Character Art Director (Stylized / Mobile | NA Time Zones)
About this role
Character Art Director (Stylized Games | Mobile | NA Time Zones)
Location: Remote | North American Time Zones
Employment: Full-Time / Long-Term
Position Overview
We are looking for an experienced Character Art Director with exceptional artistic taste and a passion for creating stylized characters full of personality, charm, and emotional appeal for an unannounced game project with one of our partners.
We believe exceptional character design goes beyond beautiful artwork. Every silhouette, proportion, expression, and subtle detail should communicate something about who a character is. We want characters that feel instantly recognizable, emotionally engaging, and full of life, even before they move or speak.
As part of our co-development team, you will help shape the artistic vision, establish character quality standards, and guide the creation of a distinctive and cohesive character roster.
You will collaborate across two studio hubs, one in the US and one in Europe, working closely with artists, animators, game designers, and creative leadership to bring memorable characters to life.
This is a hands-on creative leadership role for someone with an exceptional artistic eye, strong design instincts, and the ability to elevate both the work and the people around them.
Responsibilities
Character Art Direction & Visual Storytelling
Define and maintain a cohesive artistic vision for stylized characters, ensuring exceptional quality, consistency, and visual appeal.
Create characters with distinctive personalities, expressive silhouettes, appealing proportions, and memorable visual identities.
Translate character personalities, motivations, and gameplay roles into compelling visual designs.
Establish strong shape language, color relationships, facial expressions, and visual details that communicate emotion and personality.
Ensure characters remain instantly recognizable and visually readable from different perspectives and gameplay camera distances.
Balance simplicity and stylization with enough personality and detail to make every character feel unique.
Maintain a consistent visual language across different characters while encouraging creative variety and individuality.
Hands-On Creative Direction & Quality
Actively contribute to character design through sketches, paintovers, design explorations, and visual feedback.
Guide character development from early concepts through 3D production and final in-game presentation.
Establish artistic benchmarks, character design guidelines, and quality standards.
Review and elevate character concepts, models, materials, expressions, and overall visual presentation.
Identify the subtle artistic decisions that transform a good character into an exceptional, memorable one.
Collaborate with animators to ensure character designs support expressive movement, personality, and emotional storytelling.
Balance artistic ambition with production requirements, technical constraints, and gameplay needs.
Leadership & Cross-Studio Co-Development
Lead and mentor character artists, providing clear, constructive, and inspiring artistic feedback.
Collaborate closely with creative leadership across our US and European studio hubs.
Communicate the artistic vision clearly through references, visual guidelines, and hands-on examples.
Work alongside concept artists, character artists, animators, technical artists, and game designers.
Help align artistic direction, feedback, and production priorities across distributed teams.
Take ownership of character art quality, proactively identifying opportunities to elevate the overall creative execution.
Requirements
7+ years of professional experience in game art, including proven experience as a Character Art Director, Art Director, or Character Art Lead.
Experience contributing to commercially released games, with a strong understanding of full game production.
Exceptional portfolio demonstrating stylized character design, outstanding artistic quality, and memorable character personalities.
Strong understanding of character appeal, visual storytelling, stylized anatomy, proportions, shape language, color, and composition.
Proven ability to create visually distinctive characters that communicate personality, emotion, and intent through design.
Strong artistic judgment and the ability to recognize and refine the small details that significantly improve character appeal.
Experience guiding character art from initial concept through final in-game implementation.
Ability to establish artistic quality standards and maintain a cohesive visual identity across a diverse character roster.
Strong hands-on artistic skills, including the ability to communicate direction through paintovers, sketches, or visual explorations.
Experience leading artists, providing actionable creative feedback, and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.
Strong understanding of stylized game art production and the relationship between character design, animation, and gameplay.
Excellent communication skills and fluency in English.
Availability to work primarily during North American business hours (ET/PT), regardless of physical location, with sufficient overlap for collaboration with our European studio hub.
Bonus Skills
Experience with Unity3D and mobile game development.
Familiarity with pixel-inspired, simplified, or highly stylized visual aesthetics.
Experience directing both humanoid and non-human character designs.
Strong understanding of facial expression design, character acting, and animation-friendly character development.
Experience establishing character art bibles, visual guidelines, and production pipelines.
Experience developing characters for established franchises or original IPs.
Previous experience working in a co-development environment with external creative teams.
What We Offer
Opportunity to contribute to an unannounced game project with one of our partners.
High creative ownership and direct influence over character identity, personality, and visual quality.
Close collaboration between US and European studio hubs, working alongside experienced international creative teams.
Fully remote work within a supportive and collaborative environment.
Competitive compensation based on experience and location.
Long-term collaboration and opportunities for professional growth.
Annual team retreats and a friendly, passionate studio culture.
Ready to Create Characters Players Will Love?
Send us your portfolio and a short introduction. We would love to see characters that demonstrate exceptional artistic taste, distinctive personalities, emotional storytelling, and the creative details that make them truly unforgettable.
Originally posted on Himalayas
