Epic Games

Lead Environment Concept Artist

Epic Games$90K — $130K *
Cary, NC 27513In-Person
Media
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Exceptional portfolio showcasing environment concept art skills, visual storytelling, composition, color, lighting, and world-building
  • Deep understanding of environmental design including architecture, atmosphere, scale, and readability
  • Experience as Senior or Lead Environment Concept Artist on at least one AAA title
  • Strong communication skills for conveying visual direction to diverse teams
  • Experience creating production-ready concept packages and reference materials
  • Understanding of game development workflows and how concept art integrates with other production areas
  • Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast environment

Responsibilities

  • Partner with Art Director and Environment Art teams to guide external environment concept vendors
  • Communicate visual direction and goals to outsourcing partners, ensuring submissions meet quality standards
  • Create and oversee high-quality environment concept designs supporting the project’s visual identity and storytelling
  • Develop mood boards, visual targets, and production documentation for guidance to external teams
  • Define pipelines, workflows, and quality benchmarks for outsourced environments
  • Review submissions and provide actionable feedback for consistency in artistic style
  • Collaborate with multiple departments to ensure concepts align with production needs

Benefits

  • 100% of medical insurance premiums for employees and dependents
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and life insurance coverage
  • 401k with competitive match
  • Robust mental well-being program including free therapy and coaching
  • Company-wide paid breaks and employee celebration events
  • Unlimited PTO and sick time
  • Paid sabbatical after 7 years of employment
Full Job Description
Epic Games is searching for an experienced Lead Environment Concept Artist to support and supervise environment concept content created by external partners as part of our collaboration with Disney. Reporting to the project Art Director and working closely with the Outsource Manager and Environment Art Leads, you will help drive the visual quality, consistency, and world-building direction of environment concept art across the project. This role requires a highly skilled environment concept artist with strong leadership instincts, exceptional communication skills, and experience working within AAA game production pipelines. You will collaborate with both internal and external teams to ensure concept work aligns with the project's artistic vision, gameplay needs, and production requirements while helping establish a clear quality bar for outsourced environment art. In this role, you will - Partner closely with the Art Director, Environment Art Leads, Outsource Managers, and internal art teams to support external environment concept vendors - Communicate the project's visual direction and world-building goals to outsource partners while ensuring all submitted work meets Epic and Disney quality standards - Create and oversee high-quality environment concept designs that support the visual identity and storytelling needs of the project - Develop mood boards, paint-overs, visual target references, callouts, and production documentation to guide external teams - Help define environment pipelines, workflows, and quality benchmarks for outsourced concept art production - Review outsource submissions and provide clear, actionable artistic feedback to ensure consistency in style, tone, composition, and functionality - Collaborate closely with environment art, level design, lighting, VFX, and gameplay teams to ensure concepts support downstream production requirements - Identify risks, communication gaps, or quality concerns early and escalate appropriately to leadership when needed - Lead, mentor, and provide artistic direction for a small team of environment concept artists What we're looking for - Exceptional portfolio demonstrating strong environment concept art skills, visual storytelling, composition, color theory, lighting, and world-building - Deep understanding of environmental design principles, including architecture, atmosphere, scale, shape language, and gameplay readability - Experience working as a Senior or Lead Environment Concept Artist on at least one shipped AAA title - Strong ability to communicate visual direction and collaborate effectively with both internal developers and external outsourcing partners - Experience creating production-ready concept packages, including callouts, orthographic designs, paint-overs, and reference sheets - Understanding of downstream game development workflows and how concept art supports environment art, lighting, level design, and VFX production - Excellent organizational, communication, and feedback skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment - Proven ability to maintain high artistic standards while balancing production realities and schedules - Experience working with stylized and/or highly immersive world-building aesthetics is a strong plus - Bonus: Fluency in an additional language such as Chinese, Spanish, German, Italian, or Russian EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.

About Epic Games

Epic Games is a video game development company that is best known for creating the popular game Fortnite. The company was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. Epic Games has developed a number of other successful games, including the Unreal series and Gears of War. The company is also known for its Unreal Engine, a game engine that is used by many other game developers. Epic Games is committed to advancing the state of the art in game development and creating innovative and engaging experiences for players.
Learn more about Epic Games
Size
2,700 employees
Industry
Founded
1991

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