Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to critical and player acclaim. As the most played PC game in the world, over 100 million play every month. Players form the foundation of our community and it’s for them that we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience. 

We’re looking for humble but ambitious, razor-sharp professionals who can teach us a thing or two. We promise to return the favor. Like us, you take play seriously; you’re passionate about games. We embrace those who see things differently, aren’t afraid to experiment, and who have a healthy disregard for constraints.

That's where you come in.

The Art Director will lead and collaborate with multidisciplinary artists - designers, concept artists, sculptors, and outsourced art houses to create premier Merchandise for Riot. This person will have a balance of creative thinking and epic interpersonal skills. Accountable for identifying and communicating a high-quality visual style, you will also force multiply a team of artists and coach them to do the same in relation to product goals and strategy.

You are:

• A True Leader: you know what brilliant looks like and how to successfully lead and coach a diverse team with evolving goals. Whether it's specific brainstorming techniques or 1:1 conversations, unlocking, motivating, and inspiring others is your forte.
• A Creative Powerhouse: either you have a strong personal portfolio demonstrating your deep understanding of branding and tasteful product design, or you're able to insightfully critique and praise existing products out in the physical world
• Knowledgeable: consumer products, digital entertainment, and gaming are your bag. You also have a keen and solid foundation in the licensing and merchandising space
• Managerially Fearless: You set benchmarks with the right expectations and aren't afraid to pivot or kill a project if resources are better spent on more impactful things. You hold people accountable.
• A Team-player with team-first attitude: you own team mistakes and work collaboratively to solve them
• An art translator: you can adapt game-art assets, from pipeline, into industry-specific merchandise
• Communicative and Collaborative: you can understand the strategic goals of a business or product request and can translate those goals to the art team
• Driven: your vision of both craft and an efficient art pipeline is clear and paved, you refuse to let projects pile up, finishing your work with diligence that inspires the most industrious
• Player-Focused: you understand your impact on the player experience because you’re a player, too; you listen closely to the community to better understand their needs

You Will:

• Direct an Art Team to designate and align visual targets and build documentation for scalability
• Align with Production Team to execute on staffing, mentoring, and organizing an industry-leading Art Team
• Identify product risks and strategic opportunities, clearly communicating to team and partners
• Align priorities and develop solutions that deliver quality results within time and budget constraints
• Understand League of Legends products and product goals
• Drive visual exploration to a competitive level and work alongside a cross-disciplinary team (art, design, technology, marketing, logistics, and production) that establishes a project's success criteria. Whether that is first-class collectibles, apparel, promotional art, plush, swag, etc.
• Foster team health, collaboration, visibility, clear goals, and communication
• Be accountable for Art Team results and balance of quality and velocity in art production
• Delegate work across a team that is broad both in skill and in leveling

Don’t forget to include a resume and cover letter. We receive a lot of applications, but we’ll notice a fun, well-written intro that shows us you take play seriously. 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.