Job description for Senior 3D Character Artist (Robot/Mecha) at Nenkin GGS
Job overview and responsibility
- Expert Hard Surface Modeling: Create high-resolution hard surface sculpts and models for robots, mechs, weapons-integrated frames, and armored characters, demonstrating a master-level understanding of mechanical design, functional structure, and surface language.
- Mechanical Believability: Design and build plausible mechanical assemblies – joints, pistons, hydraulics, actuators, cabling, vents, and panel lines – ensuring every part looks functional and can articulate correctly for rigging and animation.
- Retopology & Rig-Ready Meshes: Produce clean, optimized game topology for mechanical characters, with correct pivots, separated moving parts, and meshes prepared for complex mechanical rigging.
- Photorealistic Texturing: Create industry-leading PBR textures for metals, painted surfaces, composites, and rubber – including edge wear, scratches, decals, grime, and battle damage that tell the story of the machine.
- Baking & Optimization: Own the high-to-low poly workflow (baking normal/AO/curvature maps), manage texel density, material IDs, and LODs to balance visual fidelity with in-game performance budgets.
- Collaboration & Mentorship: Work closely with Concept, Rigging, and Technical Art teams; review the work of junior/mid-level artists and provide paintovers or technical guidance on hard surface workflows.
Required skills and experiences
- Experience: 5+ years in character/hard surface production for games. Hands-on experience on projects featuring robots, mechs, or heavily mechanized characters is required (e.g., titles in the vein of Titanfall 2).
- Portfolio: A portfolio featuring realistic hard surface characters – robots, mechs, exo-suits, or armored units – is mandatory, demonstrating strong mechanical design sense, clean modeling, and high-quality texturing.
- Software Line:
• Modeling/Sculpting: Maya, 3ds Max or Blender; ZBrush for organic-mechanical detailing.
• Hard Surface Toolset: Boolean/kitbash workflows, Plasticity or Fusion 360/MOI (CAD-style modeling) is a plus.
• Baking/Texture: Substance Painter & Designer, Marmoset Toolbag, Photoshop.
- Mechanical & Industrial Design Knowledge: Deep understanding of how machines are built and move – weight, balance, articulation, and manufacturing logic (welds, bolts, casting, panel construction).
- PBR Pipeline: Comprehensive understanding of PBR shading for metals and painted surfaces, and how to achieve realism in engines like Unreal Engine 5 (Lumen/Nanite).
Preferred skills and experiences
- Shipped experience on AAA or high-quality titles featuring mechs or robots (Titanfall 2, Armored Core, Gundam-style projects, or similar).
- Experience creating modular/attachment systems for mechanical characters (weapon mounts, swappable armor plates).
- Knowledge of mechanical rigging constraints and how modeling decisions affect articulation and animation.
- Familiarity with decal-based and trim sheet texturing workflows for large mechanical assets.
- Strong interest in industrial design, military hardware, and sci-fi mechanical aesthetics.
Why Candidate should apply this position
- Working hours: 8:30am–5:30pm, flexible check-in/check-out, Monday to Friday
- On this project: Some Vietnamese holidays are not observed, with compensatory leave instead
- Social insurance contributed at 85%
- Performance bonus: 1–3 months' salary
- 13th-month salary: 1 month
- Premium health insurance
- Lunch allowance
Report to
Art Manager
Interview process
Take home test (48 hours deadline) -> 1st interview with VNG team -> Interview with Dep Head and HRBP (test and 1st interview can switch order case by case)
