Technical Artist – Blackbird Interactive, Remote

Blackbird Interactive is seeking a passionate, analytical, and highly collaborative Technical Artist to join our development team for a 12-month full-time contract in Canada. In this role, you will act as a vital bridge between our art and engineering teams, lending your technical expertise to enhance, optimize, and expand upon an existing and beloved game within an established, world‑class strategy franchise.

If you are a creative problem solver who loves digging into the nuts and bolts of a game engine, writing shaders, squeezing out extra frames of performance, and empowering traditional artists to bring their best work to life within strict technical constraints, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Blackbird Interactive operates as a remote‑first workplace, allowing you the flexibility to work from anywhere within Canada while contributing to ambitious, genre‑defining content.

Category
Specification

Company Name Blackbird Interactive (BBI)

Job Title Technical Artist

Department Art – Technical Art

Contract Duration 12 Months (Temporary Full‑Time)

Work Model Remote‑First / Flexible Work Arrangements

Location / Geographic Restriction Remote (Candidates must currently reside in Canada)

Legal Requirement Must be legally authorized to work in Canada

Annualized Salary Range $85,000 – $115,000 CAD per year (pro‑rated to contract length)

Core Technical Focus C++ Programming, Shader Development & Asset Optimization

Project Type Established Isometric Real‑Time Strategy (RTS) Franchise

Engine Framework Proprietary Game Engine

Blackbird Interactive (BBI) is a creative‑fueled, future‑driven, independent game studio based out of Vancouver, BC. Founded by industry veterans, our studio is dedicated to building a culture where the best talent in the industry can find long‑term career fulfillment, grow their abilities, and work on a diverse array of compelling projects. Our portfolio includes legendary, world‑class IPs as well as our own original creations spanning multiple genres.

As a remote‑first studio, we prioritize clear communication, operational trust, and work‑life balance. We believe that small, highly focused teams can achieve extraordinary things when given autonomy and the right collaborative tools. Even as a contract team member, you will be deeply integrated into our studio culture and directly influence the production pipeline of a major gaming title.

As an embedded Technical Artist for this isometric strategy title, you will join a small, high‑performing team focused on live‑service support, optimization, and content updates for a highly regarded franchise. Your primary objective will be to identify and execute visual and technical improvements, specifically focusing on dazzling new shader developments and general 3D asset workflows.

Because this project utilizes a proprietary game engine
, you must be someone who thrives when working outside the standard workflows of commercial engines like Unreal or Unity. You will step into an established ecosystem, learning its unique architecture, and taking ownership of technical art hurdles. You will spend your days diagnosing bottlenecks, building tools, developing shaders, and ensuring that our modeling, texturing, animation, and FX teams can import their assets seamlessly and efficiently.

• Embedded TA Support: Act as the dedicated, go‑to technical artist embedded within a proprietary engine ecosystem, adapting quickly to custom tools and pipelines.
• Cross‑Discipline Liaison: Serve as the definitive communication bridge between the Creative/Art teams, the Engineering department, and the core limitations of the game engine.
• Asset Management: Oversee, structure, and refine asset management workflows to ensure 3D meshes, textures, animations, and UI elements are organized and integrated cleanly into the game build.

• Framerate Stability: Analyze runtime performance to identify CPU and GPU bottlenecks, implementing smart optimization strategies to improve overall framerate stability across…