Visiting Assistant Professor, Game Design & Technical Art

Overview

New York Tech's School of Architecture and Design seek a full-time Visiting Assistant Professor for the Department of Digital Art and Design, in Game Design and Technical Art to join its expanding academic programs. The successful candidate will teach a diverse student body across undergraduate and graduate courses and a total of 21 EHLs during the academic year. Candidates are expected to teach at the New York City and Old Westbury campuses. The department is seeking a candidate with strong professional game industry experience who can help build and strengthen the Game Design concentration through technical art, real-time production, and industry-facing student portfolio development. This position is intended to support Digital Art students who are developing skills in 3D production, animation, game design, real-time engines, and emerging creative technologies, and help prepare them for technical artist and related roles in the game industry. The successful candidate will contribute to curriculum development, student mentoring, recruitment, retention, industry partnerships, committee service, and the future growth of the department.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will teach courses in game design, technical art, real-time production, interactive media, and related areas. Teaching areas may include game design fundamentals, level design, game production, Unity, Unreal Engine, Houdini for game art and technical art, 3D asset creation and integration, procedural workflows, lighting, materials, shaders, rigging, animation systems, scripting for artists, AI-assisted creative workflows, XR, and portfolio development.

The candidate will help students develop stronger, more competitive, industry-ready work and portfolios for technical artist and related game industry career pathways. They will also support student showcases, game jams, collaborative projects, alumni and industry engagement, and the continued growth of the Game Design concentration.

Qualifications

The minimum degree requirement is an MFA, MS, MA, or equivalent terminal/professional degree in a related field.

A minimum of three to five years of relevant professional experience in the game industry, technical art, real-time production, or a closely related field is strongly preferred. Prior teaching experience at the college level is preferred. Candidates with significant industry experience, strong communication skills, and demonstrated ability to mentor, train, or lead creative/technical teams are preferred.

Candidates must have artistic, creative, design, and technical backgrounds, with experience in game design, technical art, real-time production, and game development pipelines. They must be able to bridge art and technology and help students understand how visual design, 3D assets, animation, lighting, materials, shaders, optimization, and interaction come together inside professional game production workflows.

Technical knowledge and proficiency with Unity and/or Unreal Engine is required. Knowledge of additional industry-standard tools and workflows is preferred, including Maya, Blender, Houdini, ZBrush, Substance, Adobe Creative Cloud, Cinema 4D, Nuke, motion capture, procedural tools, scripting, shaders, generative AI and AI-assisted creative workflows, and other commonly used software in game development and real-time production.

The ideal candidate should demonstrate an ability to guide students who come from digital art, 3D production, animation, motion graphics, or design backgrounds and help them translate those skills into game industry-ready technical art portfolios.

Qualified candidates should send a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a teaching philosophy, a description of their research and/or creative practice, names and contact information of three references, and samples of professional and student work to be considered for an interview.