This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Art Director based in Canada.
The Art Director will lead and scale the art function across a growing portfolio of live-service games, helping shape distinctive visual experiences for millions of players worldwide. This senior leadership role combines artistic vision, people management, and production strategy to ensure consistently high-quality art across multiple games and creative teams. You will coach and empower Art Leads, strengthen organizational capabilities, and establish the standards and workflows needed to support continued growth. Working closely with product, engineering, production, and executive leadership, you will balance creative ambition with technical performance, resource availability, and delivery timelines. You will also oversee talent acquisition, team development, and resource planning across distributed teams and diverse production needs. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced art leader to influence creative direction, build exceptional teams, and help shape engaging player experiences within a dynamic, remote-first gaming environment.
- Lead the overall health, scalability, and performance of the art organization across a portfolio of live-service games, ensuring alignment with creative and business objectives.
- Coach, mentor, and develop Art Leads, empowering them to manage their teams independently while maintaining consistent artistic standards and strong leadership practices.
- Partner with Art Leads to establish, maintain, and evolve distinctive visual directions that resonate with each game's audience and creative identity.
- Maintain a portfolio-wide view of art capacity, production roadmaps, delivery risks, resource requirements, and capability gaps.
- Allocate full-time employees, part-time contributors, and freelance or contract artists across competing priorities to ensure teams have the resources needed to meet delivery commitments.
- Build and maintain a strong network of artistic talent to support evolving production requirements and organizational growth.
- Lead end-to-end art recruitment, including identifying capability gaps, coordinating sourcing efforts, evaluating candidates, making hiring decisions, and onboarding new team members.
- Establish and continuously improve art standards, production workflows, creative review processes, and approval procedures to strengthen quality, consistency, and efficiency.
- Collaborate with Product Managers, Producers, Engineers, and senior leadership to translate product objectives into realistic, actionable art plans.
- Guide creative and cross-functional teams through trade-offs involving artistic quality, technical performance, project scope, and deadlines.
- Oversee art production across multiple games, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery against roadmap commitments without relying on sustained overtime or crunch.
- Manage the performance and development of the art leadership team through regular feedback, coaching, performance evaluations, and appropriate performance improvement measures.
- Ensure technical art standards support visual excellence while maintaining reliable performance across supported devices and platforms.
- Support the development of scalable operating models for distributed, international teams working across multiple markets and time zones.
- Promote continuous improvement in production planning, resource allocation, collaboration, and artistic execution as the portfolio and organization expand.
Requirements
- Extensive experience leading an art organization responsible for multiple games, products, or teams simultaneously, with accountability for artistic quality, production capacity, delivery, and overall performance.
- Demonstrated experience managing a sizable art organization, including teams of at least 25 full-time employees and direct management of multiple Art Leads or other art people managers.
- A strong track record of coaching and developing Art Leads into effective, independent leaders, supported by substantial people management experience, including performance feedback, improvement plans, and difficult personnel decisions.
- Proven ability to oversee distinct visual directions across multiple games or products, maintaining high artistic standards while adapting to different styles, audiences, and creative objectives.
- Strong artistic and technical expertise across 3D art, animation, 2D art, and technical art, including direct leadership experience with teams responsible for 3D asset production.
- Experience establishing technical art standards that balance visual quality, asset optimization, and performance requirements across supported devices.
- Extensive experience in art production management, portfolio-level capacity planning, resource allocation, and coordination of full-time and contract talent across competing priorities.
- Demonstrated success delivering high-quality art against production roadmaps and deadlines without depending on sustained crunch.
- Experience leading art teams in a live-service gaming environment with frequent content releases, updates, and ongoing player engagement.
- End-to-end recruitment experience, including identifying skill gaps, partnering with recruiters, sourcing talent, evaluating artistic and technical capabilities, and making hiring decisions.
- Experience scaling art teams using a combination of permanent employees, part-time contributors, and freelance or contract artists.
- Experience managing distributed, international teams across multiple regions and time zones.
- Strong leadership, communication, collaboration, and decision-making skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders across creative, technical, product, and business functions.
- A strategic and adaptable mindset, with the ability to balance creative ambition, operational efficiency, team development, and organizational growth.
- Experience serving as the senior-most leader of an art organization and reporting to leadership outside the art discipline is an asset.
- Familiarity with Roblox Studio, Roblox development, and the platform's technical and performance considerations is a plus.
- Experience leading an art organization of comparable scale and complexity, particularly teams of 40 or more full-time employees, is desirable.
- Experience overseeing art across different game genres, audiences, and visual styles is an advantage.
- Experience with licensed intellectual property or external brand partnerships requiring specific creative guidelines, reviews, and approvals is beneficial.
- An established network of artistic talent and experience independently sourcing freelance or part-time artists are additional assets.
- Familiarity with tools such as Roblox Studio, Blender, Photoshop, Substance Painter, Maya, and Figma is beneficial.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation: Above-market salary designed to reflect the scope and seniority of the role.
- Profit sharing: Participation in company profit-sharing arrangements.
- Stock options: Opportunity to participate in equity-based incentives.
- Retirement benefits: Employer contributions to retirement savings plans, including RRSP, pension, or equivalent programs depending on location.
- Health coverage: Medical, dental, and vision benefits, with additional insurance options depending on the country.
- Flexible paid time off: Vacation time and applicable federal or bank holidays.
- Remote-first work environment: Work remotely, with flexibility to work from home or other suitable locations.
- Team connection and engagement: In-person team gatherings, virtual company-wide gaming events, and opportunities to connect with colleagues across the organization.
- Gaming-related perks: Robux allowances and other gaming-related benefits.
- Professional development: Reimbursement for eligible courses, learning materials, and other resources that support professional growth.
- Creative impact: The opportunity to shape the artistic direction of games reaching millions of players worldwide.
- Leadership and career growth: The chance to build and scale creative teams, influence organizational strategy, and contribute to a growing gaming portfolio.
- Inclusive workplace: A commitment to equal employment opportunities and a workplace that respects diversity and welcomes people from all backgrounds.
