Art and Animation Lead

Job Description

Art & Animation Lead (Digital Game Studio)

Role Overview

We are seeking an Art & Animation Lead to define and elevate the visual identity of our real-time digital game experiences.

This role will oversee visual direction, animation systems, motion feedback, and reward presentation across multiple high-frequency interactive products. The ideal candidate combines strong artistic taste with deep understanding of timing, motion psychology, and production scalability.

This is a leadership role requiring both creative direction and execution excellence.

Key Responsibilities

1. Visual Direction & Style Leadership

• Define and maintain a cohesive visual identity across game titles
• Establish art standards, style guides, and asset quality benchmarks
• Balance visual richness with clarity and performance constraints
• Elevate brand consistency while supporting diverse themes

2. Animation & Motion Systems

• Lead creation of real-time animations and dynamic visual effects
• Design reward presentation moments with strong impact and pacing
• Craft motion systems that reinforce excitement and engagement
• Oversee particle effects, transitions, UI animations, and feedback loops
• Ensure animations remain optimized for performance across devices

3. Production & Pipeline Optimization

• Build scalable art pipelines for high-volume content output
• Collaborate closely with engineering for asset integration
• Ensure efficient file structures and reusable animation components
• Maintain visual quality while meeting aggressive release timelines

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Game Design to align visual impact with system mechanics
• Translate probability-driven events into emotionally resonant visual moments
• Support QA with visual logic validation
• Contribute to early prototyping and feature concept visualization

5. Team Leadership

• Mentor and review artists and animators
• Set quality benchmarks and conduct regular asset reviews
• Improve workflow efficiency and reduce iteration cycles
• Identify tooling improvements (including AI-assisted pipelines)

Required Skills

• 6+ years in digital game art and animation
• Proven experience in real-time animation systems
• Strong understanding of timing, pacing, and reward psychology
• Expertise in Spine / After Effects / Unity animation tools (or equivalent)
• Experience designing high-impact visual feedback moments
• Ability to balance spectacle with clarity
• AI-assisted art production workflow experience

Preferred

• Experience designing effects-heavy, high-frequency interactive products
• Strong understanding of UI/UX motion design
• Familiarity with performance optimization for web/mobile platforms
• Experience leading multi-title production pipelines