Living World Animation Director (Associate)

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

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Paid holidays and vacation

Job summary

Activision Blizzard, Inc. in Santa Monica is seeking an Associate Animation Director, Living World for Elsewhere Entertainment. You will define and champion the living-world animation vision, guiding ambient behaviors, worlds, and character interactions to enhance immersion.

You will mentor animators, align cross-disciplinary teams, and drive scalable animation systems from concept through polish, balancing creative ambition with technical feasibility to deliver high-quality experiences.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in game animation with leadership on AAA titles.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing creative direction across departments.
• Deep understanding of how animation, AI, gameplay systems, narrative, audio, and environmental storytelling work together to create immersive worlds.
• Experience directing or developing systemic content, such as ambient behaviors, contextual interactions, social systems, crowds, environmental storytelling, or living-world features.

Responsibilities

• Defining and driving the animation vision for living-world systems, ambient behaviors, environmental interactions, and authored vignettes.
• Establishing and maintaining a high creative and quality bar for content that makes the world feel alive, reactive, and full of character.
• Leading cross-functional teams to deliver living-world experiences from concept through implementation and polish.
• Partnering with Design, Engineering, Art, Audio, and Narrative to ensure animation enhances gameplay systems and immersion.
• Translating high-level creative goals into clear direction, priorities, and actionable plans for development teams.
• Guiding scalable animation systems that support emergent gameplay and dynamic world interactions.
• Reviewing work and providing creative feedback to solve artistic, technical, and production challenges.
• Mentoring animators and animation leads to foster collaboration and growth.
• Identifying risks and opportunities early and aligning teams around solutions.
• Driving improvements to workflows, tools, and production practices for high-quality content at scale.
• Collaborating with animation leadership to ensure a consistent vision across gameplay, narrative, and living-world experiences.

Skills

Game animation leadership

Multidisciplinary leadership

Maya proficiency

Animation pipelines

Storytelling & animation

Strong communication

Contextual game AI knowledge

Tools

Maya

Job description

Activision Blizzard, Inc. in Santa Monica is seeking an Associate Animation Director, Living World for Elsewhere Entertainment. You will define and champion the living-world animation vision, guiding ambient behaviors, worlds, and character interactions to enhance immersion.

You will mentor animators, align cross-disciplinary teams, and drive scalable animation systems from concept through polish, balancing creative ambition with technical feasibility to deliver high-quality experiences.