Art and Animation Manager

Sago Mini is an award-winning publisher of preschool apps and toys worldwide. We are supported by a team of artists, designers, developers, product managers, thinkers, and doers devoted to play. With over 100 million downloads and three subscription services featuring 45+ apps, Sago Mini brings thoughtful design to life for kids and parents worldwide. Along with Toca Boca and Originator, we’re part of the Piknik family – a collection of top-rated apps for kids in one subscription. 

About the Role

Our team is looking for an Art and Animation Manager to guide and mentor our team. If you are energized by helping people grow and want to work on products you can be proud of, then you'll love working with us, and we can't wait to hear from you.

You’ll thrive in this role if you…

• You are at a point in your career where you get more energy from helping others do their best work versus doing the work yourself.
• Have a flair for visual design and an attentive eye for all the little details that go into making great experiences.
• Love making beautiful things.
• Enjoy working in a startup-like environment that is regularly evolving and often requires you to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Proactively seek out problems, find ways to minimize complexity, and encourage experimentation.
• Get excited about making digital games that delight kids and parents around the world.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Meet regularly with Artists and Illustrators in 1:1s, allowing individual voices to be heard, and collaboratively find solutions or improvements to our way of doing things.
• Conduct regular performance reviews by soliciting feedback of team members and presenting it to artists, with the goal of continuous improvement in their hard and soft skills.
• Work with the Design Director in achieving our quarterly business goals for the creative team. 
• Work with artists to identify professional development opportunities relevant to their career growth, and equip them with the tools needed. 
• Create and facilitate a training and coaching program for more junior staff to learn skills and gain perspective from more experienced staff within the creative disciplines of the company. 
• Act as an ambassador for Sago Mini within the creative industries, doing speaking engagements and connecting with art and design schools to put us on the radar as an amazing place to work.
• Support the team in their understanding of the customer, knowing the role their work plays in the customer experience and how to design for that. 
• Collaborate and assist in the high level planning process for ongoing content projects. Be an advocate for those working on the day to day, provide insights and work to find solutions with the project managers.
• Self-initiate projects and programs that can support the team to do their best work, connected to high level business goals. 

Qualifications and Skills

• 5+ years of experience managing a high-performing team of three or more Artists in either a people manager or team lead capacity.
• Having a high emotional intelligence. You understand what it takes to build great relationships, reduce team stress, and encourage collaboration. 
• Ability to look at a piece of artwork and articulate why it "feels" good or bad.
• Experience creating visual assets for digital and print media.
• Impeccable attention to detail and creative problem solving skills.
• Strong design and layout skills.
• Strong proficiency and experience with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

About the Process

• Once you apply, you'll receive an email confirming that we've received your application. After we've had a chance to review your application (1-2 weeks), we'll reach out to let you know what the next steps are.
• If you are moving ahead, your first interview will be a 30 min interview where we'll learn more about you and answer any questions you have about the role.
• In your second interview, you meet with a cross-functional group of Sago Mini members for 1hr. You'll discuss your experience and let us know what you're excited to tackle next in your career.
• Next, we will ask you to complete a short take-home assignment that will assess your technical art skills.
• Your fourth and final interview will be a 1.5hr technical interview where we will explore your technical experiences through questions/answers and a live exercise.

We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

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Based in Toronto, Sago Sago Toys is a subsidiary of Spin Master Limited a leading global children’s entertainment company that creates, designs and manufactures a diversified portfolio of innovative toys, games, products and entertainment properties. We hire humble and collaborative people who care about doing great work. Sago Mini is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity at our company.