Technical Art Manager

Pokémon GO is the global gaming sensation that has been downloaded over 1 billion times and named “Best Mobile Game” by the Game Developers Choice Awards and “Best App of the Year” by TechCrunch. Pokémon GO follows Niantic’s mission of encouraging outdoor exploration, exercise, and significant social interactions, and has grossed over $6B in revenue since its debut in 2016. In order to delight our millions of players across the globe, the Pokémon GO team requires motivated and skilled individuals to develop new features and look for creative ways to optimize a continually growing game.

We are seeking a Technical Art Manager to lead part of our Technical Art team and plan for our creative process from rapid prototyping to final production for release. We are a fast-moving, multi-disciplinary team of developers and creative professionals based in San Francisco, Seattle, Sunnyvale, and Tokyo. You will be people managing Technical Artists that focus on graphics and visual development, build and design pipelines and tooling, generalists with broad experience, and optimize the project to uphold performance for Pokémon GO. You will also collaborate with cross-functional partners for coordinating and driving both short and long-term planning on behalf of the Technical Art team.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Technical Art, Art, Game Design, and UX Design leadership giving guidance and feedback for healthy and sustainable development practices.
• Regular and reliable attendance and participation in meetings.
• Build consensus with cross-functional leaders across Production and Engineering.
• Provide leadership and be the strongest advocate for the Technical Art team.
• Develop, mentor, and support team members for their work and career progression.
• Define strategy, priorities, and resource allocation decisions that achieve product goals while supporting design aesthetics, technical pipeline standards, performance targets, and brand integrity.
• Build and manage team schedules and ensure proper workflow throughout the Technical Art department.
• Anticipate and recognize potential production issues and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Foster Niantic’s culture and principles within the group, while setting new standards in executional and operational excellence.
• Required in-office 2 days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability with 3+ years leading or managing Technical Art teams in a dynamically changing production environment.
• Empathetic leader and supporter for the Technical Art team and workflows.
• Project management experience in PC, console, or mobile game development, or other industries such as CG production and animation using software such as Jira.
• Demonstrated success in creating a collaborative culture of Design, Product, and Engineering.
• Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal and analytical skills with emphasis on communicating clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization.
• Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills, organizational skills, and attention to detail.
• Previous expertise in graphics focused areas of Technical Art.
• Familiarity with the tools and technology of game art production for areas such as game engine software, modeling, rigging, animation, shaders, VFX, UI, and debugging/profiling for optimization.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced hybrid environment and handle stress appropriately and/or ability to solve practical problems and be sufficiently adaptable to handle dynamic situations with little advance notice. 
• Experience working on cross-functional teams with ability to communicate effectively through written and verbal communications, including asynchronous interactions with others.
• Experience working with geographically distributed teams.

Plus If...

• Experience as a Technical Artist or background in game development, graphics engineering, pipelines and tooling, or content creation.
• Experience in live game environments.
• Actively or previously played Pokémon GO.
• Passion for games, AR, or location-based experiences.
• Bilingual in English and Japanese.

The total compensation package for this position includes a new hire offer base salary range of $162,500.00 - $190,000.00 + bonus + equity + benefits.

Individual pay within this salary range is determined by work location and additional factors, including assessed job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can answer any questions about new hire total compensation during the hiring process. An overview of benefit offerings for your location can be found on the careers page.