The Interactive Media & Games Division within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is seeking an adjunct faculty member in the field of Interactive Media and Games with a specialty in art and animation for games, particularly (but not exclusively) in the context of real-time 3D environments and the production pipelines used in commercial game development.
We are looking for a working professional with hands-on experience creating game-ready art and animation assets in a professional studio environment. Our program is a vibrant and exciting community of designers, scholars and researchers, committed to the advancement of the digital arts, and it is situated within the larger School for Cinematic Arts, dedicated to the craft of storytelling and user experience from diverse perspectives, and working collaboratively with the Viterbi School of Engineering.
The position will teach students core art and animation methodologies for games, including character and environment art creation, rigging and skinning, animation principles applied to real-time characters, and the integration of assets into game engines such as Unity or Unreal. The ideal candidate brings both technical craft and an understanding of the creative and production constraints that define professional game development.
The ideal candidate leads or has led art or animation teams at a game studio, has shipped titles across multiple platforms, and is eager to share that expertise with the next generation of game artists and animators.
Minimum Education: Bachelor’s Degree
Minimum Experience:
Bachelor’s degree or higher in Game Art, Animation, Fine Arts, Computer Graphics, or a closely related field
Demonstrated professional experience creating art and/or animation for shipped commercial games, ideally mobile and/or games with live ops environments
Proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Maya, Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer, or equivalent
Strong understanding of real-time art production constraints, including polygon budgets, LODs, texture optimization, and PBR workflows
Experience rigging and skinning characters and integrating animated assets into a game engine (Unity or Unreal preferred)
Ability to explain complex production workflows and artistic principles in a classroom setting
A portfolio of shipped projects or professional work showcasing art and/or animation expertise
Excellent communication skills and a commitment to teaching and mentorship
Preferred Education: Master’s Degree.
Preferred Experience:
Experience with procedural animation, motion capture pipelines, or physics-based animation systems
Familiarity with technical art disciplines such as shader development, VFX creation, or pipeline scripting
Experience shipping titles on mobile, console, or PC in a live-service or GaaS environment
Past teaching experience or curriculum development in higher education
Familiarity with version control tools such as Git or Perforce in a collaborative production environment
USC reserves the ‘Adjunct’ appointment for faculty teaching less than full-time at USC who are employed full-time in a primary profession or career elsewhere. Adjunct faculty typically teach only one course per year but, in exceptional cases, may teach one course per semester, if approved by the dean.
The core salary range for this position is $32–$38 per hour. This is an adjunct 25% FTE position.
When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, as well as external market and organizational considerations.
