Staff Motion Designer - 3D

Mercury•Portland, OR

8d•$170,400 - $236,700

About The Position

Mercury is a financial technology company that aims to bring back the care and craft in design that has been lost in modern finance. They are building a brand that feels extraordinary to use, helping people and businesses accomplish more with their money by turning banking from a frustration into a catalyst for their ambitions. This role is for a Staff Motion Designer who will own motion at Mercury, from launch films and product videos to systems and standards that define how motion looks and feels across all platforms. This is the most senior craft role on the team, setting the bar through their own work. The designer will work in 3D worlds, materials, and textures for high-profile brand moments, as well as day-to-day motion, UI, and interaction work. The role also involves defining how AI fits into the motion practice, using it for speed and efficiency while maintaining craft. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services are provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Requirements

10+ years of professional experience in motion design, with a portfolio that shows mastery across 3D and 2D: not just execution, but conceptual thinking about how motion should move, feel, and unfold over time.
Advanced proficiency in Cinema 4D, Houdini, Blender, or similar 3D tools, including materials, texturing, lighting, and world-building.
Advanced proficiency in After Effects or similar 2D motion tools, with deep command of timing, easing, composition, and finishing detail.
Experience building and documenting motion systems or brand guidelines, not just one-off deliverables.
Comfort moving between big, high-craft brand moments and faster-moving product/UI and social work without losing quality.
A track record of art-directing or mentoring other designers, animators, or outside studios. This is a craft-first role, but you lead by example and raise the bar for everyone around you.
Genuine fluency with AI tooling as part of a creative practice, and a clear sense of where it helps and where craft still wins.
Strong communication skills, able to clearly articulate concepts and creative decisions to internal teams, leadership, and external partners.
A natural leader: someone who thrives in a highly collaborative environment where the best ideas drive progress, not the most powerful voices in the room.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to scripting or procedural workflows (expressions, Houdini VEX, Python) is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

Lead motion concepts for major product launches, campaigns, and brand moments, with strong 3D capability across product visualization, environments, objects, and brand worlds.
Build 3D worlds, materials, and textures that give Mercury's biggest launches and brand moments a distinct, recognizable feel.
Lead product storytelling, title design, typography, transitions, diagrams, and UI motion, turning complex products into simple, compelling visual stories.
Define and build out Mercury's motion design system: principles for typography, pacing, transitions, product UI, sound, and interaction, plus reusable behaviors and templates that don't feel templated.
Explore motion in interactive contexts, and bring an informed point of view on where AI tooling can extend the team's speed and craft without flattening it.
Build and champion AI-assisted workflows for motion and 3D, from generative pre-vis and storyboarding to texture, world, and asset generation, and share what's working with the rest of Brand Studio.
Evaluate new AI creative tools as they emerge and make the call on which are worth adopting into the team's pipeline versus which compromise craft.
Partner with Design, Writing, Narrative, and Production from concept through delivery, and act as a key cross-functional player on the brand's biggest moments.
Personally lead high-level 3D and motion craft while art-directing specialist animators, 3D artists, and studios when additional depth or scale is needed.
Raise the motion craft of the broader Brand Studio through partnership, critique, and example: set the standard by doing the work, not just defining it.
Protect craft and coherence across every moving expression of the brand, from a 30-second launch film to a UI micro-interaction.