Senior Motion Designer for AI Research Stories

Candidate; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Motion Designer to help tell the stories behind our research. You’ll translate complex ideas into clear, engaging motion across films, launches, demos, and other communications.

Working within the creative team, you’ll partner with Research, Brand, and production teams to shape work from early concepts through final delivery. You’ll contribute original work and reusable approaches that help the team build on what it learns.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in motion design across films, campaigns, launches, or other narrative work.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating design judgment, animation craft, and the ability to carry an idea from concept through finished execution.
• Ability to explore an open-ended brief and refine it through collaboration.
• Proficiency in After Effects and Cinema 4D or comparable 3D tools, alongside editing and compositing workflows.
• Comfort working in Figma and sharing work across design and production teams.
• Strong understanding of typography, composition, timing, rhythm, and visual storytelling.
• Experience making complex or unfamiliar subjects understandable through design and motion.
• Experience working with subject matter experts and incorporating technical feedback without losing clarity or creative quality.
• Curiosity about AI and research, and a willingness to learn enough about a subject to represent it thoughtfully.

Responsibilities

• Develop motion concepts for research stories, working with creative partners and subject matter experts to understand the ideas and identify how best to communicate them.
• Design and produce high-quality 2D and 3D motion for research films, launches, demos, and supporting content.
• Apply and extend OpenAI’s visual and motion language, balancing consistency with the needs of each story.
• Take work from visual exploration, storyboards, and animatics through animation, compositing, and final delivery.
• Collaborate closely with designers, filmmakers, editors, producers, and researchers, bringing a motion perspective into the creative process early.
• Translate technical or abstract concepts into visual sequences that are accessible to a broad audience while preserving the meaning of the underlying work.
• Work with producers to scope projects, communicate dependencies, and maintain a high standard of craft as priorities and timelines evolve.
• Present work clearly, explain creative decisions, and incorporate feedback from creative and technical partners.
• Develop reusable assets, templates, and workflows where they improve quality and make recurring work easier to produce.

Skills

Motion design

Storytelling

Collaboration

Open briefs

Typography

Design judgment

Animation craft

Adaptability

Tools

After Effects

Cinema 4D

Editing/Compositing

Figma

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a Motion Designer to help tell the stories behind our research. You’ll translate complex ideas into clear, engaging motion across films, launches, demos, and other communications.

Working within the creative team, you’ll partner with Research, Brand, and production teams to shape work from early concepts through final delivery. You’ll contribute original work and reusable approaches that help the team build on what it learns.