[Hiring] Roblox Art Director @Sawhorse Productions

Role Description

We're looking for a bold, visually driven, and hands-on Roblox Art Director to set the creative bar for Sawhorse Productions' branded experiences on Roblox. This role sits at the intersection of brand storytelling, game art, and platform culture, turning the world's biggest brands and IPs into worlds that feel native to the Roblox community.

You will define the visual direction of every experience we build, lead a team of 3D artists, UI designers, and technical artists, and partner closely with clients, game designers, and producers to deliver work that looks incredible and performs on every device. As Sawhorse continues to grow its Interactive division across Roblox, Fortnite (UEFN), and emerging UGC platforms, you'll shape how our work shows up in the spaces where audiences play, create, and connect.

This is an hourly freelance position, with expected availability during PST core hours M-F 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

• Visual Direction: Own and define the art direction for Sawhorse's branded Roblox experiences, from initial pitch and concept through launch and live updates.
• Style Guides and Standards: Establish style guides, color scripts, asset specifications, and polycount and texture budgets that keep every project consistent and production-ready.
• Pitch and Concept Development: Lead visual development for client pitches, creating mood boards, key art, concept sketches, and environment paintovers that sell the idea and set the tone for production.
• Brand to Platform Translation: Translate brand guidelines and IP into Roblox-native visual languages that feel authentic to the community while staying true to partner brands.
• Art Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and review the work of 3D artists, environment artists, UI designers, VFX artists, and animators, providing clear and actionable creative feedback.
• Art Pipeline Ownership: Build and manage art pipelines across Blender, Maya, Substance 3D Painter, and Roblox Studio, moving assets from concept and blockout to optimized, in-engine delivery.
• Performance and Optimization: Partner with Technical Artists and Roblox engineers to balance visual ambition with performance across mobile, console, PC, and VR, including mesh, texture, and lighting optimization.
• UI and UX Direction: Oversee the look and feel of in-experience UI, HUDs, icons, shop interfaces, and onboarding flows so every touchpoint is clear, on-brand, and intuitive for Roblox players.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Collaborate with Game Designers, Producers, Creative Directors, and Sawhorse's commercial production and post teams to align art with gameplay, narrative, and campaign goals.
• Client Presentations: Present creative direction, work-in-progress, and final art to clients and stakeholders, incorporating feedback while protecting the creative vision.
• Marketing and Launch Assets: Direct key art, experience thumbnails, icons, trailers, and social assets that drive discovery and engagement on and off platform.
• Quality Control: Drive art reviews and sign-off checkpoints at every milestone to maintain a high bar for craft, consistency, and on-time delivery.
• Trend and Platform Awareness: Stay ahead of Roblox platform updates, top-performing experiences, avatar and UGC trends, and emerging tools, including generative AI workflows, to keep Sawhorse's work innovative.

Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years of experience as an Art Director, Lead Artist, or similar role within games, interactive media, or branded digital experiences, including 2+ years of hands-on work on Roblox.
• Portfolio: A strong portfolio demonstrating art direction on shipped games or branded experiences, with clear examples of Roblox work and range across multiple stylized art styles.
• Roblox Studio Proficiency: Deep working knowledge of Roblox Studio, including lighting, materials, MeshParts, SurfaceAppearance, and the technical constraints of building for the platform.
• 3D and Design Tools: Proficiency in Blender or Maya, Substance 3D Painter, and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, with the ability to create or paint over assets directly.
• Art Fundamentals: Strong command of composition, color theory, lighting, shape language, and visual storytelling across characters, environments, and UI.
• Real-Time Pipeline Knowledge: Solid understanding of real-time art pipelines, including polycount budgets, UVs, texture atlasing, LODs, and performance optimization for mobile-first audiences.
• Team Leadership: Proven experience leading and mentoring art teams, including in-house artists and external or outsourced contributors.
• Brand and Client Experience: Experience working with brands, IP holders, or agency partners, translating brand guidelines into game-ready visual systems.
• Communication: Excellent presentation and communication skills, with the ability to articulate creative decisions to both technical teams and non-technical clients.
• Platform Fluency: Active, first-hand knowledge of the Roblox ecosystem, player culture, and what makes top experiences succeed visually.

Nice To Have's

• Experience with Fortnite Creative and UEFN, Minecraft, or other UGC gaming platforms.
• Background designing Roblox avatar items, accessories, or Marketplace UGC.
• Familiarity with generative AI tools such as Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, or Stable Diffusion for concepting and look development.
• Experience with Unreal Engine 5 or Unity.
• Background in commercial production, animation, or agency art direction.
• Motion design or trailer editing skills in After Effects or Premiere Pro.

Compensation

$45 - $60 per hour

EEO Statement

Sawhorse Productions is an equal employment opportunity employer. All employees and applicants are evaluated on the basis of their qualifications, consistent with applicable state and federal laws. In addition, Sawhorse Productions will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Sawhorse Productions will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and federal law.