Associate Art Director - Characters | Directeur.trice Artistique Associé.e – Personnages

NBCUniversal is seeking an experienced Associate Art Director – Characters to lead, define and drive the visual direction and consistency of characters for an ambitious new interactive entertainment experience. This role is responsible for ensuring that the full character ecosystem, including hero characters and large-scale population systems, achieves a high level of quality, cohesion, and scalability. Reporting to the Art Director, the Associate Art Director – Characters will work closely with Character Art Leads, Technical Art, and cross-disciplinary teams to ensure alignment across pipelines, systems, and production goals. The role involves leading and managing Character Art Leads while providing high-level direction, establishing standards, and maintaining consistency across internal teams and external partners.

Responsibilities

Define and communicate the visual direction for characters across the full project; Ensure consistency and quality across the full character ecosystem (hero characters and crowd systems); Lead and manage Character Art Leads and Review Artists, providing mentoring, direction, feedback, and alignment; Review assets and validate quality to ensure alignment with artistic and technical standards; Drive cross-discipline collaboration with Animation, Design, Tech Art, and Lighting teams; Ensure alignment between art direction, production constraints, and scalable pipelines; Maintain visual consistency across internal production and external partners; Identify risks and guide teams to deliver quality at scale across large production environments

Requirements

Extensive experience (10+ yrs) in AAA game development with a focus on character art; Proven experience leading multiple teams or disciplines on published AAA title; Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality character work and artistic direction; Strong understanding of modular character pipelines and real-time production workflows; Experience working with large-scale character systems including crowd or customization pipelines; Strong experience with real-time engines; Solid comprehension of technical constraints allowing scalability on multiple platforms, from high-end to mobile; Ability to translate artistic vision into clear direction for teams; Excellent leadership, communication, and collaboration skills; Must be willing to work in our Montreal office a minimum of 4 days a week; Must be legally authorized to work in Canada; Must be willing to travel for work related business, if necessary

Nice to have

Experience defining artistic vision and ability to maintain a scalable and cohesive character style identity on large-scale and open-world productions; Strong understanding of scalable character systems and production constraints; Experience working with outsourcing partners and distributed teams; Strategic mindset with strong prioritization and alignment skills; Strong sensitivity to realism, diversity, and character representation; Deep understanding of the gaming industry, current trends and player preferences; Excellent communication and natural practice of positive leadership skills and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment; Passion for storytelling through character design; Desire to think and explore innovative solutions; Unreal Engine 5 and Metahuman experience is a plus