Associate Director of Animation, Interactive & Environment Design

About the role

PBS Wisconsin is looking for a creative leader to guide a dynamic and wide-ranging team. The Associate Director of Animation, Interactive & Environment Design oversees a group of artists and designers working across three interconnected disciplines: animation, interactive design, and scenic and environment design. If you're energized by leading creative people doing varied, meaningful work, and you want to do it in service of a mission that genuinely matters to Wisconsin, this is the right position for you.

This role is responsible for the creative leadership, day-to-day management and strategic direction of a small team of designers and artists. The team produces animated content for broadcast and digital media, builds scenic environments for studio and live production, and leads the station's emerging media work including interactive storytelling and game development. The team functions as an integrated creative unit part of the larger Design department at PBS Wisconsin.

The Associate Director works closely with the Associate Director of Graphic Design & Motion Design and the Associate Director of Digital Strategy & Engagement, collaborating across the broader department to deliver cohesive creative work. This role is also a connector across the organization, working with production, education, operations and other teams to ensure the animation, interactive and environment work reflects and supports PBS Wisconsin's mission and strategic priorities.

We care deeply about the work and make room for joy alongside it. We care about culture as much as craft, and we actively build both. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to be, we'd love to meet you.

Responsibilities

• Researches, evaluates and advocates for emerging creative technologies, media formats and tools that advance PBS Wisconsin's mission and expand the station's creative capabilities, with a focus on interactive storytelling, immersive experiences and game-based content. Brings forward new ideas and approaches that position the organization at the forefront of public media innovation.
• Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
• Develops, implements, and maintains work unit identity, design standards, policies, and procedures to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, and staffing resources.
• Serves as a subject matter expert and liaison between external and internal stakeholders providing information regarding creative design strategies and representing the interests of the unit.
• Develops and monitors creative communication plans and dissemination protocols, workflows, and progress measurements to ensure production adheres to unit objectives in alignment with strategic initiatives.
• Maintains unit budget and financial records to ensure adherence with institution and rules and regulations.
• Creates, designs, and produces artwork per client specifications through various mediums.

Qualifications

Required:

• At least 5 years of experience leading and managing creative teams or direct reports, including providing creative direction, feedback and mentorship to artists and designers of different disciplines.
• At least 5 years of hands-on experience in one or more of the following: animation, interactive media or game design, scenic or environmental design.
• Demonstrated experience leading innovative work, including a track record of identifying gaps, taking initiative and stepping in to provide creative solutions that push the work or team in a new direction. Examples may include experimenting with emerging technologies or media formats, developing new creative workflows, or expanding the team's creative work in a meaningful new direction.
• Demonstrated commitment to building team culture, including active efforts to foster connection and belonging, combined with an adaptability to change.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, including experience working across departments and with a wide range of internal and external partners.

Preferred:

• Background in public media, entertainment, games or a similarly complex production environment.
• Experience with animation production and pipelines.
• Experience with interactive storytelling, game design or immersive media.
• Experience with scenic design, shop tools or live events and studio production.
• Strong project management skills, including experience managing multiple concurrent workstreams, vendor relationships and production budgets.

Education: A Bachelor's Degree in animation, design, interactive media, theater or a related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience will be considered.

Pay & Schedule

• Expected salary range: low $80,000s to low $90,000s. Actual pay will depend on experience and qualifications.
• This is a full-time, 40-hour-a-week position, Ongoing/Renewable.
• Core business hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., with occasional evenings or weekends required for production events and expos.
• This is a hybrid position, with a minimum of 4 days per month in person on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus in Madison, WI. In-person presence is required on a regular, but flexible basis. The final schedule can be discussed in the offer stage, but fully remote candidates will not be considered.
• Remote work requires an approved flexible work arrangement (FWA). A FWA requires successful candidates to possess their own high-speed internet and phone to perform the work on a university provided computer.
• Per University policy, transportation between home and assigned work location is not payable/reimbursable and will be at the expense of the employee.

Benefits

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund. For a summary of benefits, please see https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf.