Associate Art Director

Activision Blizzard • Santa Monica, CA

3d • $126,800 - $234,580 • Onsite

About The Position

As an Associate Art Director, you will partner closely with the creative team to help establish, communicate, and maintain the visual quality for a mobile 3d project. You will provide creative oversight across all visual disciplines—including character, enemy, environment, animation, VFX, UI, and concept—helping ensure the game delivers a cohesive, high-quality experience that feels authentic to an established IP. You will work closely with internal teams and development partners, reviewing content throughout production, providing clear and actionable feedback, and helping guide the project toward its creative and quality goals. This role is based in our Santa Monica, CA office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional game development experience, including experience in a senior, lead, supervisory, or art direction role
• Strong artistic judgment with the ability to evaluate and provide meaningful direction across multiple visual disciplines.
• Strong understanding of 3D game art, visual development, and contemporary game production.
• Demonstrated flexibility across a broad range of visual styles, with particular strength in stylized art direction and the ability to adapt to varied aesthetic targets.
• Experience collaborating with external developers, outsourcing partners, or distributed teams.
• Strong understanding of IP and brand stewardship, with the ability to balance established franchise expectations with a project’s unique visual identity.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills.

Nice To Haves

• Mobile development, Unity, and shipped-title experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Creative Director to maintain the project’s artistic vision, visual identity, and overall quality bar.
• Provide creative oversight and feedback across character, enemy, environment, animation, VFX, UI, concept, and other visual disciplines.
• Serve as a steward of the IP, ensuring content feels authentic to its core visual language, tone, and brand pillars while supporting the project’s unique stylized identity.
• Review concepts, WIPs, milestone submissions, and game content, providing clear, actionable creative feedback.
• Assist in creating art direction notes, paintovers, reference, benchmarks, and feedback packages for internal teams and development partners.
• Collaborate with Design, Production, Marketing, and other stakeholders to ensure visual direction supports broader creative and product goals.
• Create or contribute to concepts, paintovers, mockups, presentation materials, and other visual content as needed to communicate direction or support the project.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others
• Relocation assistance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed