Technical Artist

We’re looking for a Technical Artist to join our team as we move into full production on our debut game Ardem, an open world survival game developed in Unreal Engine 5. In this role, your primary focus will be performance optimization and technical quality across the game. You will work directly in the editor and in game builds, profiling and optimizing GPU, CPU, and memory usage, while helping the team identify and resolve rendering, performance, and stability issues. The role combines deep technical analysis with hands-on problem solving and close collaboration with art and engineering. Techtive Games is an ambitious indie studio based in Germany with a close knit team that focuses on building deep, interconnected gameplay systems and immersive, authentic worlds. We value creativity, ownership, and personal growth. Rather than working through rigid ticket pipelines, our team members are encouraged to actively shape systems, improve workflows, and grow together not only on Ardem, but on future projects as well. If you enjoy digging into performance problems, improving pipelines, and acting as a technical guide for artists and developers, we’d love to hear from you. On a day to day basis, you will: * Profile and optimize GPU, CPU, and memory performance using tools such as Unreal Insights, RenderDoc, and other relevant profiling solutions * Investigate and resolve rendering, performance, and stability issues across the project * Act as a technical guardian for the art team, defining and communicating performance requirements and best practices * Support artists in creating efficient assets, materials, and shaders that meet visual and performance goals * Work closely with the Art Lead to maintain a consistent technical and visual quality bar * Design and implement tools, pipelines, and workflows to streamline production and improve team efficiency * Help establish and refine technical guidelines to prevent recurring performance issues * Collaborate closely with engineers and designers to ensure technical decisions align with gameplay and production needs * 3 to 5 years of professional experience as a Technical Artist within the games industry * Strong hands on experience with Unreal Engine 5, including its profiling, debugging, and optimization tools * Solid understanding of rendering performance, real time graphics constraints, and memory management * Experience analyzing and optimizing complex scenes, materials, and shaders * Ability to independently identify technical problems and drive solutions to completion * Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical topics clearly to non technical team members * Fluent spoken and written English **Bonus Skills** * Strong experience with Python, Blueprints, or similar scripting languages for tool development * Experience building custom tools and pipelines for art teams * Knowledge of Blender and Blender scripting * Experience working on open world games * Experience working in an indie or small team environment **Working Model** * Fully remote * Freelance, with a full time option for candidates based in Germany * Flexible working hours with a strong focus on ownership and trust * Direct collaboration within a small, focused team * Work on Ardem, highly anticipated survival game and set a new benchmark * Small team with high impact, results-driven mindset and fast decision-making * High ownership and creative freedom * Flexible working hours (results > green dots) Please include the following in your application: * Your CV and a short introduction about yourself and your background * A portfolio (Git repositories, videos, or similar) showcasing recent work * A brief description of your role and responsibilities on the showcased projects * Your availability and your typical contract rate