Groom Artist (General Submission)

This general submission posting is an opportunity to submit your resume for future consideration only; not for an existing opening. We anticipate this role may be open in the near future. If you wish to be considered for this potential opportunity, please submit your resume. When a position becomes available, you may be contacted by our Talent Acquisition team. The Company will only contact applicants who are selected for further consideration about potential future opportunities. 

Business Unit: Curated
Position: Groom Artist
Location: Vancouver, BC (Remote)
*Pay Range: $29.00 - $44.00 CAD hourly


POSITION SUMMARY:
The VFX Groom Artist will be responsible for the creation, simulation, and final look development of highly realistic hair, fur, and feather grooms for digital characters, with a specific focus on enhancing human hair on the head. This role requires a strong artistic eye, an understanding of real-world hair dynamics, and expert technical skills to deliver complex, photorealistic grooms for feature films and high-end episodic content.


MAIN DUTIES:

• Groom Creation: Interpret artistic concepts, design packets, and scan data to create complex, lifelike hair grooms for main characters using specialized software (e.g., Maya XGen, Houdini, Yeti).
• Look Development: Work closely with Lighting and Shading teams to develop and iterate on the final look, including color, texture, clumping, frizz, and material properties to achieve photorealistic results.
• Technical Pipeline Integration: Ensure all hair assets are technically robust, efficiently structured, and seamlessly integrate into the rendering and lighting pipeline without introducing errors or excessive render times.
• Simulation Preparation: Set up and prepare grooms for dynamic simulation (e.g., for wind, movement, or wet effects) to ensure natural and appealing motion.
• Collaboration: Receive and address feedback from the VFX Supervisor and Director, quickly iterating on grooms while maintaining high artistic and technical standards.
• Workflow Documentation: Document best practices and techniques for future use by the team, including custom tools or scripts developed for the project.
• Asset Library Maintenance: Assist in the creation and maintenance of a reusable hair/fur asset library and presets.
• General Hair/Fur Assets: Create smaller secondary grooms, such as eyebrows, eyelashes, or small patches of body fur on non-character assets, as needed.

WHAT YOU BRING:
The ideal candidate will bring previous experience as a Groom Artist or Generalist specializing in hair/fur/feathers within a production VFX pipeline. They will bring an expert proficiency in at least one industry-standard hair and fur creation tool (Maya XGen, Yeti, or Houdini KineFX/Karma). They will also bring the following:

• A strong portfolio/demo reel showcasing highly realistic, detailed hair grooms on human characters.
• Solid understanding of real-world hair physics, dynamics, and art fundamentals, including silhouette, form, and flow.
• Proficiency in modern rendering solutions (Arnold, V-Ray, or Redshift) and PBR shading principles as they apply to hair materials.
• Working knowledge of a 3D modeling package (Maya preferred) and texturing tools (Mari or Substance Painter).

ABOUT THE COMPANY:
Company 3, including its various business units and family of brands, provides a full range of Creative Services for content creators, including conceptual design, pre-vis, look development, ideation and rapid prototyping, 3D animation/CGI, motion graphics/designers, matte painting, compositing, dailies and production services, color grading, post-production finishing, marketing/trailers, live-action production, experiences, and more.

Diversity and Inclusion at Company 3:

Creativity has diversity at its core. We celebrate the value of each unique experience by being dedicated to fostering the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture where every employee feels empowered and safe to show up to work as their full self.

It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. Please inform the Company's HR representative if you need assistance completing any forms or otherwise need any accommodation or support in order to participate in the application process.

*The listed pay range represents the lowest to highest range that we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future. An employee’s pay position within the range may be based on several factors including, but limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, local currency exchange rates, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, applicable law, and business or organizational needs. 

The benefits for eligible part-time employees working 25 or more hours per week and full-time employees in the US include a comprehensive package of health, retirement, and insurance benefits and paid time off. The benefits for eligible project hires and part-time employees working less than 25 hours per week in the US include retirement, select insurance benefits, and where required by law, health benefits. For roles filled in Canada and other territories, local benefits plan offerings as adopted and amended from time to time will apply.

The above compensation and benefits information is provided in accordance with various state, provincial, and local pay transparency laws. The Company’s recruitment processes will also be conducted in accordance with applicable law as adopted and amended from time to time.

Both external and internal candidates can apply for this general submission posting through the Company’s Career Page.