Senior Motion Designer

Pony; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Your birthday off

Training and development budget

Flexible working hours

Hybrid working

Job summary

Pony, a London-based branding agency, is seeking a Senior Motion Designer. This full-time hybrid role is anchored in London with three studio days weekly, focusing on brand identities and digital experiences for tech clients worldwide.

You’ll lead motion concepts, craft narratives and build motion systems that reinforce brand personality across films, UI, campaigns and social content.

Qualifications

• Portfolio showing exceptional motion craft and range.
• Strong conceptual thinking before animation begins.
• Excellent storytelling and storyboarding skills.
• Deep understanding of timing, pacing, choreography, easing, typography.
• Strong brand sensibility and how motion expresses personality and emotion.
• Expert knowledge of After Effects and broader motion tools.
• Solid typography, layout and design fundamentals.
• Ability to own projects from concept to delivery.
• Curiosity about AI and emerging creative tech.

Responsibilities

• Develop motion concepts, narratives and storyboards from early project stages.
• Create motion systems giving brands a distinctive personality.
• Produce brand films, launch films, reels, explainers and social content.
• Design animated typography, logo motion, transitions and expressive brand moments.
• Create motion for websites and UI interactions; work with designers.
• Contribute beyond motion with icons, illustrations and visuals.
• Experiment with 2D/3D/AI tools to push creative boundaries.
• Present ideas clearly to clients and justify creative decisions.
• Own projects from concept through final delivery.

Skills

Motion craft

Brand storytelling

Storyboarding

Conceptual thinking

Ownership

Communication

Curiosity about AI

Tools

Cinema 4D

Rive

Lottie

Figma

AI video tools

Job description

Pony is a London-based branding agency creating brand identities and digital experiences for ambitious technology companies around the world.

We work with some of the fastest-growing technology companies in the world, building distinctive brands and digital experiences that help them scale, stand out and lead their categories.

We're looking for a Senior Motion Designer to join our studio full-time.

Motion will be your core discipline, but we're looking for someone broader than a traditional animator. Someone who thinks in brand, story and systems, and understands that motion should never exist just to make something move.

There should be a reason behind what moves, how it moves, when it moves and what that movement communicates.

You’ll work across brand identities, brand films, websites, product UI, campaigns, social content, presentations, icons, illustrations and other brand assets.

This is a senior role in a small team. We're looking for someone who can take ownership, think independently and move things forward without needing to be micromanaged.

The role is based in London, with three days a week in our studio at Design District.

What you'll do

• Develop motion concepts, narratives and storyboards from the earliest stages of a project
• Create motion systems that give brands a distinctive personality and behaviour
• Produce brand films, launch films, reels, explainers, campaigns and social content
• Design animated typography, logo motion, transitions, graphic systems and expressive brand moments
• Create motion for websites and digital products, including UI interactions and transitions
• Work closely with brand designers, contributing ideas rather than simply animating finished designs
• Contribute beyond motion when useful, including icons, illustrations, presentations and other visual assets
• Experiment with 2D, 3D, AI and emerging tools to find new creative possibilities
• Present ideas to clients and clearly explain the thinking behind creative decisions
• Own projects from concept through to final delivery.

What matters most:

• A portfolio showing exceptional motion craft, strong visual taste and genuine range
• Strong conceptual thinking. You understand the idea before you start animating
• Excellent storytelling and storyboarding skills
• Deep understanding of timing, pacing, choreography, easing, composition and typography
• Strong brand sensibility and an understanding of how motion can express personality, meaning and emotion
• Expert knowledge of After Effects and confidence across a broader motion toolkit
• Strong graphic design fundamentals, particularly typography, layout and composition
• A strong understanding of brand, UI, illustration and digital design, and how motion should work within each of them
• High levels of ownership and self-motivation. You identify what needs doing and move it forward
• Resourcefulness. If you don't know how to make something, you figure it out
• Speed without sacrificing craft
• Excellent communication and confidence presenting ideas and responding to feedback
• Genuine curiosity around AI and emerging creative technology

Experience with tools such as Cinema 4D, Rive, Lottie, Figma and AI video tools is a plus, but we're more interested in taste, ideas, craft and how you think than ticking every software box.

This role is right for you if:

• You're not interested in motion for motion's sake
• You ask why something should move before deciding how it should move
• You care as much about the concept and story as the final animation
• Motion is your strongest discipline, but you think like a designer
• You're multidisciplinary in how you think. You understand brand, typography, UI, illustration and digital design, while keeping motion as your core craft
• You can take a loose idea and turn it into something fully formed
• You don't wait for someone to tell you what to do next
• You're comfortable owning your work and making decisions independently
• You're constantly experimenting with new tools, techniques and technologies
• You want every project to be better than the last

What we offer

• Your birthday off
• Training and development budget
• Flexible working hours and hybrid working
• A small, senior team with significant creative ownership
• The opportunity to work on ambitious international technology brands
• The freedom to experiment and help shape how motion evolves at Pony