Senior Lead Motion Designer

Red Door Collaborative•Seattle, WA

1d•Remote

About The Position

Red Door Collaborative is a creative agency serving enterprise tech organizations and SMBs with visual design, content, and motion work. We're a small, human-centered team — highly collaborative, quietly intense, and genuinely good at what we do. We're also evolving: AI is reshaping our industry, and we're leaning into it as a tool that enhances our work rather than replaces the people doing it. We're rooted in SoCal and the PNW, but we're a fully remote team of creatives. We work Pacific hours and meet in person rarely — this is a real remote role, not a "remote for now" situation. This role requires someone who can lead motion design with craft and conviction in a remote environment — directing a team of animators, representing the discipline to clients, and delivering work that moves without the benefit of being in the same room. We're hiring a Senior Lead Motion Designer to own motion design at Red Door — leading the discipline, setting the quality bar, and representing motion to our clients and prospects. In this role you'll lead a small team of full-time animators and a rotating group of individual collaborators, and you'll also get your hands into the work when capacity and complexity demand it. The split between directing and doing will flex with project load — this isn't a role where you've fully stepped back from the craft. But your primary responsibility is the discipline: the team, our standards, and the client relationships. On the client side, this role goes beyond execution. You'll be a key voice in how Red Door presents and sells motion design — identifying opportunities to expand motion work within existing accounts, articulating the value of motion in client conversations, and helping prospective clients understand what's possible. You'll report to our Associate Creative Director and work alongside Creative Project Managers, discipline leads in Visual Design and Content, and our small but mighty team of creatives delivering excellent work, day after day.

Requirements

7 + years of professional motion design experience — creating animatics, motion graphics, and branded motion for real clients in a production workflow.
Led or mentored other animators or motion designers — this isn't a first-time leadership role.
Agency experience — embedded in it. Know the pace, the client dynamics, and the particular pressure of delivering motion work on deadline.
Strong proficiency in Adobe After Effects and working familiarity with Cinema 4D, Maya, Premiere, and Frame.io.
Comfortable in client-facing settings — presenting work, fielding questions, and identifying opportunities to expand the scope of what motion can do for a client.
A reel and portfolio that shows both your craft and your range — work you made, projects you directed, and examples that demonstrate how your motion thinking serves a client's communication goals.
Experience working with enterprise clients — tech organizations, professional services, large-scale marketing campaigns.
An open, growth-oriented mindset about AI and are curious about how AI-assisted tools and workflows might expand what your team is capable of.

Responsibilities

Lead, direct, and develop a team of animators and several contracted collaborators. Set expectations, give direct and constructive feedback, and establish what "excellence" looks like within the motion discipline.
Stay hands-on with motion work when project load or complexity requires it. Create and direct animatics, motion graphics, branded motion pieces, and UI/interface animation to a high standard.
Review work across the motion discipline before it leaves the team. Evaluate whether the animation serves the client's intent, tells the story clearly, and clears our quality bar. Flag what needs another pass and explain why.
Be a credible, compelling voice for motion design in client-facing settings. Identify opportunities to expand motion work within existing accounts, participate in new business conversations, and help clients understand what motion can do for their marketing and communication needs.
Establish and maintain creative standards, workflows, and production practices for the motion discipline. Partner with Creative PMs to keep motion work moving through production phases without losing quality.
Work closely with the ACD, CD, and other discipline leads (Visual and Content design). Collaborate across disciplines on integrated projects and contribute to how Red Door's creative output comes together.