Senior Art & Design Career Manager — EA SPORTS UFC

About the Role  Reporting to the Senior Creative Director, this high-level organisational leadership role is responsible for long-term career progression, discipline health, and operational structures supporting creative staff. It leads a department of managers, lead creatives, and individual contributors across multiple art and design disciplines. The role is focused entirely on people leadership and organisational development, including building high-performing creative cultures, scaling career frameworks, navigating industry tool transformations, and mentoring future creative leaders, while day-to-day game deliverable approvals and creative direction remain with the Art and Design Directors.

The team works hybrid/onsite in Vancouver, British Columbia, three days per week from Tuesday to Thursday.

Key Responsibilities   Lead a department of managers, lead creatives, and individual contributors across multiple art and design disciplines.
Provide direct line management, coaching, and career development for Artists and Designers across multiple disciplines, and mentor, develop, and prepare future creative leads and art/design managers.
Define, refine, and champion clear career pathways, competency grids, and promotion criteria studio-wide, ensuring transparency and equity across all creative levels.
Partner with executive leadership on studio-wide headcount planning, creative team structuring, succession planning, and recruiting strategies to build a world-class creative culture.
Organise and lead mentorship programmes, cross-project knowledge-sharing, and skill-acquisition initiatives to continuously elevate the studio's overall creative capabilities.
Partner with Technical Art and Technical Design leadership to help creative teams navigate major industry shifts, including the adoption of AI-assisted design workflows, focusing on change management, skills transition, and ethical, high-impact tool integration.
Cultivate a high-trust, diverse, and inclusive studio culture, and establish proactive initiatives, processes, and metrics to monitor department morale, resolve high-level personnel conflicts, and prevent creative burnout.
Required Experience & Qualifications   10+ years of professional experience within game development, VFX, or creative tech industries, with a deep understanding of art/design production pipelines.
5+ years of direct people leadership experience, including a proven track record of managing managers, lead artists/designers, or multi-disciplinary creative organisations of 10 to 20+ creatives.
Expert-level experience with career pathing, goal setting, mediation, performance evaluation systems, and executive coaching.
Demonstrated history of guiding creative teams through organisational shifts, tool chain transformations, and workflow evolutions (such as integrating AI-assisted tools) with empathy and clear communication.
Strong experience in partner-hiring, with the ability to identify, recruit, and onboard senior creative talent based on long-term studio needs.
Exceptional interpersonal skills with a proven ability to align priorities, advocate for creative staff, and collaborate closely with HR, Recruiting, and Studio Leadership.
Workplace   Hybrid/onsite in Vancouver, British Columbia, 3 days per week:
Tuesday to Thursday.
Salary   British Columbia (depending on location, e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria): $133,500 - $186,400 CAD.
Pay offered will be determined based on relevant business and candidate factors, including education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs.
If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits.
Benefits & Perks   Vacation: 3 weeks per year to start.
10 days per year of sick time.
Paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when welcoming a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave).
Extended health/dental/vision coverage.
Life insurance.
Disability insurance.
Retirement plan for regular full-time employees.
Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.