination to the Lead Environment Artist, interpret feedback, and guide the team through implementation.
Develop leadership capabilities to lead the team when needed in the Lead Environment Artist’s absence, gaining valuable experience that may support future progression into the role.
Collaborate closely with Designers, Technical Artists, Engineers, Producers, and QA to ensure environments support gameplay, technical requirements, and production goals.
Work effectively with external outsourcing partners by preparing clear briefs, reviewing deliverables, and ensuring outsourced work meets project quality standards.

Production & Delivery

Support planning and oversight of environment and prop production, helping artists overcome blockers and ensuring timely delivery.
Break down complex environment tasks into achievable work packages, providing accurate effort estimates and identifying dependencies.
Prioritise environment work in alignment with production milestones and project objectives.
Adapt priorities effectively as project scope evolves.
Provide accurate reporting on progress, risks, blockers, and delivery status to Leads, Art Directors, and Production.
Contribute actively to creative discussions, planning meetings, and production reviews.

Quality & Testing

Deliver high-quality, bug-free assets ready for production.
Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve technical and artistic issues throughout production.
Apply strong quality control practices to minimise defects and improve asset stability

Requirements

Essential Skills & Experience

Expert knowledge of 3D environment creation, including both hard surface and organic modelling.
Strong understanding of colour theory, composition, lighting, scale, and environmental storytelling.
Excellent low-poly modelling and topology optimisation skills.
Advanced UV mapping and texture creation experience.
Strong understanding of mobile optimisation techniques.
Experience creating lighting setups within Unity.
Ability to create simple environment animations and visual effects.
Experience using AI tools for image generation, concept exploration, texture creation, material generation, and 3D asset generation.
Comfortable working with proprietary tools, scripts, shaders, and internal production pipelines.
Ability to work effectively from briefs, mood boards, concept art, or AI-generated visual references.
Excellent time management with the ability to consistently meet production deadlines.

Leadership & Collaboration

Proven ability to lead environment ideation and visual development from concept through production.
Experience mentoring artists and helping develop team capability.
Strong communication and presentation skills, with confidence presenting work to Art Directors and senior stakeholders.
Ability to provide constructive art reviews and maintain consistent quality standards.
Experience collaborating across multidisciplinary teams including Design, Technical Art, Engineering, Production, and QA.
Experience managing relationships with external outsourcing vendors.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to balance artistic ambition against technical constraints.
Passion for sharing knowledge, improving workflows, and driving continuous innovation across the team.

Production & Planning

Experience planning and overseeing environment and prop production.
Ability to estimate task complexity, effort, and production timelines accurately.
Strong understanding of game development production pipelines and milestone planning.
Comfortable reprioritising work as project requirements evolve.
Ability to communicate progress, blockers, dependencies, and risks clearly to stakeholders.

Quality Assurance

Strong understanding of asset validation, testing, and bug prevention.
Ability to identify and resolve technical issues efficiently.
Commitment to delivering polished, production-ready content that meets both artistic and technical quality standards.

Desirable Experience

Experience shipping live service or mobile games.
Experience working on stylised game environments.
Experience developing or improving AI-assisted art pipelines.
Knowledge of procedural content generation tools and workflows.
Familiarity with performance profiling and optimisation techniques for Unity.
Experience contributing to studio-wide art standards, documentation, and best practices.

*Please note our initial CV screening may be completed with support from AI

Benefits

At Lockwood, you’ll be part of an inclusive, creative, and highly motivated team. You’ll work on systems used by millions of players, shaping the live game experience and ensuring we can deliver new content and events rapidly and reliably. This is your opportunity to make a real impact—not just on our games, but on the future of how we operate. 

Private Healthcare Plan
Pension Plan
Life Assurance
Work From Home
Training & Development
Employee Assistance Programme

*benefits will depend on location and local legislation

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Apply at Lockwood Publishing

About the Company

Lockwood Publishing

British mobile 3D social metaverse developer

Lockwood Publishing makes Avakin Life, a 3D social metaverse for mobile. The game lets players create avatars, customize apartments, and socialize in virtual locations, funded by a free-to-play model with in-app purchases of clothing, furniture, and other items using Avacoins and Crowns. It differentiates itself by transitioning from Sony PlayStation Home work-for-hire projects into a self-published mobile social world with a digital economy and safety-focused, age-gated spaces. The goal is to grow a global, active community around Avakin Life, monetize through virtual goods, and continuously expand the virtual world with new content and social experiences.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: Series A
Total funding: $25M
Headquarters: Nottingham, United Kingdom
Founded: 2009

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