Manager, Visual Design - Synthetic Reality Development

About the role

Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is looking for a hands-on team leader / manager to lead a team of four Synthetic Reality Developers. The role joins the visual database production team for professional simulation, where the goal is to recreate real-world infrastructure, airports and environments, as well as ground, maritime and airborne vehicles, through 3D modeling and realistic textures. The work feeds into high-fidelity scenarios for professional training simulators.

Key responsibilities

• Lead a team of four Synthetic Reality Developers.
• Accurately recreate real-world infrastructure, airports and environments, and vehicles, through 3D modeling and realistic textures.
• Work with proprietary company software, processes and workflows alongside standard production tools.
• Meet project requirements and delivery deadlines while adhering to technical and visual standards.

Required profile

• Minimum of 4 years of professional experience in 3D modeling and texturing.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience as a team leader or manager in a similar environment.
• Strong spatial awareness and ability to interpret complex proportions, scales and geometric relationships.
• Ability to reproduce real-world assets and environments using photographic references and technical documentation.
• Commitment to quality, continuous improvement and on-time delivery.

Required skills

• Autodesk Maya for 3D modeling, geometry creation and optimization, including Features and Moving Models.
• UV coordinate development and optimization, with efficient use of texture space and appropriate pixel density.
• Adobe Photoshop for creating and editing high-quality, realistic textures.

Preferred qualifications include airport infrastructure, aviation, cartography, GIS, CAD, visual database development for simulation, orthophotography, satellite imagery and digital twins.