Art Department Director

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Requisition ID:

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Your Mission

Raven Software is looking for a talented new Art Department Director. This is a Department Director-level position. As a critical member of the leadership team, you will be responsible for overseeing the Art department across multiple projects, helping to shape the future of our studio and the Call of Duty franchise.

This role requires a leader who can balance creative excellence with human-centered leadership—someone who builds trust across experience levels, develops future leaders, and inspires accountability through empathy and clarity.

Qualified candidates will have proven game development experience and the leadership skills essential for managing large teams and supporting multiple projects, while maintaining clear and constant communication with collaborators throughout the organization. Your time will be dedicated to helping both the artists and the team achieve the best possible outcomes through our collective efforts.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, and the home studio for this role is in Middleton, WI.

Your Responsibilities

With the Art Team:

• Demonstrate a passion for creating a highly functional, proactive art team through team leadership, career growth & mentorship, and open honest communication. 
• Promote a collaborative environment by aligning individual goals with team success and encouraging input from diverse perspectives, regardless of title or tenure.
• Understand each artist’s abilities and areas of improvement. Propose learning and development resources to grow artists’ abilities in conjunction with team needs.
• Grow future leaders by clearing roadblocks, empowering the team to have autonomy, authority, and accountability over their work.
• A deep understanding of what makes a AAA game, as well as the art skills needed to deliver on those expectations, challenging team growth.
• Onboard new Art Team members and develop/execute a Game Art Training Program to keep team up to date on new tools, practices and technologies.
• Provide leadership on art trends and patterns. Capitalize on this knowledge to champion development of innovative products.
• Foster a culture of inclusion, and collaboration.
• Facilitate performance management life cycle for the art team including goal setting, quarterly check-ins, and year end performance reviews

With the Game Teams:

• Identify pain points in workflow, tools, and pipelines.  Work with relevant disciplines to propose solutions. 
• Work closely with cross-disciplinary peers to understand the needs and workflows of each group, while also identifying overlaps and blind spots.
• Foster mutual respect and understanding across disciplines and actively surface and resolve friction points with empathy and diplomacy.

Project & Studio:

• Be able to inspire team members, peers, and Executives through qualitative feedback of our games.
• Work with project leadership teams to understand project needs and pivots, while providing proactive solutions in collaboration with art leadership.
• Provide risk assessments and scoping for teams in partnership with production teams.
• Partner with the Production department, Art Leads, and Recruiting regarding staffing and hiring.
• Ensure best practices and technical documentation are maintained and used.

Other Considerations:

• Stay up to date with outside studio and industry tools and technology.
• A proactive mindset and the willingness to reach out to partner studios and central teams to build best practices within the studio.
• The ability to lead through curiosity and influence.
• Apply a humble approach to problem solving.
• Lead with curiosity, humility, and a people-first mindset, especially when balancing creative standards with team dynamics.
• The ability to propose scalable, robust visions for the future of the Art family.

Player Profile

• 12+ years of experience shipping AAA titles, with at least 4+ in art leadership roles. 
• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills.
• Experience advocating for and managing change.
• Ability to communicate art vision and to align vision within the team. 
• Extensive player experience with games, including action, FPS, open world, and online titles. 
• Extraordinary self-motivation and initiative, and a positive attitude in the face of challenges. 

Your Platform

Founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel in Middleton, Wisconsin, Raven Software began as a small studio focused on crafting fantasy and role-playing games. Since then, our award-winning portfolio has grown to include beloved titles such as Hexen, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and - for the past 15 years - major contributions to the critically acclaimed Call of Duty® franchise. As the lead developers behind Call of Duty: Warzone and the force behind the campaigns of the Black Ops series, most recently Black Ops 6, we have established ourselves as a key player in shaping the FPS genre and pushing the boundaries of what games can achieve.

Our motto, “Our Work Speaks For Us,” symbolizes the dedication and passion that drives everything we do. We’ve built a team rooted in respect, collaboration, and a shared focus on what’s best for the game. We prioritize ambition balanced with care, direct communication, and a culture free of egos. By fostering innovation and owning our mistakes, we continually push boundaries to create unforgettable games for our players. As a studio located in Middleton - a suburb of Madison consistently ranked among the best places to live - we offer a thriving, supportive environment paired with exceptional quality of life.

As we grow and enter the next chapter of our journey, we’re looking for talented individuals eager to pave new ground in our industry. If you’re ready to work with a world-class team, we’d love to hear from you.

Job Opportunities: https://careers.ravensoftware.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raven-software/

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization. 

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up. 

Ready to Activate Your Future? 

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.  

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, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics. 

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest. 

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.