Art Director jobs in United Kingdom

Layer is an award winning professional creative tool which is on a mission to empower game artists with cutting-edge AI tools for generating images, videos, 3D, and audio assets. Our platform helps artists create high-quality assets more efficiently and flexibly, redefining the creative process in the gaming industry. As a rapidly growing startup, we’re looking for a passionate world‑class Game Art leader to help who thrive in fast‑paced environments and want to build products with real impact. This role shapes not just our brand but offers an opportunity to set the industry standard for what high‑quality, AI‑powered game art pipelines looks like.

The role is remote but strictly based in Europe (UK, BCN, Lisbon) or in the US or CA, EST zone. We won’t be able to consider your application if you are not based in these locations.

Layer is looking for a world‑class Art Director / Game Art Lead who can set and enforce the highest creative standards for how our Product, Assets, and Brand show up in the world. You’ll be responsible for ensuring that everything we put out from Layer‑generated art to in‑product demos reflects the best possible artistic quality and resonates with professional game art audiences.

This is a hands‑on Player/Coach type leadership role – part art direction, part pipeline expert, and part AI creative. You’ll shape the visual bar for our brand, guide the team toward quality and consistency, and personally demonstrate how AI can accelerate world‑class art production. As the team scales we expect this leader to manage a team of creatives in‑house and or contractors as well as Layer’s creator community efforts.

• Establish and uphold a world‑class art quality bar across all Layer visuals, game assets, demos, and marketing/brand materials.
• Be the inward and outward facing voice of our customers, representing the unique needs of game developers to improve our products, and helping our users maximize the power of Layer for theirs.
• Lead demo production: bring structure, visual storytelling, and polish to how we show “Layer in action.”
• Represent, mentor and guide the creative team ensuring internal stakeholders understand what “great” looks like for our audience.
• Review and direct all Layer‑produced assets, from 2D concept art to 3D renders, motion, and in‑engine scenes.
• Be a Power user and expert demonstrator of AI‑assisted pipelines, wowing creatives, sharing best practices, and techniques.
• Work closely with internal teams such as Product, Engineering, and UX/UI to push, drive, and evolve Layer’s tools, setting the high bar for Professional AI game art software and pipelines.
• Build documentation, tutorials, and internal showcases that help the team replicate your standards.

• Direct experience from top game studios or art houses known for visual excellence (e.g., Blizzard, Riot, King, Supercell, Tencent, or equivalent).
• Proven track record as an Art Director, Lead Artist, or Game Art Supervisor with multiple shipped titles, ideally across a wide range of game types (Mobile to AAA).
• Strong hands‑on art skills (2D, 3D, concept, environment, character, lighting, animation, composition, video production).
• Deep familiarity with AI tools and workflows (Comfyui, Flux, Veo3, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Runway, Kling, etc.).
• Comfort working in fast‑moving, startup‑style environments and helping others navigate ambiguity.
• Exceptional communication, taste, and visual storytelling instincts.
• Passion for teaching, demonstrating tools, and building creative shortcuts for efficiency, bundled with a confident, comfortable and engaging audience‑facing speaking presence.

If you’re excited about redefining creative workflows with generative AI, we’d love to hear from you! Please send your resume and any relevant portfolio links. Let’s shape the future of game art together.

• 🚀 Execute Pragmatically: We approach work with speed and practicality in mind. We take individual ownership over our work, and we trust each other to deliver, but we avoid working in isolation. We strive to be excellent at what we do and will take time to deepen our knowledge of our craft; the more we learn, the better we can execute!
• 💓 Be Open: At Layer, openness applies to both the business and the people who work within it. We are continually open to giving and receiving feedback and learning new things from each other. We communicate openly and honestly. We are humble and kind and acknowledge that we are not always right.
• 🌎 Artists First: We are building a tool for artists, to enable them to be more creative and imaginative. We make sure that everything we are building serves artists first.

• Equity plan
• Competitive salary
• Laptop / equipment budget

We believe that everyone should work in an environment free from discrimination and harassment. All applicants will be treated fairly and judged solely on their merits. Our recruitment process is open, honest, and fair.