Senior Art Director, Motion Design

Apple Inc.; Sunnyvale, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 186,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Senior Art Director, Motion Design in Sunnyvale, CA to lead innovative motion design for marketing Apple’s products, events, and experiences.

You’ll shape brand identities and scalable motion systems across campaigns, ensuring consistency and creative excellence. The role requires 10+ years in motion design leadership, a strong portfolio across 2D/3D, and advanced skills in After Effects, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, Nuke, and Resolve.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience building brand identities and campaigns with motion design as a core discipline.
• Portfolio demonstrating expertise in design foundations, animation principles, motion theory, typography, and visual communication, across 2D and 3D work.
• Industry experience as a lead animator or art director, overseeing the creative development process from concept to final production.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, Media Encoder) as well as Cinema 4D with Redshift for camera work, texturing, and lighting.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the conceptual development and prototyping of motion identities and campaigns from initial concept through final production.
• Design scaleable, foundational motion design systems that meet the requirements outlined in creative briefs, ensuring consistency, clarity, and creative excellence.
• Provide guidance for project teams by setting creative vision, coordinating collaboration, and upholding high standards of craft. Build relationships, rapport and credibility within their team and partner teams to ensure cross functional alignment of creative intent.
• Art direct creative partners including motion designers, digital artists, production designers, illustrators, photographers, and vendors, providing clear guidance and actionable feedback.
• Prepare work for creative reviews with senior leadership, synthesize feedback, and refine motion direction to align with strategic goals.

Skills

Brand identities

Motion design

2D/3D

Portfolio

Lead animator

Adobe Creative Suite

After Effects

Illustrator

Photoshop

Cinema 4D

Redshift

Bachelor's degree

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Maya

Houdini

Nuke

Resolve

Cinema 4D

Redshift

Job description

Sunnyvale, California, United States Marketing

Marcom is the creatively-led global team that oversees Apple’s consumer facing marketing. We ensure the flawless development and execution of world-class communications across all medias and platforms. Every day, hundreds of millions of Apple customers around the world interact with our products. We drive the strategy and creative work that provide both new and existing customers with simple, engaging and inspiring marketing experiences. The Design Team is responsible for the design and art direction of core communications—including product launches and seasonal campaigns—that appear across the Apple ecosystem. Working in a highly collaborative manner, a primary focus of the Design Team is to define the look and feel of all Apple product imagery through experimentation, critical thinking, and extraordinary attention to detail.

Description

The Senior Art Director, Motion Design, creates innovative and inspiring motion design solutions for marketing Apple’s products, events, and consumer experiences. They convey Apple’s message through a blend of graphic design, motion, music, and editorial elements that effectively addresses creative briefs. They create thoughtfully crafted systems for brand identities and worldwide marketing campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Lead the conceptual development and prototyping of motion identities and campaigns from initial concept through final production.
• Design scaleable, foundational motion design systems that meet the requirements outlined in creative briefs, ensuring consistency, clarity, and creative excellence.
• Provide guidance for project teams by setting creative vision, coordinating collaboration, and upholding high standards of craft. Build relationships, rapport and credibility within their team and partner teams to ensure cross functional alignment of creative intent.
• Art direct creative partners including motion designers, digital artists, production designers, illustrators, photographers, and vendors, providing clear guidance and actionable feedback.
• Prepare work for creative reviews with senior leadership, synthesize feedback, and refine motion direction to align with strategic goals.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience building brand identities and campaigns with motion design as a core discipline.
• Portfolio demonstrating expertise in design foundations, animation principles, motion theory, typography, and visual communication, across 2D and 3D work.
• Industry experience as a lead animator or art director, overseeing the creative development process from concept to final production.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, Media Encoder) as well as Cinema 4D with Redshift for camera work, texturing, and lighting.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven ability to develop original motion concepts and prototype them hands-on, balancing strategic thinking and high-level craft.
• Excellent design and conceptual skills accompanied by the ability to guide and evaluate, and if necessary, redirect creative development.
• Experience defining scaleable motion behaviors and visual systems for complex, multi-channel campaigns.
• Familiarity with advanced production tools such as Maya, Houdini, Nuke and Resolve, and how design translates into deep CG production environments.
• Curiosity with utilizing emerging technologies in the design process, such as AR/VR, spatial computing, or generative design tools.
• Proven ability to pitch and articulate complex motion concepts to stakeholders to align creative vision with strategy.
• Able to learn and adapt quickly, capable of flexible creative problem solving in a rapidly changing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor designers, collaborate across disciplines, and contribute to an innovative design culture.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $186,300 and $280,000, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

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