Lead Concept Artist

Job Description:

At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations – only made possible by building a work environment that cultivates the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people. 

We are looking for a Lead Concept Artist to help craft a new, unannounced game for Blizzard. As a key creative leader on the development team, you will be responsible for defining and delivering high-quality concept artwork that establishes the visual foundation of the project, including characters, environments, storyboards, and key art. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic, early-development environment and navigating ambiguity with purpose while balancing creative ambition with production realities. 

Location Fixed 

This role is anticipated to be a full-time, hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work from home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. 

Responsibilities 

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities: 

• Lead, manage, and mentor concept artists across multiple initiatives, including characters, environments, storyboards, and key art, while instilling best practices and scalable workflows. 
• Partner closely with the Art Director, Production Designer, and Production to define, document, and uphold the project’s visual style and quality bar. 
• Oversee the concept art process from initial brief through final approval, ensuring timely delivery within production constraints. 
• Collaborate with design, art, and production partners to anticipate concept needs and align creative output with gameplay and narrative goals. 
• Prepare clear and detailed concept briefs for internal and external artists. 
• Provide consistent, actionable feedback to artists that supports creative direction, gameplay needs, and visual clarity. 
• Lead by example through hands-on contribution, including paint-overs, benchmarks, and exploratory concept work when appropriate. 
• Maintain and continuously improve concept art pipelines, processes, and workflows to increase efficiency and quality. 
• Identify opportunities to improve visual quality, team productivity, and cross-functional collaboration. 
• Champion Blizzard Entertainment’s core values and contribute to a collaborative, inclusive development culture. 

Experience 

• Minimum of 10+ years of professional AAA concept art experience, or a combination of applicable training and related experience. 
• Minimum of 2+ years of demonstrated leadership experience managing, mentoring, and developing teams of artists. 
• Proven experience contributing to and shipping multiple AAA titles in a relevant concept art role. 
• Strong track record of partnering effectively with art, design, and production teams. 
• Ability to take initiative and lead creative efforts with a high degree of ownership and accountability. 
• Demonstrated ability to inspire others through an enthusiastic approach to game development and continuous skill growth. 

Knowledge and Skills 

• Comprehensive understanding of concept art creation for games, including characters, environments, props, and key art. 
• Strong visual design, composition, color, lighting, and storytelling skills. 
• Experience translating high-level creative direction into clear, actionable visual targets. 
• Familiarity with modern digital art tools, workflows, and production pipelines. 
• Demonstrated understanding of how concept art supports downstream disciplines such as modeling, animation, VFX, and level design. 

Key Attributes 

• A collaborative, team-oriented approach to creative problem solving. 
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate visual ideas and provide constructive feedback. 
• A mentorship mindset with a passion for developing artists and building healthy creative teams. 
• Comfort operating in early development and R&D phases with evolving goals and constraints. 
• A player-focused mentality and passion for creating visually iconic game worlds. 

Extra Points 

• Experience working on projects during early incubation or R&D phases. 
• Strong understanding of physical rendering, materials, and realism. 
• Passion for playing and studying a wide variety of video games. 

Your Platform  

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.  

Our World  

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!  

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment.  We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.  

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.  

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [email protected]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.  

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics. 

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $116,800.00 - $216,000.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.