Job Abstract

Team Name:

At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. ?Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.

We are looking for a Senior Art Director for Blizzard’s next great game. You will be instrumental in the leadership and illustration of the game’s vision. This position would be responsible for building and growing the Art team, establishing direction, consistency, and helping to establish the game’s identity.

This role reports to the Executive Producer and will collaborate with team leadership to ensure alignment and continuity across teams. The Senior Art Director will provide feedback and communicate execution standards to guide the vision of the game; allowing the team creative flexibility and support wherever needed. Finding and maintaining the right balance between quality and efficiency is a top priority - this senior director will ensure that our assets are on time, at our quality bar, and performant in engine.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and drive the creation of the artistic visions for the game.

• Actively support, evangelize, and help evolve the creative direction for the IP in partnership and alignment with the Creative Director and Game Director.

• Align and support Art goals with the Product & Design goals, to ensure art assets deliver on Product & Creative Pillars.

• Accountable for all style guides and world guides, providing the full development team with clear visual direction that is aligned with the product Pillars.

  • Direct and lead the creative delivery of visual benchmarks.

  • Direct and lead the creative delivery of all Art deliverables.

  • Expert Knowledge of UI, Character, Environment, Realization, and Cinema tools. 

• Act as direct supervisor for Art team leads and set standards for Art team members.

• Collaborate with other directors, team leads, and studio leadership to define and help implement franchise and/or studio-wide initiatives.

• Work with Production and leadership to manage project scope including the optimization of resources in pursuit of the highest visual quality. 

• Anticipate future project challenges, spearhead solutions, and set high-level goals for the team.

• Work closely with the Associate Art Directors, Craft Art Leads, and Principal Artists’ workflow and consistent and scalable systems and organizations.

• Actively support, mentor, and manage the Art leads, Associate Art Directors, and their direct reports by communicating department initiatives, sharing best practices, elevating leadership, and contributing as a community member.

• Identify and drive forward next-gen technologies and R&D efforts.

Qualifications

• Have previously been an Art Director, leading the launch of at least 1 new AAA title on console and PC platforms.

• Experience providing strategic leadership for gameplay animation as a world-building leader on AAA titles.

• Proven experience leading a specialized team of artists to meet goals on time and at quality.

• Able to guide an entire development team, ensuring the quality/vision are consistent and the appropriate style over the course of a project.

• Understanding of Open World asset and production requirements.

• Deep understanding and ability to work inside of game engines.

• Ability to evaluate and solve workflow inefficiencies.

• Positive attitude, strong work ethic, and the ability to work in a highly collaborative team environment.

• Extremely strong artistic and interpersonal problem-solving skills.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Experience in development incubation processes, franchise strategy, and tactics in which you have seen great ideas succeed and fail in execution and learned from those experiences.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization. 

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up. 

Ready to Activate Your Future? 

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.