About the role
Reporting Structure
- Reporting To: Creative Director
Location
- Santa Monica, CA
- Work Schedule: Onsite, four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.
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. 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.
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.
Preferred Qualifications
- Mobile development experience.
- Unity experience.
- Shipped-title experience.
Company Overview
Activision is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products. The company creates iconic brands in gaming and entertainment, home to franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Guitar Hero. The company focuses on delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for the global player community and maintains bold ambitions to create an inclusive work environment.
Compensation
- Annual Base Pay Range: $126,800.00 - $234,580.00.
- Note: Values reflect the expected base pay range for new hires across all U.S. locations. Specific offers are based on factors including relevant experience, performance, and work location.
- Incentive Compensation: Employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation (not guaranteed). New hire compensation is negotiable.
Benefits
Subject to eligibility requirements, the company offers a comprehensive benefits package including:
- Insurance: Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance.
- Financial Wellness: 401(k) with Company match, health savings account (HSA) or health reimbursement account (HRA), healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching.
- Time Off: Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave.
- Health & Lifestyle: Mental health and wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games.
- Other: Voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance.
- Relocation: Eligibility for relocation assistance if the company requires a geographic move for the role.