2D Lead Artist - Stellaris

The primary responsibility of the Lead Artist is to mentor and guide the artists assigned to a project in order to maintain the vision set by the Art Director (AD) during pre-production. They interact with the artists on the project daily to review assets and meet quality expectations. The Lead Artist also works closely with the Project Leadership team, UX, Marketing, and other project disciplines to ensure smooth communications with the PDS Art team.
The Lead Artist should have extensive experience and an interest in driving and pushing the development of our 2D art, involving mentoring our 2D artists (general, UI and concept art) in their artistic growth.
Responsibilities
Supporting the Art Director in developing the style of the game and being a drive for art quality.
Keep the AD up to date on the progress of production and include them in larger decisions.
Make sure art produced is consistent and on quality, by approving and keeping track of the artwork made in the art team
Work with the Art Producer to make and sanity-check time estimates, ensuring that production can happen at the desired pace
Conveying expectations in terms of quality and content to the graphics team and, if needed, to freelancers / external studios
Making sure the project has a good peer review environment
Hold regular 1:1 meetings with artists on the project team to mentor them in their artistic growth
Know and understand the features of the projects to make sure they are properly communicated visually
Develop and establish pipeline and best practices for 2D work
Make graphical features requests for the art team
Be knowledgeable of current and future 3D industry trends and what is expected from them in AAA and AA game space.

Qualifications
8 years+ of experience in the games industry as an Art Director, Lead Artist or in a similar management position.
In-depth understanding of the art production process, from concept to final in-game assets.
Ability to create, adapt, and iterate, within a variety of artistic styles.
Mastery of 2D art fundamentals: Anatomy, Composition, Lighting, Material Expression, Color Use, etc and highly skilled in Photoshop.
Comfortable with 3D and how to integrate it in 2D pipelines.
Knowledge of technical constraints, optimization, and implementation
Articulate in contextualizing decisions, communicating ideas, and giving and receiving feedback in English.
Experience with Animation is a plus.
Passionate and knowledgeable about everything sci-fi.

The right candidate has a strong background in traditional art, concept art and is a sci-fi aficionado. We are looking for someone highly creative and curious, who can pull references from a large visual library and propose original designs.
This is a great opportunity to be part of the world's leading developer for Grand Strategy games!
As part of the recruitment process, you may be asked to perform a test.
If you think that this description matches you, we highly encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we will interview candidates continuously. If you don't match all the requirements, please demonstrate how your passion, attitude and interest in Paradox might compensate for this.
At Paradox Interactive we celebrate difference and care deeply about diversity and inclusion. We therefore encourage you, no matter who you are, to apply for this job if you think you’d be a great addition to our team.