Concept Artist - Senior

Based in Vancouver BC, Image Engine is a world-class visual effects studio led by a team of creative and passionate individuals who are committed to furthering the art of visual storytelling. We offer a full range of visual effects services from concept designs and pre-visualization to computer-generated animation, compositing, and explosive volumetric digital effects.

Involved from the very first stages of production, our exceptionally talented crew works closely with clients to push artistic and technical boundaries. R&D is central to our philosophy of driving creativity through innovation, with a focus on continually evolving our robust production pipelines and pioneering in the area of proprietary software development.

Well-known for our groundbreaking alien animations in Neill Blomkamp’s critically-acclaimed film District 9, we have gone on to produce more award-winning work in The Mandalorian, Game Of Thrones, Lost in Space, Jurassic World, Elysium, and most recently, we received an Emmy Award for our VFX work in The Book of Boba Fett.

Our recent productions include The Mandalorian: Season 3, The Three-Body Problem, Willow, The School for Good and Evil, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Moon Knight, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Snowpiercer, Hawkeye, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Mulan, and much more.

POSITION PURPOSE

The Senior Concept Artist is responsible for delivering high-end VFX concept art across multiple shows through task-based concept design assignments spanning asset ideation, visual problem solving, and production-ready design.

Working under the guidance of the Head of Art, the role translates briefs into clear visual solutions through research, ideation, design exploration, and polished concept execution. The artist will progressively build direct working relationships with VFX Supervisors and show teams in support of project needs.

Success in the role requires strong draftsmanship, photoreal concept execution, storytelling sensibility, and the ability to move fluidly across creatures, props, environments and design-driven problem solving.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Show Support & Design Development

• Receive and respond to briefs directly from Head of Art, VFX Supervisors and show leadership.
• Develop visual solutions across a wide variety of tasks, from exploratory ideation to final production-ready concepts.
• Produce concept work spanning creatures, environments, props, vehicles, hard-surface and design-driven assignments.
• Translate creative and technical challenges into clear, compelling visual solutions.
• Comfortable moving between blue-sky exploration, design clarification, and production-driven problem solving.

Research, Ideation & Presentation

• Build and present strong reference packages to support early design direction.
• Explore and communicate ideas through sketches, iterations, callouts, paintovers and polished concept imagery.
• Present design thinking clearly and confidently in reviews and discussions.
• Support visual storytelling through thoughtful design, composition, mood and cinematic sensibility.

Collaboration

• Work under the guidance of the Head of Art while maintaining ownership of assigned tasks and delivering on creative briefs.
• Demonstrate the ability to take direction and respond constructively to feedback from the Head of Art, VFX Supervisors, CG Supervisors and show leadership.
• Participate in dailies, reviews and creative discussions, communicating ideas, progress and estimated timelines clearly, in alignment with the DPM.
• Work independently, manage multiple assigned tasks to deadline, and communicate proactively regarding priorities, progress and delivery expectations.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• 5–7 years of professional production experience in concept art, visual development or design for feature film, episodic or high-end VFX.
• Strong traditional drawing and design fundamentals.
• Expert-level photoreal concept rendering skills.
• Broad experience across creatures, environments and prop design.
• Strong understanding of cinematic storytelling and production workflows.
• Proven ability to solve complex visual problems under production timelines.
• Experience working directly with supervisors and production teams.
• Strong understanding of translating concept work into production-ready assets.
• Ability to balance quick turnaround while achieving a high degree of aesthetic quality.
• Industrial design background highly valued.
• Experience with hard-surface or mechanical design a plus.
• Experience in feature VFX concept development preferred.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Technical skills

• Expert Photoshop skills for digital painting, photobashing, look development and keyframes.
• Strong understanding of composition, light, form, color and visual design.
• Strong grasp of camera language, staging and cinematic composition.
• Ability to assemble and present visual development and reference packages clearly.
• Understanding of VFX/asset development workflows and pipeline considerations.

Core skills

• Excellent design sensibility and visual problem-solving ability.
• Strong research skills and reference development instincts.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and fast-turnaround assignments.
• High attention to detail with strong aesthetic judgment.
• Proactive, collaborative and solutions-oriented mindset.
• Ability to troubleshoot and deal with multiple tasks and projects.
• Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and applications.
• Ability to push concept art to the next level.
• Excellent time management and communication skills.