From dodgeball in the streets to racetracks in your living room, we've always been more interested in asking "what if?" than following a roadmap. Whether we're dreaming up a chaotic game of hide & seek in the dark or putting a legendary space fox back in the pilot's seat, that inventor's mindset runs through everything we do. We make games for people who appreciate craft and a little bit of magic. If you're curious, you'll be in good company.  

Reporting to the CEO, this role will oversee a team of approximately 30+ artists working under a structured hierarchy of senior people managers ensuring the department delivers exceptional quality across all projects while cultivating a strong culture of feedback, development, and creative excellence. If you’re excited about bringing both strategic vision and a genuine commitment to nurturing talent across every level of the art department, we’d like to talk to you!  
 
Responsibilities 

• Leadership & Mentorship 

• As a key partner in building our next generation of creative talent, the Studio Art Manager will work closely with senior people managers to empower their project leads, strengthen feedback loops and ensure the department maintains a strong bench of artists ready for new challenges.  

• Lead and coach senior people managers, ensuring they in turn mentor leads with clarity and consistency.  

• Identify and lead departmental upskilling initiatives, such as targeted software workshops, mentorship programs, and peer review frameworks, to improve artistic quality, workflow efficiency, and cross-discipline collaboration. 

• Champion career development frameworks, succession planning, and skill-building initiatives to strengthen the internal talent pipeline.  

• Setting job expectations for disciplines at every stage; from job postings, hiring, onboarding, year-end reviews, while ensuring clarity and consistency across people leaders.  

• Strategic & Operational Impact 

• Partner with Studio Leadership and Production to define the long-term art vision, standards, and goals for both locations.  

• Oversee art resource planning and headcount allocation across all active projects, balancing creative ambitions with production needs.  

• Partnering with Human Resources and Production to foresee hiring needs based on current and future project needs as well as recruiting, internships, outsourcing, external outreach, and external developer relationships  

• Creative Direction & Quality 

• Collaborate closely with Game Directors, Art Directors, and department leads to uphold the studio’s visual identity and artistic direction.  

• Support creative problem-solving and ensure alignment between creative goals and practical production realities.  

• Culture & Collaboration 

• Serve as a cultural leader across both locations, building trust, alignment, and shared artistic standards.  

• Promote strong communication channels across teams and studios to ensure consistency and cohesion in the art organization.  

• Model empathy, inclusion, and leadership transparency as cornerstones of team culture.  

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in game art leadership or related creative leadership roles.  
• Experience managing multi-level hierarchies within a production environment, with a total team size of 50+ artists.  
• Proven ability to balance creative excellence with operational decision-making.  
• Strong understanding of art production pipelines, tools, and resource planning.  
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; able to inspire, influence, and develop others.  
• Has shipped multiple games in an art-focused role: concept, character, environment, illustration, world-building, etc.   
• Experience using Unity, Unreal, or proprietary engines, software, and tools.   
• Experience with modern workflows and knowledge of the entire lifecycle of a project, for current AAA games both large and small.   
• Excellent collaboration and both written and verbal communication skills.   

Job Location & Compensation Info  

• This is a hybrid or onsite position. Hybrid is 3 days a week in studio.  Our studio is located in Troy, NY. 

• The salary for this position is typically within the range specified below* per year. Please note that the actual base pay may vary based on factors such as your qualifications, skills, experience, and other relevant considerations.  
• Specialist $100,000 -$140,000 USD
• Principal $125,000 -$165,000 USD

Velan Studios is dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about a role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to submit a General Application. Velan Studios is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion, diversity, and providing a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. We seek to create a work culture that matches the diversity of our players.