Art & Animation Director

IllFonic, Inc.; Lakewood, Tacoma (CO, WA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

IP expansion experience

Unreal Engine expert

Job summary

IllFonic, Inc. in Lakewood, Colorado, is seeking an Art & Animation Director to drive artistic direction and visual quality across all art disciplines for a new title.

You will lead Environment Art, Tech Art, VFX, Animation, Lighting, Characters, UI/UX, and Concept Art, mentor talent, streamline pipelines, and collaborate with CCO, Design, and Engineering to ship immersive experiences. The role requires 10+ years in game art with 5+ years in Art Director roles and a proven multi-title leadership

Qualifications

• 10+ years in video game art production; 5+ years as Art Director.
• Led multidisciplinary teams across characters, environments, lighting, animation, and VFX.
• Proven ability to build and streamline real-time art pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain cohesive high-fidelity visual styles and artistic direction across all game assets.
• Provide high-level creative direction and leadership across Environment, Tech Art, Outsourcing, VFX, Tech Animation, Animation, Lighting, Characters, UI/UX, and Concept Art teams
• Partner with Chief Creative Officer, Design Leads, and Engineering to unify creative vision with gameplay and technical goals
• Manage, mentor, and guide art leads and individual artists, fostering professional growth and strong team culture
• Evaluate and optimize art production pipelines and workflows to improve efficiency, performance, and asset quality
• Oversee external art outsourcing partners and asset leads to ensure visual consistency and high visual fidelity
• Collaborate to establish art benchmarks, visual target renders, and style guides for internal and external development
• Actively review and critique real-time lighting, shaders, environments, character models, animations, and visual effects in engine
• Participate in hiring, staffing plan reviews, and resource allocation across Art and Animation departments

Skills

Art direction

Team leadership

Unreal Engine

ZBrush

Maya

3ds Max

Substance Painter

Texturing

Lighting

VFX

Portfolio

Tools

Unreal Engine

Maya

3ds Max

Substance Painter

Photoshop

Job description

About the Role

IllFonic is seeking an Art & Animation Director to oversee the artistic direction, visual quality, and multidisciplinary art and animation teams for an exciting new title. In this role, you will lead and unify visual vision across Environment Art, Tech Art, Outsourcing, VFX, Tech Animation, Animation, Lighting, Characters, UI/UX, and Concept Art departments. You will work closely with the Chief Creative Officer, Design, and Engineering to establish cohesive, high-fidelity art styles, optimize real-time production pipelines, and mentor creative talent to ship immersive game experiences.

About the Company

Founded in 2007, IllFonic is an independent video game developer and publisher with studios in Lakewood, Colorado and Tacoma, Washington. Our staff is composed of video game, music, and technology veterans redefining how indie and middle-market games are made and marketed. Current and past titles / collaborations include Halloween: The Game, Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Arcadegeddon, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Friday the 13th: The Game, Dead Alliance, Star Citizen, Evolve, Armored Warfare, and Nexuiz.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain cohesive, high-fidelity visual styles and artistic direction across all game assets and disciplines


• Provide high-level creative direction and leadership across Environment, Tech Art, Outsourcing, VFX, Tech Animation, Animation, Lighting, Characters, UI/UX, and Concept Art teams


• Partner with Chief Creative Officer, Design Leads, and Engineering to unify creative vision with gameplay and technical goals


• Manage, mentor, and guide art leads and individual artists, fostering professional growth and strong team culture


• Evaluate and optimize art production pipelines and workflows to improve efficiency, performance, and asset quality


• Oversee external art outsourcing partners and asset leads to ensure visual consistency and high visual fidelity


• Collaborate to establish art benchmarks, visual target renders, and style guides for internal and external development


• Actively review and critique real-time lighting, shaders, environments, character models, animations, and visual effects in engine


• Participate in hiring, staffing plan reviews, and resource allocation across Art and Animation departments

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in video game art production, with 5+ years in Art Director roles


• Multiple shipped console and PC titles as an Art Director


• Proven track record leading multidisciplinary teams of artists across characters, environments, lighting, animation, and VFX


• Expert understanding of 3D modeling, sculpting, texturing, animation, lighting, and real-time engine workflows (ZBrush, Maya, 3ds Max, Substance Painter, Photoshop, Unreal Engine)


• Demonstrated expertise in building and streamlining art pipelines for high-fidelity real-time rendering


• Experience directing persistent world or live-service visual content and world building


• Strong portfolio/artstation demonstrating exceptional visual benchmark creation, character/environment design, and creative vision

Cultural Fit

• Collaborative leader who thrives in cross-functional team environments


• Passionate mentor dedicated to developing artist talent and raising team quality standards


• Resourceful problem solver with a hands-on approach to artistic and technical pipeline challenges


• Excellent communicator capable of inspiring artists and aligning multi-discipline stakeholders

Bonus

• Prior experience working with and expanding existing intellectual property


• Deep familiarity with Unreal Engine