Senior Art Director - Cinematic Animation Series (Unreal Engine)

Important Note: This is a third-party, client-based position. All details regarding salary, working hours, and other terms will be provided directly by the client during the interview process. Please apply only if you are comfortable with these terms.

Additionally, an initial screening form will be shared as the first step of the process. Only those who are genuinely interested in completing the form should apply. If anyone feels this might be a scam or fraud, they are kindly requested not to apply. The process is transparent, and only serious candidates will be considered

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and highly creative Art Director to lead the cinematic visual direction of an episodic 3D animated television series developed in Unreal Engine. This role is ideal for someone with strong expertise in real-time cinematic production, virtual cinematography, environment aesthetics, and episodic storytelling workflows.

The ideal candidate combines artistic leadership with advanced Unreal Engine technical proficiency and has a strong understanding of cinematic language, shot composition, lighting, camera movement, and visual continuity across multiple episodes.

You will collaborate closely with directors, storyboard artists, Unreal Engine artists, animators, and technical teams to help shape the visual identity and storytelling style of the production.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the overall visual style and artistic direction of the animated series
• Define cinematic mood, composition, lighting, framing, pacing, and visual continuity
• Collaborate with directors, storyboard artists, Unreal artists, animators, and technical teams
• Guide shot design, camera movement, lens selection, and scene staging
• Supervise cinematic workflows inside Unreal Engine using Sequencer and virtual camera tools
• Review layouts, lighting passes, environments, animation shots, and final sequences
• Maintain artistic consistency across episodic production
• Create and oversee mood boards, style frames, look development, and visual references
• Help establish scalable artistic pipelines for fast-paced episodic production
• Troubleshoot rendering and optimization issues for real-time performance
• Coordinate effectively with small remote teams of artists across the U.S.

Required Qualification:

• Strong professional experience as an Art Director, Cinematic Lead, Visual Development Lead, or Senior Visual Artist in animation, games, VFX, or virtual production
• Expert-level proficiency in Unreal Engine
• Advanced experience with:
• Unreal Sequencer
• Virtual cameras
• Cinematic lighting
• Real-time rendering workflows
• Scene optimization and rendering troubleshooting
• Strong understanding of:
• Cinematic camera language
• Composition and shot continuity
• Visual storytelling
• Episodic production workflows
• Experience working on episodic 3D productions requiring quick turnaround and repetition
• Experience collaborating with distributed creative teams
• Strong communication and leadership skills

Additional Required Experience

Candidates must have substantial experience with:

• Slack collaboration workflows
• Microsoft Azure Cloud
• Perforce version control (P4V specifically)
• Generative AI text-to-video tools (please specify tools used, e.g. Sora)
• Small remote creative teams (maximum 4 artists)
• Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
• Responding to or contributing to RFPs (Request for Proposals)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience on animated television or streaming productions
• Storyboarding, previs, layout, or cinematic blocking experience
• Experience directing virtual camera shoots
• Familiarity with motion capture or virtual production workflows
• Experience supervising freelance or distributed teams

Application Requirements

Please submit the following:

• Update Resume/CV
• Portfolio or demo reel