Senior Character Technical Artist Naughty Dog

Job Overview

• Company: Naughty Dog (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Position Title: Senior Character Technical Artist
• Location: Santa Monica / Los Angeles Area, California
• Work Model: Hybrid / On-site
• Base Salary: $143,700 — $179,600 USD
• Total Rewards: Annual bonus, incentive plans, and premium benefits
• Experience Required: 5+ years of experience in AAA character pipelines

Naughty Dog, the award-winning studio behind The Last of Us and Uncharted, is seeking a visionary Character Technical Artist to join our elite technology group in Santa Monica. For nearly 40 years, we have pushed the boundaries of narrative and technology.

As Naughty Dog develop our newest title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, we need a hybrid specialist who is half-artist and half-programmer to redefine the “state of the art” for digital humans.

At Naughty Dog, the Character Technical Artist is the architect of the invisible. You are responsible for the systems that allow our characters to express deep emotion, interact with harsh environments, and move with cinematic fidelity.

The Role: Defining the Character Technical Artist

The Character Technical Artist at Naughty Dog is a critical bridge between the Character Art, Animation, and Engineering departments. You are not just a tool-builder; you are a visual pioneer.

Your mission is to develop features that drive the look of the game while architecting clean, scalable code that maintains our ambitious visual standards.

You must possess a developed aesthetic vision and an “artist’s eye” for visual polish, combined with the technical rigor to write vertex shaders, compute shaders, and complex C++ tools. In this role, you don’t just solve problems—you invent new ways to bring characters to life.

Detailed Responsibilities for Senior Character Technical Artist

1. Advanced Shading & Rendering

• Shader Development: Write fragment, vertex, and compute shaders to meet specific art direction needs.

• Material Packages: Develop high-level shading features for organic surfaces (skin, hair, eyes) and environmental interactions (cloth simulation, wetness, and mud).

• Cinematic Effects: Implement rendering effects such as film grain, health indicators, and specialized underwater visuals to enhance the narrative experience.

2. Pipeline Architecture & Tooling

• Character Pipelines: Author, maintain, and troubleshoot existing character creation workflows to ensure maximum stability and performance.

• Tool Development: Spearhead the creation of tools in Python and C++, collaborating with other developers to streamline the asset creation process.

• Sustainability: Write well-architected code that is modular and robust enough to be built upon for years of future development.

3. Interdepartmental Collaboration

• Engineering Partnership: Work with engine programmers to design and implement new character deformations, muscle systems, and rigging features.

• Support & Debugging: Assist the content team in debugging issues related to tools, character assets, or framerate performance.

III. Requirements & Skills for a Senior Character Technical Artist

To excel as a Character Technical Artist at Naughty Dog, you must demonstrate mastery across both creative and technical domains.

Core Technical Skillset

• Tenure: 5+ years of experience as a Character Technical Artist or TD working with character pipelines and shaders.

• Languages: Expert proficiency in HLSL/GLSL, Python, and C++.

• Mathematics: Strong foundation in the programming and math skills required for 3D deformation and rendering.

• Problem Solving: Outstanding debugging skills with a passion for discovering solutions outside your immediate area of expertise.

Soft Skills & Bonus Qualifications

• Self-Motivation: A proactive self-starter capable of growing in a highly dynamic, high-pressure environment.

• Communication: Excellent oral and written skills to bridge the gap between technical and creative staff.

• Software Versatility: (Bonus) Experience with Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, or Qt for UI development.

• Community Leadership: (Bonus) Contributions to GDC, SIGGRAPH, or other industry educational outreach.

IV. Compensation, Benefits, and Culture at Naughty Dog

Financial & Professional Growth

The estimated base pay for the Los Angeles zone is $143,700—$179,600 USD. As a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, we offer:

• Annual Bonuses: Performance-based incentives.

• Career Pathing: Mentorship from the industry’s most innovative minds.

• Innovation: The opportunity to work on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, pushing the limits of the PS5 and PC.

Diversity & Inclusion

Naughty Dog welcomes diverse candidates. We believe a broad range of cultural and life experiences contributes to the success of our titles.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where every Character Technical Artist can thrive.

V. Summary Table of Key Information