Associate Art Director, Wordscapes Search

PeopleFun is an award-winning creator of mobile games for players across the globe. We are part of AppLovin, a publicly traded company, with world-class projects, resources, and infrastructure. PeopleFun is a Dallas-based game studio founded and led by game industry veterans, where game developers thrive on collaboration, creativity, teamwork, and fun. Our games are played by over 25 million players each month, and we have a number of exciting mobile games in development to fuel the future growth of PeopleFun.
We believe in bringing People together through Fun by creating the best in class social features and communities in our games that enables our players to engage deeply with other players. Secondly we endeavor to bring our studio teammates together by creating the very best game teams that foster healthy collaboration, incredible productivity, and life-long professional relationships.
Candidates who reside or will reside in the following locations are eligible for this role: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington State.
Job Summary PeopleFun is seeking a versatile Associate Art Director and creative leader for Wordscapes Search, part of the industry leading Wordscapes Franchise. This will begin as a hands-on position that utilizes knowledge in Unity, strong graphic design sensibilities, amazing use of color, combined with a solid track record of shipping amazing titles. You will build an art team from the ground up and collaborate closely with game designers and developers to craft cohesive and immersive visual experiences that resonate with our players and align with our business objectives.
Over time, this may evolve into a more strategic role, while managing a team of artists, and as a compassionate mentor, you will nurture the growth of our teams, cultivating a collaborative and innovative environment.

Responsibilities

• Quickly create and interpret ideas into rough concepts and playable prototypes that can eventually become fully realized in proprietary tool sets - creating easy to navigate, captivating gameplay sequences, and rewarding moments for our players.
• Collaborate with cross-discipline partners from initial concept through prototype and release - iterating and pushing ideas forward, but also knowing when to slow down, and having the craftsmanship ability to polish assets to a ‘Best-in-Class’ release quality.
• Direct, manage and maintain the visual art direction, production quality and asset production.
• Serve as the primary advocate for art on Wordscapes Search, guiding overall strategy alongside the product owner and other cross-disciplinary leads.
• Create and maintain game-art related documentation, style-guides, templates and materials.

Requirements

• 6+ years prior professional experience as an artist within the mobile gaming industry and 1+ years experience directing art on a casual mobile title.
• Demonstrated experience developing art and solving design problems for casual mobile games in Unity.
• Strong eye for art direction, capable of defining motion behaviors and developing a systematic and scalable approach to deliverables.
• Possess expert level understanding of all creative aspects of game development, including UI/UX, visual design, art content creation and overall player engagement.
• Deep understanding of asset pipelines and how to create stages of art to get the team excited, and ultimately implement assets into Unity.
• Maintain an eye for quality with a high level of polish and execution, keeping current with gaming trends and styles.
• Demonstrated ability to operate within high ambiguity, leveraging innovation, creative problem-solving, rapid prototyping & critical thinking to produce positive outcomes.
• Strong leadership abilities with the proven ability to influence colleagues at all levels, from direct reports to fellow executives. Experience creating/adapting style guides and other art/design documentation. 
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate production problems before they arise, solving issues collaboratively and with excellent follow through.

NOTE: Qualified candidates should provide a strong portfolio demonstrating a clear understanding of mobile game art direction, art fundamentals, knowledge of UI and visual design.

Preferred Qualifications

• A passion for games, puzzles and collaboration.
• Proficiency in user flow, graphic user interface and layout.
• Experience with softwares such as Adobe Suite, Figma or another related wireframing software
• Professional experience managing in house & outsourcing pipeline in a live-ops setting.

PeopleFun provides a competitive total compensation package with a pay for performance rewards approach. The expected base pay range for this [CA based or North America based] position is $140,000-$180,000. Base compensation at PeopleFun is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Depending on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical and other benefits.
BenefitsMedical/Dental/Vision Insurance Performance Bonuses401K Match Policy Flexible PTO PolicyWellness Stipend Free Lunch each FridayGenerous Parental Leave & Family-Friendly CultureAnnual Credits for Professional Development & In-App Purchases 
PeopleFun is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about EEO rights as an applicant here. Apply