About Us
Nerd Corps Entertainment, established in 2002, is one of North America’s largest privately owned animation studios, boasting a diverse portfolio of award-winning original properties such as Slugterra, League of Super Evil, Storm Hawks and Rated A for Awesome. With six shows in production, there is always a genre or character to keep you interested and challenged. But we’re more than just an animation studio. Our 400 creatives build stories, worlds, and experiences for kids that cut across platforms from television to online, games, toys, mobile—wherever kids are spending time. We handle all stages of our process in-house, from the IP creation and development to post-production, finance, sales and distribution, licensing and consumer products, and interactive development, making us a rarity in the industry. Our studio near Vancouver’s trendy Commercial Drive is a vibrant mixture of rookies and veterans, where those fresh out of college can continue learning from mid-career and senior artists, and where every level of experience can make the most of their talent on some of the best kids shows and games in the world.
Leo, Gemini, Emmy…been there, won that.
Come work for an award-winning studio and make cartoons, not war.
Department: Design
Location: Vancouver
About the Position
As the Head of Visual Development, you will play a key role in managing the art direction and show style of some of the coolest new TV animation for kids. Your vision will guide creative that will be seen all over the world, and you will help push Nerd Corps to continually raise the creative bar. This is a challenging management role for an experienced art director looking to take their career to the next level by defining the early visual development of multiple exciting new kids’ shows, collaborating and strategizing with multiple departments—including Development, Interactive, Marketing and Production—to ensure their design needs are met, and hand-picking teams of the best-suited designers and art directors for each project. Your guidance will be key in turning talented artists into great art directors.
Responsibilities
Elevate the creative level of product coming out of Nerd Corps
Define art direction and show style in early development
Keep an eye on the health of the art direction for every production in terms of cohesion and consistency
Find suitable designers to execute the particular direction for each production, and produce concept designs when necessary
Develop and oversee mood boards and inspiration documents to support early concept work
Work with the department heads to strategize the methodology for the established art direction
Assist in selecting the show art director and effectively hand off the development work to them during pre-production
Oversee and support the art team during pre-production
Ensure viability while maximizing artistic objectives
Collaborate with clients, creators, production partners and executives on design work
Attend initial breakdown meetings during pre-pro and provide input on the art department’s point of view
Provide quality assurance on all creative deliverables
Proactively ensure that concepts, designs and desired output are obtained within the project timeline and budget
HR/ Recruiting
Work with senior HR generalist on developing and updating job descriptions for the design department.
Work with recruiter to ensure selected reels are reviewed, consult on the selection of candidates and ensure the design department is part of the interview process
Keep HR and recruiter informed of quality of a new hire’s performance
Participate in other HR/recruiting initiatives as necessary
Education
Oversee the development, maintenance and delivery of training and education curriculum for the design department
Ensure series supervisors, leads and mentors have appropriate materials and tools to train the design department on each production at launch
Crew Management
Ensure that the orientation and onboarding process of new hires is consistent across all shows
Collaborate with production management to determine appropriate design resource level for the shows and staff reassignment
Participate in performance review discussions with directors and PMs as requested
Suggest solutions for underperformers including additional remedial work, courses, probation or termination
Participate in conversations around stretch opportunities, mentorship readiness, courses, conferences, promotions and/or raises for individual artists
Participate in calibration process as necessary both within and across shows; know top and bottom 25% across shows at all times and provide suggestions for management of these people
Participate in career path conversations as necessary; provide feedback on performance review process to ensure it is providing value to the stakeholders
Meet with PMs and directors to ensure quality of new hires and determine further action, including whether to keep status quo, promote, extend probation to further evaluate, or terminate
Lead and facilitate crew meetings with leads across productions
Build trust with key stakeholders and crew
Demonstrate integrity, optimism and positive expectations of others
Monitor team morale level
Lead and supervise new initiatives to improve performance, communication and artistic quality (e.g., weekly team meetings)
Qualifications
5+ years art direction experience in animation or television world
BA/BFA degree in fine arts or commercial arts field an asset
Very strong artistic skills
Understanding of the translation from 2D artwork to 3D models
Must have strong design experience for animation
Must possess excellent communication, interpersonal, and multi-tasking skills
Experience leading strategic brainstorming sessions, creative brief development and creative execution
Excellent communication skills (able to communicate creative and technical thoughts and ideas)
Experience in supervising and training, as well as leadership qualities
Able to set priorities for themselves and others, as well as manage the progress of work
Able to identify strengths and weaknesses of art team
Able to remain flexible and adaptable to meet the changing needs of production
Enjoys working in a team atmosphere and has a proactive approach to work
Excellent management and problem solving skills
THANK YOU to all those who express interest in being a part of the Nerd Corps team. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we receive, we may be unable to reply to all applicants. If we feel that you may be a good match for one of our current openings you will be contacted.
