Skip to content

Animation Lead

  • Remote

Job description

Animation Lead

Zack D. Films is hiring an Animation Lead. This role is all about guiding our animators to produce work that’s unmistakably “Zack D.” in style, quality, and storytelling. You’ll be the bridge between creative vision and final delivery, ensuring our animations are consistent, polished, and aligned with our brand.

The Animation Lead will report directly to the Head of Animation. You’ll mentor and direct a globally distributed team of animators — providing notes on draft animations, setting standards, and ensuring every frame of every video reflects the Zack D. Films ethos.

We’re producing a lot, fast. To keep quality high, we need someone who thrives on managing people, shaping processes, and inspiring a team.

🧠 What You’ll Do

Direction & Review

  • Review animator submissions daily, offering actionable notes that improve both the work and the animator’s craft.

  • Translate abstract creative ideas into clear animation guidance.

  • Maintain and evolve our animation brand/style guide.

Team Leadership

  • Manage and mentor our team of contractors and staff animators, ensuring they feel supported, challenged, and aligned.

  • Set expectations for quality and turnaround while keeping morale high.

  • Run regular review sessions and feedback loops to keep animators growing.

Process & Pipeline

  • Propose and implement systems that reduce bottlenecks and improve animator efficiency.

  • Spot patterns in feedback and codify them into best practices.

  • Ensure deadlines are met without sacrificing quality.

✅ Requirements

  • Previous experience leading or directing animators in a production environment.

  • Strong understanding of motion graphics, 2D/3D pipelines, and storytelling through animation.

  • Experience managing people and giving constructive, actionable feedback.

  • Comfortable working in a remote, globally distributed team.

  • Available Monday–Friday with at least 4 hours overlap with Central Time.

💡 Bonus Skills

  • Familiarity with automated review systems or collaboration tools (Wipster, Frame.io, etc).

  • Strong design sensibility — you know when something “just feels off” and can articulate why.

📈 Success Metrics

  • Animations approved faster with fewer revision rounds.

  • Consistency of Zack D. Films’ animation style across projects.

  • Animator satisfaction scores improve (they feel supported, not nitpicked).

  • Deadlines met with minimal rework.

✅ You’ll love this role if:

  • You thrive on shaping raw animation into final polished work.

  • You love mentoring and watching animators grow under your feedback.

  • You get satisfaction from systems, style guides, and workflows that keep things humming.

  • You want to be part of one of the world’s biggest YouTube channels that’s growing bigger and more impactful every day.

❌ You’ll hate this role if:

  • You prefer being an animator — this is more leadership than hands-on keyframing.

  • You don’t enjoy giving tough but constructive feedback and managing people.

  • You crave variety in a role. This is hard work reviewing video after video. If you don’t love that type of work, you will go mad.

  • You need things spelled out for you in very straightforward terms. Leading these projects is more of an art than a science, and our philosophy is constantly developing and the goalposts do move.

📌 Compensation & Role Type

Part time contractor role. $100 per approved video, $50 / video for training.


💻 Application Process

  1. Apply with Resume

  2. Screening call with Hiring Manager

  3. Paid Test Assignment

  4. Final Interviews 

  5. Training Period

or