The Initiative is a new first-party game studio located in Santa Monica backed by Microsoft. Our studio is about craft, creating story, innovating, and looking ahead to the next big thing.
We are looking for collaborative problem solvers who want to dive into something new and create groundbreaking experiences for our players. Join us for this once in a career opportunity to help build the studio, define our culture, and create an environment to attract world-class talent.
The Initiative has an immediate opening for a visionary Art Director to build and lead our studio’s art department. The Art Director needs to be able to clearly communicate and maintain their artistic vision across all art disciplines and align that with project goals and ambitions. We're looking for someone with a proven history in creating a unique artistic story with the shared ambitions of others, while challenging how games are crafted.
Responsibilities
- Define the vision for the art teams consisting of different disciplines and levels of experience
- Ability to make a direct contribution to the creation of art visualization through hands on examples
- Collaborate with Creative Director, Tech, and Production teams to deliver on key milestones
- Actively accepts and provides direction to the art team
- Ability to work with the Creative Director to ensure consistency between vision of all art and game design
- Influence the technical and aesthetic processes in order to realize the vision
- Understanding of modern games and their artistic range
- Excellent communication, time-management and organizational skills
- Task driven, self-motivated, proactive
- Strong leadership and interpersonal abilities
Qualifications
- Exceptional portfolio that exhibits personal and project artistic accomplishments
- Exceptional visual and technical understanding in rendering and asset creation
- 6+ years art direction leadership experience across industry leading AAA games or entertainment
PORTFOLIO SUBMISSIONS
- Examples of personal and professional artwork
- Examples of understanding of the work flow of concept to creation
- Examples of work they directed but did not create
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.
Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.
