Art Director

The Art Director oversees all 2D-3D art/illustration projects and staff and is responsible for the overall quality of work and assets produced by the artists from concept to completion. The Art Director will act as a leader in contributing to the game’s visual strategy and vision, and work closely with the all the relevant cross-functional teams and personnel (Production, Design, UI, Engineering, QA, Marketing / Sales) to establish and maintain the visual integrity, brand standards, and consistency for Grab games.

Responsibilities

  • Define visual and art standards/systems and ensure all creative material is consistent
  • Accurately distinguish which art issues are critical
  • Create and evaluate multiple concepts and solutions for various projects and determine which ideas are worth pursuing
  • Identify inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement within the creative process
  • Manage projections and assignments of all art projects, own the art assets and projects pipeline from start to finish
  • Ensure accuracy of art scope, schedule, and budget
  • Develop and sign off on creative estimates and ensure high quality execution of all deliverables
  • Establish, communicate, and manage department objectives to meet project schedules
  • Educate, liaise and facilitate communication with Design, Engineering, Production, QA, Marketing / Sales, Biz Dev, Legal and all other internal groups regarding art
  • Own the development, maintenance, and vision for art direction
  • Direct the evolution and maintenance of art pipeline workflow
  • Guide and mentor team: hire, induct, and manage team members, freelancers and external studios as needed
  • Research, explore, and communicate best practices in art and discern which competitive ideas are most effective; lead the development of goals, standards, processes and feedback mechanisms
  • Lead formal and informal critique, and provide effective feedback
  • Develop/manage expense budgets, adjusting cost estimates on an ongoing basis
  • Develop and provide continuous quality improvement on processes for planning, execution, approval and reporting

Required Knowledge, Skills and Experience

  • 7 – 10 years of professional experience and advanced leadership including communication and project management skills is required, with a minimum of 5 years as a senior level professional
  • Bachelor’s degree in Arts, Graphic Arts, or related field is required and / or equivalent experience
  • Solid experience in the entertainment and/or video game / interactive markets
  • Demonstrable mastery of illustration, animation, graphic design – with versatility, including: backgrounds, characters and UI elements
  • Successful track record in developing, mentoring and managing multidisciplinary art teams
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams
  • Demonstrated ability to make compromises while maintaining art quality
  • Solid understanding/philosophy of game development and the realities of production from a tech, and design standpoint
  • Experience multitasking on multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines with a strong attention to detail and target quality
  • Excellent grammatical skills and the ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing
  • Expert understanding of art direction and storytelling
  • Applied strategy, brainstorm facilitation, day-to-day shepherding of a project to completion and team collaboration with internal / external stakeholders is required
  • Proven ability to think conceptually and broadly about projects and the brand as a whole, and to develop and evolve creative systems
  • Ability to follow through and see projects to completion, working independently and as a team
  • Fluent in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio) and Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash)
  • Excellent Photoshop skills (CS3-5) compositing, texture painting, tiling, retouch, filtering, scripting
  • Excellent Flash skills including creating optimized movies, buttons, and animation
  • Passion for video games, virtual worlds and social networking
  • Shipped titles and experience in social / mobile / web video games a major plus
  • PLUS: Expertise in Flash Development: Actionscript 2 and 3, object-oriented programming, CPU/Memory optimization, JavaScript/Flash bridging, Cross-browser compatibility

Grab Benefits

GRAB offers competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, and excellent growth opportunities. Our benefits are designed to strengthen our organization by supporting employees' ability to balance work, personal and family life. Through GRAB's exceptional company culture and outstanding benefits, employees have the opportunity to share in the Company's success and have more peace-of-mind and enjoyment in daily life.

  • Competitive salary
  • Bonuses
  • Employee Share Interest
  • Health care coverage
  • Dental coverage
  • Employee Referral Program
  • Paid holidays
  • Paid vacations
  • Weekly Catered Lunches
  • Team member events
  • Office snacks
  • and Video Games