Associate Art Director - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

1d•$185,200 - $258,000

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Art Direction at Riot oversees the quality and management of a team with a focus on Mission, Direction, and Cohesion. In this role, you will guide the art direction for an unannounced project within one of Riot’s core IPs. Your scope spans game art presentation, UI, motion graphics, and VFX, ensuring a cohesive and engaging player experience. You will be responsible for team health, performance, and growth, while driving alignment across engineering, design, narrative, and technical art. You will report to the Art Director. As a Senior Manager, Art Direction on an unpublished R&D product, you will lead the game’s development from prototype through production. You will define how players experience illustrations as interactive elements through motion, VFX, and UI. You will manage a multidisciplinary team of artists and establish scalable pipelines for integrating and optimizing illustrations for digital platforms. You’ll partner closely with other development disciplines to deliver a polished, performant, and immersive product. As part of the creative team, you will help shape product strategy, remove obstacles, and ensure the art supports both gameplay clarity and long-term player engagement.

Requirements

10+ years of industry experience creating high quality game art
Experience managing artists and leads across multiple disciplines like UI, motion graphics, VFX, and illustration
Experience shipping games across various platforms (i.e. mobile, PC, console, etc.), with strong visual direction and execution
Proven collaboration with engineering, design, narrative, and tech art
Strong understanding of visual hierarchy, readability, and player-focused design
Experience working with and adapting existing art assets for real-time applications
Experience building scalable production workflows

Nice To Haves

Experience working on live-service titles
Background in Visual Design or UI design
At least 3 years experience working within various game engines like Unreal, Unity, etc.
Strong foundation in art fundamentals and visual storytelling
Understanding of how VFX, animation, and UI support gameplay feedback
Familiarity with Riot Games' various IPs
Knowledge of current trends in cross-platform games
Portfolio demonstrating strength in UI, motion systems, and interactive presentation

Responsibilities

Set and uphold the art direction across game art presentation, UI, motion graphics and VFX
Define art goals, production strategies, and timelines
Build, manage, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of artists
Lead hiring efforts for the art team including defining roles, reviewing candidates, conducting interviews and making hiring decisions.
Partner with design to ensure strong gameplay clarity and readability
Collaborate with engineering and tech art to build scalable, performant game art
Work with narrative to ensure cohesive and compelling visual storytelling
Ensure high-quality integration and optimization of game art across required platforms
Provide clear direction, feedback, and foster a strong team culture
Establish efficient pipelines for high-volume asset integration and implementation
Manage external partners for game art, animation and VFX work