Associate Director, Technical Motion Design

Description

WHY DEPT?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sht done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

Responsibilities

• We are looking for an Associate Motion Technical Director to lead the technical evolution of the OpenAI motion pipeline while remaining an active motion practitioner. This mixed people management, operations, and individual-contributor role is responsible for building the systems that help the team move from brief to delivery with greater speed, consistency, and confidence.
• You will directly manage and mentor Motion Designers across the team, with a focus on technical craft, production judgment, workflow discipline, and problem solving. You will partner with Motion Directors, Creative Directors, designers, Project Managers, Quality Control, localization partners, and client stakeholders to translate creative goals into durable production systems.
• The role owns hands-on pipeline building across concept, build, approval, localization, delivery, and archive. You will create and maintain tools, scripts, templates, component libraries, file standards, review workflows, and automation that reduce repetitive work without narrowing creative possibilities. You will also step into complex production work, debug failing builds, and help the team deliver when technical risk is highest.
• Define and maintain the technical roadmap for the OpenAI motion pipeline, prioritizing improvements that reduce repetitive work, improve quality, and make delivery more scalable.
• Build, test, document, and maintain scripts, plugins, expressions, templates, presets, and AI-assisted tools for motion production, versioning, localization, quality control, and delivery.
• Develop and govern reusable motion components, UI modules, project templates, and shared libraries so teams can reuse approved systems before rebuilding common behaviors.
• Design localization-ready workflows, including responsive layouts, text expansion, structured copy handoffs, automated comp generation, version control, and first-language quality assurance.
• Establish practical standards for file architecture, naming, layer organization, collected project files, dependencies, handoff, archiving, and long-term maintainability.
• Improve the connections between Figma, After Effects, review platforms, trackers, storage, and delivery systems so feedback, versions, approvals, and source files remain traceable.
• Remain hands-on in production by solving complex builds, prototyping technical approaches, debugging project failures, and creating reference implementations the team can extend.
• Directly manage and develop Motion Designers, with responsibility for their growth, performance, daily engagement, and confidence in technical problem solving.
• Coach Motion Designers across the team on efficient build practices, expressions, automation, localization, quality control, documentation, and sustainable project structure.
• Partner with creative and project leadership during scoping and concept development to identify technical dependencies, production risk, reuse opportunities, and automation potential before work begins.
• Evaluate new creative technologies and recommend when to adopt, test, or avoid them based on reliability, maintainability, security, creative value, and team readiness.
• Create clear training materials and onboarding documentation, run workshops, and provide ongoing support so technical knowledge is shared across the team rather than concentrated with one person.
• Track recurring production friction, measure whether workflow changes solve it, and maintain a prioritized backlog of pipeline improvements.
• WHAT YOU BRING:
• 5+ years of professional experience in motion design, technical direction, creative technology, animation production, or a related role.
• A strong motion portfolio or body of technical work showing both high-quality execution and the ability to build systems that other creatives can use.
• Deep expertise in Adobe After Effects, including expressions, project architecture, rendering, troubleshooting, and reusable template construction.
• Experience building or maintaining creative-production tools through scripting, plugins, APIs, node-based workflows, or automation; JavaScript or ExtendScript experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of Figma and Adobe Premiere; experience with 3D tools, generative video, command-line workflows, Python, or render automation is a plus.
• Experience with localization, large-scale versioning, responsive motion layouts, structured copy handoffs, production quality assurance, and delivery standards.
• Experience managing, mentoring, or developing creative team members, with the ability to explain technical concepts to people with different levels of expertise.
• Excellent debugging and systems-thinking skills, including the judgment to choose a maintainable solution over a fragile shortcut.
• Strong communication and documentation skills, with the ability to align creative, production, and client partners around a technical approach.
• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Animation, Computer Science, Film, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• WHAT DO WE OFFER?
• We are a collaborative, open-door, best-idea-wins environment that fosters personal and company growth and has fun doing it. Here is a snapshot of our benefits package:
• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching
• PTO
• Paid Company Holidays
• Parental Leave
• WE SUPPORT YOU BEING YOU:
• DEPT is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We believe our work is its best when our people feel safe and free to be themselves. We’re committed to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process and workplace, regardless of anyone’s identity, background, beliefs, lifestyle or disabilities. So tell us about any accommodations you need. It’s totally confidential and only used to make sure you feel fully supported at every step.
• We are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work . Our hope is that you can feel good about the contributions DEPT is making to the world and we always have an open door for your ideas in making the world a better place.
• DEPT is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI.
• Learn more about DEPT