Are you an experienced Art Director looking for the opportunity to shape the visual identity of a culturally inspired video game?
This role offers the chance to lead the artistic vision of a project deeply rooted in Emirati culture, bringing together global game developers, local artists, and cultural partners to create a meaningful and engaging experience for players worldwide.
What you'll be doing:
- Defining and developing a unique art style inspired by Emirati culture, balancing authenticity with technical feasibility.
- Overseeing all visual aspects of the game, including environments, characters, animation, lighting, and UI.
- Building and mentoring a small, distributed art team, including local Emirati artists.
- Working hands-on in Unreal Engine to prototype, iterate, and optimise assets for both quality and performance.
- Collaborating closely with game design, narrative, and cultural partners to align visuals with storytelling and gameplay goals.
- Managing the creation of art assets to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with the project's aesthetic.
- Developing and refining art workflows and pipelines that keep the project within scope and budget.
- Translating authentic elements of Emirati culture into compelling visual storytelling through art and world-building.
- Iterating on visuals through feedback, playtesting, and collaboration across disciplines.
What we're looking for: - 8+ years of experience as an Art Director or Lead Artist, with a strong record in IP development and small team leadership.
- A portfolio demonstrating stylised, distinctive, or culturally inspired art direction, ideally within indie or narrative-driven games.
- Deep knowledge of Unreal Engine, including experience with shaders, lighting, procedural tools, and optimisation workflows.
- Proven ability to build and mentor small creative teams, ideally within distributed or global development environments.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across different disciplines and cultural contexts.
- Willingness to spend time in or relocate to the UAE during key phases of development, with travel flexibility as needed.
This is an exciting opportunity to help shape a game that celebrates Emirati culture while appealing to a global audience. You'll be part of a diverse and passionate team creating meaningful, impactful games in a positive, flexible working environment.
Apply now, or contact Joe McKernan - jm@skillsearch.comYears of experience and salary levels are shown purely as a guide. We will only consider applications from candidates that can demonstrate the skills or experience required for the role.
Please be aware that while we would love to respond to every application we receive, due to high numbers we cannot guarantee this. We do however appreciate any time you invest into the application and will make sure to get in touch should anything in future more closely fit your skillset.
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