Associate Art Director - Characters (AAA Games)

Location: Montreal, Canada; hybrid work with a minimum of 4 days per week in the Montreal office. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Canada and willing to travel for business when necessary.

Company

hirify.global is a global media and entertainment company producing and distributing film, television, streaming, interactive entertainment, consumer products, and theme park experiences.

What you will do

• Define and communicate the visual direction for characters across the project.
• Ensure quality, cohesion, and scalability across hero characters, crowd systems, and the broader character ecosystem.
• Lead Character Art Leads and Review Artists through mentoring, feedback, direction, and alignment.
• Review assets and validate compliance with artistic and technical standards.
• Collaborate with Animation, Design, Technical Art, Lighting, and other disciplines.
• Align art direction with production constraints, scalable pipelines, internal teams, and external partners.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in AAA game development focused on character art.
• Experience leading multiple teams or disciplines on a published AAA title.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality character work and artistic direction.
• Understanding of modular character pipelines, real-time production workflows, crowd systems, and customization pipelines.
• Strong experience with real-time engines and technical constraints across high-end and mobile platforms.
• Must be legally authorized to work in Canada and willing to work from the Montreal office at least 4 days per week.

Nice to have

• Experience with Unreal Engine 5 and MetaHuman.
• Experience defining visual identity for large-scale or open-world productions.
• Experience working with outsourcing partners and distributed teams.
• Strong understanding of realism, diversity, representation, gaming trends, and player preferences.
• Strategic prioritization skills and interest in innovative character design solutions.

Culture & Benefits

• Work within an inclusive culture focused on diverse representation and community impact.
• Collaborate across internal production teams and external partners.
• Opportunity to contribute to an ambitious interactive entertainment experience.
• Reasonable accommodation is available during the application and recruitment process.

Hiring process

• Applicants must submit an application to be considered.
• External candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview at an hirify.global location.