Associate Art Director

Activision; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 127,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Benefits package including health

Incentive compensation

Job summary

Activision in Santa Monica, CA is seeking an Associate Art Director to help establish and maintain the visual quality for a mobile 3D project. You will oversee visual disciplines across character, environment, animation, VFX, UI, and concept, guiding the project toward its creative and quality goals.

Based in our Santa Monica office, this onsite role requires strong leadership, collaboration with internal teams and external partners, and a passion for authentic IP-driven visuals.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional game development experience in senior/lead/art direction roles.
• Strong artistic judgment to evaluate and direct multiple visual disciplines.
• Understanding of 3D game art, visual development, and production workflows.
• Flexibility across varied visual styles, with emphasis on stylized direction.
• Experience collaborating with external developers or distributed teams.
• IP and brand stewardship with adherence to franchise visuals.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills.
• Mobile development experience, Unity knowledge, and shipped-title familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Maintain the project’s artistic vision, visual identity, and quality bar with the Creative Director.
• Provide oversight across character, environment, animation, VFX, UI, and other visuals.
• Ensure content aligns with the IP’s core language, tone, and brand pillars.
• Review concepts, WIPs, milestones, and game content with actionable feedback.
• Create art direction notes, paintovers, and reference materials for teams.
• Collaborate with Design, Production, Marketing and others to support goals.
• Contribute to concepts, mockups, and visual assets to communicate direction.

Skills

8+ years game experience

Artistic judgment

3D art & visual development

Stylized art direction

External collaboration

IP & brand stewardship

Communication skills

Mobile development

Unity

Shipped-title experience

Tools

Unity

Job description

Your Mission

As an Associate Art Director, you will partner closely with the creative team to help establish, communicate, and maintain the visual quality for a mobile 3d project.

Job Title

Associate Art Director

Requisition ID

R028122

Job Description

Associate Art Director:

Reporting To: Creative Director

Location: Santa Monica, CA

As an Associate Art Director, you will partner closely with the creative team to help establish, communicate, and maintain the visual quality for a mobile 3d project. You will provide creative oversight across all visual disciplines -including character, enemy, environment, animation, VFX, UI, and concept -helping ensure the game delivers a cohesive, high-quality experience that feels authentic to an established IP. You will work closely with internal teams and development partners, reviewing content throughout production, providing clear and actionable feedback, and helping guide the project toward its creative and quality goals. This role is based in our Santa Monica, CA office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Creative Director to maintain the project’s artistic vision, visual identity, and overall quality bar.
• Provide creative oversight and feedback across character, enemy, environment, animation, VFX, UI, concept, and other visual disciplines.
• Serve as a steward of the IP, ensuring content feels authentic to its core visual language, tone, and brand pillars while supporting the project’s unique stylized identity.
• Review concepts, WIPs, milestone submissions, and game content, providing clear, actionable creative feedback.
• Assist in creating art direction notes, paintovers, reference, benchmarks, and feedback packages for internal teams and development partners.
• Collaborate with Design, Production, Marketing, and other stakeholders to ensure visual direction supports broader creative and product goals.
• Create or contribute to concepts, paintovers, mockups, presentation materials, and other visual content as needed to communicate direction or support the project.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional game development experience, including experience in a senior, lead, supervisory, or art direction role
• Strong artistic judgment with the ability to evaluate and provide meaningful direction across multiple visual disciplines.
• Strong understanding of 3D game art, visual development, and contemporary game production.
• Demonstrated flexibility across a broad range of visual styles, with particular strength in stylized art direction and the ability to adapt to varied aesthetic targets.
• Experience collaborating with external developers, outsourcing partners, or distributed teams.
• Strong understanding of IP and brand stewardship, with the ability to balance established franchise expectations with a project’s unique visual identity.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills.
• Mobile development, Unity, and shipped-title experience preferred.

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We're driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences. We're not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we're forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization. We're in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater - this could be your opportunity to level up.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [e-mail]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for 'Every World' - we've got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

Requirements

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $126,800.00 - $234,580.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.