ABOUT TRAVERSE

Traverse Research builds Evolve, a GPU and AI benchmark. Because Evolve measures graphics and compute performance, the art isn't decoration: it's effectively the thing under test. That makes craft, consistency, and performance-awareness matter more here than in most art roles, and it's seen by a sharp, technical audience.

POSITION SUMMARY

We're looking for a freelance Art Lead to own the look and the delivery of all art in Evolve. You'll set the visual direction, run the schedule, and manage the external art pipeline. Acting as the single point of accountability for everything coming in from outside vendors.

This is a hands-on direction-and-production role for someone with a strong visual eye and the spine to enforce it: you'll define the quality bar, write the briefs, and be the final judge of whether an asset is good enough before it's accepted. You'll also keep one eye on performance since Evolve is a GPU benchmark, art choices have real, measurable consequences.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Set and protect the visual vision (≈45%): Define the style guide and visual targets, make the creative calls, and be the final judge of whether an asset meets the quality bar before it's accepted.

Plan and drive the art schedule (≈20%): Break the work into assets and milestones, build the timeline, and run the review cadence (blockout → high-poly → textured → final) so problems surface early instead of at delivery.

Manage the external art pipeline (≈35%): Select and vet vendors, write the brief and spec, hold outsourcers to schedule and quality, and own everything coming in from outside so it never lands on the engineering team.

Write clear briefs and specs: Author asset specs with explicit acceptance criteria and technical constraints that a vendor can execute without hand-holding.

Keep art and performance aligned: Make art decisions with GPU cost in mind (draw calls, shader cost, memory budgets), and keep content controlled and reproducible across versions.

YOU'LL BE A GREAT FIT IF

• You have a strong visual eye and the backbone to enforce it. You can point to a time you sent delivered work back, and name the exact standard you were holding it to.

• You've directed external/outsourced art. You've managed at least 2–3 vendors or studios, and can speak to assets delivered or budget owned through external pipelines.

• You own schedules and make them stick. You can show a milestone breakdown you built and talk through how you handled a slip.

• You write clear briefs and specs. Explicit acceptance criteria and technical constraints, not verbal direction.

• You're fluent in 3D art and texture pipelines. Poly/triangle counts, texture resolutions (1K/2K/4K), PBR maps, UVs, Nanite, and formats (FBX/glTF) and you can judge whether a delivered asset hits them.

• You have real-time / GPU rendering literacy. You understand how art choices affect performance — unusually relevant here, since the art is what's being benchmarked.

Nice to have: technical-art skills (pipeline scripts, asset-validation tools); hands-on fluency in Blender, Substance, or ZBrush for quick fixes; a benchmark/reproducibility mindset; and experience owning an art budget and vendor contracts/SOWs.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• A freelance engagement with flexible, remote-friendly working within the Netherlands.

• The final say on the look of a GPU benchmark seen by a discerning, technical audience.

• A genuine creative-technical challenge, working at the real-time/GPU edge, not generic studio art.

• A direct line to the founders, a small team, and fast decisions, so your work has visible impact.

• Room to shape the pipeline and style from a strong position and scope for the role to grow as Evolve does.