Virtuos
Senior Art Director (Shanghai, China)
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Senior Art Director (Shanghai, China)
PLAY, GROW and WIN
To be a part of Virtuos means to be a creator.
At Virtuos, we harness the latest technologies to make games better and more immersive than ever before. That is why we pride ourselves on constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility since our founding in 2004.
Virtuosi are a team of experts – people who have come together to share their mutual passion for making and playing AAA games. People who share the same enthusiasm for exploring new ideas and the constant drive to excel in their field. People who believe in earning success through dedication.
At Virtuos, we are right at the forefront of gaming, creating exciting new experiences every day. So join us to Play, Grow and Win – together.
Who we look for
As an experienced leader in game development, a natural communicator confident in guiding teams to success, the Art Director is an inspiration to the artists on the team. Setting the vision and direction, they support and lead the team to achieve the highest quality, making artists feel proud of their own work and shipping awesome games together!
Having a good track record of game development and experience leading a team, the Art Director will work on exciting projects for the latest Consoles and PC, working with the latest engines and technology.
Role & Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop multidisciplinary art teams across AAA co-development projects
- Foster a strong creative culture, team spirit, accountability, and collaboration within the studio
- Drive recruitment, talent assessment, succession planning, and career development for artists and art leads
- Identify and nurture high-potential talent while supporting long-term team growth and studio capability building
- Establish, communicate, and maintain the artistic vision, visual identity, and quality standards across productions
- Lead and inspire creative processes from concept development through final in-game implementation
- Conduct regular art reviews and provide clear, constructive feedback to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with project goals and client expectations
- Demonstrate strong conceptual, visualization, prototyping, and artistic problem-solving skills
- Create or adapt art direction for game titles while respecting established IPs, technical constraints, and production realities
- Partner closely with Production, Design, Engineering, and clients to build efficient, scalable, and sustainable art production pipelines
- Ensure all deliverables meet the highest artistic, technical, and production standards expected from a premium AAA co-development studio
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives, workflows, methodologies, and best practices across the studio and within the Virtuos network
- Mentor senior artists and Art Leads to strengthen leadership capabilities and artistic ownership within teams
- Support business development activities, pitches, prototypes, client presentations, and strategic initiatives when required
- Promote innovation through the adoption of new technologies, workflows, and AI-assisted production practices
- Act as an AI Pipeline expert within the studio, driving the adoption of AI-assisted tools and workflows to improve production efficiency, scalability, and quality while supporting AAA artistic standards
- Partner with technical teams and studio leadership to integrate innovative production solutions and promote best practices across teams and disciplines
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Qualifications
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- Bachelor’s degree in Arts, Graphic Design or related major preferred, but outstanding portfolios and a proven industry record will also be considered
- Excellent experience in one or more mainstream 3D packages (Maya, 3Ds Max, Photoshop, Zbrush, Substance Painter/Designer, etc.) and well versed in creating and optimizing art pipelines
- Understanding of PBR workflow (PBR: Physically-based Rendering)
- Good understanding of User Interface, VFX, Modelling, Character development and Animation
- Strong aptitude in multiple traditional artistic disciplines to complement directorial credibility
- Highly organized individual with experience in managing creative teams and effective collaborators with other disciplines
- Passionate about game development and able to exercise game sensibility when making artistic decisions
- Inspiring communicator, able to steer the team to achieve awesome results
- In-sync with current demands and with the foresight into future trends and emerging technologies
- At least 10 years’ experience with various game styles including AAA titles across major platforms and a proven project completion record
- Experience working within game editors such as UE5 and Unity, for Console PC and mobile
- Awareness and record of creating games on time and within a budget
- Both self-organized and able to organize others, will have a good understanding of time management
- At least 4 years’ experience as a Senior Artist, Lead Artist or Art Team Leader and a proven record of supervising a team to greater competency and efficiency
- Good working knowledge of English is a must and bilingual in Mandarin Chinese is an advantage
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