Hey there! We are looking for an “Art Director” to join us in our relatively new Shanghai game development studio. This is a very unique role in that you will play two roles. Firstly, the role of a supportive art leader working with game artists and ‘studio management’ alike to build a strong art foundation in the studio. Secondly, helping to create world-class art outsourcing capabilities for the Shanghai studio with the goal to expand art production capabilities across Supercell in the long-term.

Responsibilities

• Helps create and foster a strong art culture in the studio which emphasizes craftsmanship, creativity, learning, open sharing and communication
• Facilitates a strong hiring process & training for game artists, maintaining the talent quality bar
• Helps maintain a strong art team health and morale, without micromanaging
• Drives the full establishment of art outsourcing capabilities within the studio, from identifying vendors/freelance artists to delivering final assets to our game teams
• Works closely with game artists/teams to determine & support their outsourcing needs; connecting them to the right external partners, improving art outsource infrastructure, documentation and workflow/submission practices, and managing communications, production schedules and contracts where needed

• Experience working as an Art Director or outsource lead providing art direction and handling multiple art vendors concurrently
• Strong leadership experience but with a ‘supportive leadership’ mindset
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to talk to artists, programmers and business leaders equally
• Experience with asset management and maintaining those pipelines; highly organized
• Experience collaborating with vendors, including generating detailed documentation, video reference, and examples of art asset production
• Pride and responsibility in your work when given the freedom to work independently
• Modesty and respect when receiving feedback from your team
• Travel (including internationally) is likely to be necessary
• Big plus: have been a hands-on game artist at a senior or lead level

Again, we’re not looking for just any Art Director, we’re looking for someone that loves, plays, lives and breathes games. Ultimately your heart beats for game development. You have the mindset to be a supportive leader (as opposed to a top-down Art Director), knowing how to help our game artists to achieve their goals, removing obstacles from their paths, giving them the space to create but also knowing when to proactively lead when you see problems. You will be surrounded by people who will help you become a better game developer each day, inspire you and push you to break mobile games as we know them today. And you will also do the same to the people you are working with.

If you are still reading this and we’ve managed to spark your interest, put together a resume and send over some of your previous work. You don’t need to tell us how good you are, your work should speak for itself. We’d be happy to have you join our talented team, and have you work together with the creators of e.g. El Primo, P.E.K.K.A, Greg, the Lava Hound and the Boom Beach archipelago.