Brand Art Director

This is a Full Time Job


About the Role & Team
The Brand Art Director is responsible for providing artistic leadership across our extensive portfolio of licensed Lucasfilm console, mobile, and pc games. They will lead a talented art department and partner with Lucasfilm Games production and marketing teams, as well as our world-class developers to deliver outstanding and authentic Star Wars experiences for fans and gamers alike. The Brand Art Director leverages both artistic and licensing best practices to provide visual direction and IP guidance to our licensees across all Lucasfilm Games titles.

The Brand Art Director will report to the Senior Manager, Creative Direction.

This is a Full-Time role.

What You Will Do
• Review all art and visual design asset submissions including characters, world designs, and animations, ensuring all assets meet our brand and quality standards.
• Generate clear and concise impactful feedback and guidance in the form of reference guides, written notes, draw-overs, and/or paint-overs with the goal of aiding developers in acquiring a better understanding of our IP while working towards approval status.
• Partner with developers to establish quality and stylistic benchmarks on the target platform, maintaining artistic swim lanes between new and existing games.
• Collaborate with Lucasfilm Games Production and Marketing to prioritize creative feedback, align around a shared vision, and meet our timeline commitments.
• Responsible for the performance and management of the art department, setting clear goals and expectations, and prioritizing games and tasks while allowing team to manage day-to-day assignments and decisions.
• Grow art team's core competencies through talent development and mentoring while building an inclusive and positive team culture.
• Promote cross discipline conversations between our art team and our developers, production, marketing, and franchise teams working towards a collaborative mindset.
• Present a game's artistic vision, style, and execution to our franchise teams; effectively negotiate on behalf of developers while balancing the needs of brand.
• Gather, develop, and provide Star Wars guidelines and reference materials for licensees.
• Provide suggestions for new styles and executions of our characters and worlds while allowing our developers to explore.
• Deliver against our collective product goals and business priorities.
• Partner with our developers to develop style guides, game reference guides, and global pitch kits for new games to be shared across various lines of business.
• Support the Marketing team by providing feedback on key art, logos, and trailers.
• Maintain a deep understanding of Star Wars lore; stay informed on relevant additions and changes to the universe.
• Collaborate with Creatives from across the Walt Disney Games team sharing ideas, best practices, and creative methods.
• Act as creative advocate within the larger Consumer Products, Gaming, and Publishing organization providing valuable insight and guidance around art direction in games.

Required Qualifications and Skills
• Minimum of 7 - 10 years of gaming experience and has held a position of Art Director for at least 2 years.
• 10+ years of experience specifically in product development/production of console/mobile/PC games or other digital interactive entertainment.
• 5+ years of experience managing teams.
• Broad and deep understanding of the Star Wars brand including lore, design, and aesthetics.
• Excellent creative draftsmanship skills with the ability to sketch, design, and digitally paint.
• An eye for vision and execution as demonstrated by a top-rate portfolio or demo reel.
• Broad game development experience building and supporting top grossing, critically acclaimed, or AAA budgeted games on console and mobile.
• Experience developing artwork for world-class brands.
• Thorough understanding of the games licensing business including trade-offs, creative, and production challenges.
• Experience providing feedback to external teams or vendors (domestic and international).
• Adept at problem-solving (both alone and in groups) with the ability to foresee and highlight challenges and provide effective and achievable mitigation efforts.
• Experience operating in a matrix environment with multiple points of contacts; ability to reconcile conflicting information to meet objectives.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple, complex challenges while consistently meeting commitments and deadlines.
• Self-starter, reliable, and passionate about their work and committed to their discipline.
• Ability to think strategically but operate tactically as needed.
• Exceptional attention to detail with a clear understanding of the big picture, always focusing on quality, authenticity, and the intended audience.
• Ability to build and achieve consensus among multiple stakeholders, balancing the needs of the licensee, production, and brand stakeholders; always working towards solutions.
• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, and motivational skills with the ability to maximize individual and department performance.
• Exceptional presentation skills with the ability to present to a diverse set of individuals from different professional backgrounds.
• Ability to travel to meet with partners around the globe, maintain valid US Passport.

Education

• B.A. in Art and/or Design or equivalent education.

Additional Information

Disney offers a rewards package to help you live your best life. This includes health and savings benefits, educational opportunities, and special extras that only Disney can provide. Learn more about our benefits and perks at https://jobs.disneycareers.com/benefits.

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The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $147,900 to $180,730 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
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