Scotland jobs : Climax Studios is seeking a highly skilled and creatively driven onsite Character Artist to join our team in Edinburgh on a Fixed-Term Contract. In this role, you will be part of a dedicated character art pipeline, utilizing your wealth of experience in conceptualization, 3D modeling, and high-fidelity texturing to tell deep stories through beautifully crafted figures.
The ideal candidate possesses an elite eye for organic form, a deep appreciation for anatomical structure, and the technical discipline required to output clean, game-ready topology and complex material systems. Operating fully onsite from our Edinburgh hub, you will translate conceptual ideas into striking 3D assets that live seamlessly within real-time game engines, maintaining visual consistency across our active production slates. Scotland jobs
Company Overview: Shape the Worlds of Tomorrow with Climax Studios
Climax Studios stands as one of the leading creative lights of independent video game development, boasting an outstanding, decades-long lineage of top-tier published titles. Operating as part of the global Keywords Studios family, Climax provides an inspiring, highly collaborative, and cutting-edge environment for creators to push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.
Based out of our premium Edinburgh studio—perfectly situated in the historic heart of the city with breathtaking views overlooking Edinburgh Castle—Climax Studios balance a relaxed, friendly culture with a fierce ambition to deliver world-class AAA gaming experiences. At Climax, we believe in supporting our contract and permanent teams with robust healthcare, continuous training, and an active social fabric that makes coming to work rewarding every single day. Scotland jobs
Job Overview : Character Artist
| Job Details | Specification |
| Featured Job Title | Character Artist |
| Studio / Employer | Climax Studios (A Keywords Studio company) |
| Location | Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Working Pattern | Full-Time, 100% Onsite |
| Employment Framework | UK-Based Fixed-Term Contract (FTC) |
| Key Entry Threshold | Multiple years of studio experience + 1 published title |
| Core Software Stack | Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, Marvelous Designer, Unreal Engine |
| Active Scotland Pipeline | Character Art, Environment Art, Leadership, Outsourcing Management |
Key Responsibilities
As a 3D Character Artist, your daily workflows will bridge high-end digital sculpting with advanced asset optimization:
1. High-Fidelity 3D Modeling & Sculpting
- Conceptualize, block out, and sculpt beautifully constructed character assets, clothing, and gear using industry-standard tools.
- Maintain a strong focus on anatomical precision, realistic proportions, and a keen eye for form, weight, shape, and composition.
- Deliver varied asset packages, including complex organic anatomy and high-quality hard-surface elements (armor, weapons, or mechanical accessories).
2. Topology, UV Mapping & Texturing
- Construct clean, highly optimized topology and edge loops suitable for complex deformation, rigging, and animation pipelines.
- Author advanced texture sets, high-quality PBR material sheets, and complex shader layouts.
- Execute advanced facial authoring workflows, including facial blendshapes and high-resolution wrinkle maps.
- Develop realistic hair assets, showcasing mastery over both strand-based generation and traditional optimized hair card layouts.
3. Engine Integration & Pipeline Optimization
- Implement approved character assets directly into real-time game engines (Unreal Engine 4/5), configuring materials and scaling parameters correctly.
- Leverage cloth simulation tools and photogrammetry scan data development pipelines to achieve cutting-edge surface finishes.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with technical animators, riggers, and concept artists to troubleshoot pipeline bottlenecks and maintain asset performance benchmarks.
Requirements & Qualifications
Climax Studios is looking for a passionate 3D artist with a strong foundational pedigree and studio experience:
Core Technical Experience
- Industry Tenure: Multiple years of professional experience operating actively as a Character Artist within a game development environment.
- Shipped Credits: A minimum of 1 successfully shipped or published game title explicitly credited within an art pipeline.
- Software Mastery: Comprehensive, expert-level production knowledge of Autodesk Maya, Pixologic ZBrush, and Adobe Photoshop.
- Anatomy & Form: An exceptional, demonstrable understanding of human and creature anatomy, gesture, composition, and structural balance.
Technical Skill Set Specialties
- Production Foundations: Proven mastery over core 3D fundamentals, including clean topology, manual UV layout execution, and non-destructive baking workflows.
- Facial & Hair Authoring: Hands-on experience developing advanced facial systems (wrinkle maps, expressions) and multi-layered hair (strand pipelines or polygon hair cards).
- Unreal Engine & Tooling: Good working knowledge of Unreal Engine (UE4/UE5). Direct production experience utilizing Marvelous Designer for clothing creation or handling photogrammetry scan-based data workflows is highly beneficial.
Application Note
⚠️ Portfolio Requirement: Please ensure your application explicitly includes your CV, a tailored cover letter, and—most importantly—a direct link to your website or art portfolio. We cannot properly assess your visual style, rigging safety, topology quality, or texture accuracy without comprehensive digital examples of your craft.
Expanded Opportunities: Active Scotland Jobs & Studio Openings
Our Edinburgh studio is scaling operations to support a slate of major upcoming projects. If you are browsing the Scotland jobs market for top-tier game development roles, we are actively hiring for several additional onsite positions at our historic city-center hub:
Art & Animation leadership
- Lead Artist: Take the creative helm of the art department, defining visual bibles and leading cross-disciplinary teams for high-profile AAA console titles.
- Lead Environment Artist: Direct the spatial storytelling, modular asset creation, and world-building pipelines for our core project environments.
- Senior Environment Artist: Build, texture, and optimize stunning real-time console environments using Maya, ZBrush, and Substance frameworks.
- Senior Animator: Shape the narrative flow and kinetic realism of in-game interactions through premium keyframe and cinematic animations.
Production & Operations Outsourcing
- Character Art Outsourcing Lead: Oversee international vendor production pathways, ensuring character models engineered outside the studio hit clean asset benchmarks.
- Outsource Manager (Character Art / Environment Art): Coordinate complex art delivery milestones, handle external artist assignment matrices, and monitor production budgets.
Benefits & Studio Perks
At Climax Studios, we ensure our contract team members have access to a top-tier premium benefits ecosystem that balances professional development and health security:
- Financial & Security: Group Life Insurance, Group Income Protection, and an excellent Company Pension Scheme.
- Health & Well-being: Comprehensive Group Private Medical Insurance provided by BUPA, Private Dental Insurance, and 24/7 access to a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
- Work-Life Balance: An exceptional annual holiday package set within a focused, ambitious, yet relaxed and collaborative studio environment.
- Professional Growth: Access to ongoing structured training, development tools, and career progression frameworks.
- Commuter Options: Access to the regional Cycle to Work Scheme and Eye-Care Vouchers.
- Active Studio Culture: Regular social events, project wrap parties, annual Summer and Christmas galas, and charity fundraising milestones.
- In-House Clubs: Vibrant employee-led groups ranging from board games, tennis, and football clubs to regular studio D&D nights.
Diversity & Data Protection
Equal Opportunities Policy
Keywords Studios and Climax Studios are deeply dedicated to following a well-established Equal Opportunities Policy. We continuously endeavor to maintain a workplace that provides fair and equal opportunities for all existing employees and potential applicants, completely free of bias.
Personal Data Protection
Keywords Studios is strongly committed to protecting your personal information. By submitting your CV/Resume to this portal, you explicitly agree to our terms and conditions and consent to your data being securely managed, processed, and retained in strict accordance with our global data privacy and retention policies.
