Art Director

Summary
Absurd Ventures is seeking an Art Director to lead the artistic vision of our new, highly original AAA game universe. This role is central to realizing the existing visual identity of the project in-game, and ensuring that every artistic discipline — environment, character, VFX, lighting, and more — works together to deliver a cohesive, striking, and emotionally resonant experience.

You’ll collaborate closely with creative leadership to translate concept, narrative and design goals into a compelling visual direction, guiding artists across multiple disciplines to bring that direction to life. This is a hands-on, deeply practical leadership role for someone who thrives on building worlds, shaping teams, and pushing visual boundaries through to the game’s release.

Core Responsibilities

• Define and drive the artistic vision for the game, establishing the visual style, mood, and tone in close partnership with the World Director, Design Director, and key stakeholders.
• Translate vision into clear, actionable art direction by communicating aesthetic standards, techniques, and technical requirements across the team.
• Lead the art team through the full production lifecycle, from pre-production through release, maintaining clarity of vision, focus on priorities, and strong team engagement at every phase.
• Review art assets at every stage, from early concepts through final in-engine implementation, providing specific, constructive feedback to maintain quality and creative consistency.
• Oversee the full scope of visual development, including concept art, character designs, environments, props, and VFX, ensuring all work meets the highest quality bar and stays true to the game's creative intent.
• Lead, mentor, and inspire both internal and external art teams, building a collaborative environment that supports creativity, innovation, and professional growth.
• Collaborate with production to develop staffing plans, workflows, pipelines, and schedules, scaling the team appropriately across development phases to stay resourced and on track.
• Partner with design, narrative, and engineering to ensure art direction reinforces gameplay, storytelling, and technical constraints throughout development.
• Work with technical artists and engineers to ensure efficient asset integration, balancing artistic ambition with performance requirements and production realities.
• Represent the art vision in cross-disciplinary discussions, contributing to decisions that shape the broader direction of the project.
• Manage external outsourcing relationships, maintaining quality, meeting deadlines, and staying within budget.
• Monitor industry trends and emerging technologies, identifying relevant innovations and incorporating them into the development process where appropriate.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of leadership experience as an Art Director or Senior Art Director in the gaming industry, with at least one shipped AAA title.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional artistic skill and creative vision, with a focus on game-related work.
• Deep expertise in at least one major art discipline (environment, character, VFX, or lighting) with strong working knowledge across all.
• Solid understanding of game development pipelines, including concept art, character design, 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, and visual effects.
• Proven ability to translate creative concepts into compelling, cohesive in-game art direction.
• Strong grasp of modern game engines, real-time rendering, and art pipelines.
• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to inspire, motivate, and hold a team accountable, including experience scaling and structuring teams during active production.
• Clear, confident communicator who can articulate artistic goals to both artists and non-artists alike.
• Highly organized and adaptable, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment, take initiative, and build strong working relationships at all levels.
• A passion for pushing creative boundaries, exploring new aesthetics, and building worlds that leave a lasting impression.
• Genuine passion for video games and a deep understanding of the gaming industry.
• Exercises complete discretion and confidentiality on all business matters.

Bonus

• Experience developing new IP from the ground up.
• Unreal Engine game development experience strongly desired.
• Familiarity with realistic and/or experimental art directions.
• Comfort working in highly collaborative, creative and narrative driven
• Experience with outsourcing management and vendor relationships.

Description

• Full time job with benefits
• Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA
• Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways

The base pay range for this position is $185,000 - $225,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.