Studio Art Manager

Velan Studios•Troy, NY

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

At Velan Studios, we foster a culture of curiosity. Our games embrace diversity and are fueled by the adventurous spirit of our team. We are the creative minds behind titles like Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Knockout City, Hot Wheels Rift Rally, Midnight Murder Club as well as the VR game Bounce Arcade, and our journey continues! Our studio's mission is to pioneer groundbreaking gaming experiences and reimagine play in new ways. We're committed to pushing the boundaries of traditional gaming, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, and revolutionizing the industry one game at a time. Are you looking for a rare opportunity to help shape the next generation of artists in a growing, mid-sized game studio. If you’re excited about bringing both strategic vision and a genuine commitment to nurturing talent across every level of the art department we’d like to talk to you! Velan Studios is looking for a Specialist or Principal level Artist to fill a role as the Studio Art Manager We’re seeking a seasoned leader, reporting to the CEO, to lead and grow our art organization across Toronto and Troy studios. This role will oversee a team of approximately 30+ artists working under a structured hierarchy of senior people managers, project leads and sub-leads, ensuring the department delivers exceptional quality across all projects while cultivating a strong culture of feedback, development, and creative excellence.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in game art leadership or related creative leadership roles.
Experience managing multi-level hierarchies within a production environment, with a total team size of 50+ artists.
Proven ability to balance creative excellence with operational decision-making.
Strong understanding of art production pipelines, tools, and resource planning.
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; able to inspire, influence, and develop others.
Has shipped multiple games in an art-focused role: concept, character, environment, illustration, world-building, etc.
Experience using Unity, Unreal, or proprietary engines, software, and tools.
Experience with modern workflows and knowledge of the entire lifecycle of a project, for current AAA games both large and small.
Excellent collaboration and both written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

Lead and coach senior people managers, ensuring they in turn mentor leads and sub-leads with clarity and consistency.
Champion career development frameworks, succession planning, and skill-building initiatives to strengthen the internal talent pipeline.
Setting job expectations for disciplines at every stage; from job postings, hiring, onboarding, year-end reviews, while ensuring clarity and consistency across people leaders.
Partner with Studio Leadership and Production to define the long-term art vision, standards, and goals for both locations.
Oversee art resource planning and headcount allocation across all active projects, balancing creative ambitions with production needs.
Partnering with Human Resources and Production to foresee hiring needs based on current and future project needs as well as recruiting, internships, outsourcing, external outreach, and external developer relationships
Collaborate closely with Game Directors, Art Directors, and department leads to uphold the studio’s visual identity and artistic direction.
Identify and drive departmental initiatives that improve artistic quality, workflow efficiency, and cross-discipline collaboration.
Support creative problem-solving and ensure alignment between creative goals and practical production realities.
Serve as a cultural leader across both locations, building trust, alignment, and shared artistic standards.
Promote strong communication channels across teams and studios to ensure consistency and cohesion in the art organization.
Model empathy, inclusion, and leadership transparency as cornerstones of team culture.