Art Director and Art Lead

Are you passionate about defining visual identities, empowering artists, and bringing imaginative game worlds to life? Do you have experience leading both people and creative visions in game development?

We're looking for an Art Director who wants to take ownership of the artistic vision for our beloved Goat Simulator franchise while helping establish the visual foundations of exciting new projects. This is a role for someone who enjoys combining creative leadership, strategic thinking, and people management to help both games and teams thrive.

About Us
COFFEE STAIN NORTH is a small game developer based in Stockholm that belongs to the Coffee Stain Group. Since the company was founded in 2013, we have grown to 34 employees and are now open to adding a couple of new friends!

Goat Simulator 3 is a third-person sandbox adventure developed by Coffee Stain North in which the player can live out their wildest dreams... as a goat. Released in 2022, this open-world sandbox game takes the chaotic spirit of the original to new heights and offers expanded multiplayer support, a larger and more detailed environment, and even more absurd physics-driven gameplay. Players can explore the island of San Angora solo or with friends, wreaking havoc as a goat (or one of many unlockable characters) through a wide range of quests, mini-games, and bizarre encounters.

Understanding games like Goat Simulator 3 means appreciating the fine line between "broken" and "brilliant." If that sounds like your kind of energy, come and get to know our herd!

The role
As an Art Director at CSN, you are responsible for defining and maintaining the artistic vision of our projects, from early exploration to release. You will lead and guide the art team to deliver on the vision while empowering and unifying their creativity and work closely with other disciplines to ensure that the visual direction supports both the player experience and the overall goals of the project.

You will also:

• Communicate the artistic vision through documentation, visual references, presentations, sketches, paint-overs, and ongoing feedback, ensuring the team is aligned on both creative goals and practical constraints

• Continuously assess the project's visual experience and drive improvements to quality, consistency, and player impact

• Guide artistic decisions by balancing gameplay needs, project goals, production realities, and technical constraints across target platforms

• Partner with the leadership team on planning, prioritization, scope discussions, and long-term project direction

In addition to your creative responsibilities, you will be the formal lead for the art team, meaning developing the team through both artistic leadership and people management. For us this means that you with clear communication, feedback, and decision-making, support each artist in their development depending on their role and seniority.

Furthermore, you are responsible for:

• Regular one-on-ones and development conversations

• Performance reviews, goal setting and career development

• Coaching and supporting team members in their growth

• Recruitment and onboarding

• Supporting the team through interpersonal and organizational challenges

• Helping maintain a healthy, inclusive, and collaborative team culture

Your background
To succeed in this role, we believe you have several years (5+) of professional experience working with game art and have previously shipped at least one game title in a leadership position.

You have:

• Worked as an Art Director, Lead Artist, or in a similar leadership role within game development

• Experience managing and developing people within a creative team

• Strong understanding of art fundamentals (such as color theory, composition, anatomy, shape language, visual storytelling, and design principles)

• Ability to communicate ideas and feedback visually through sketches and paint-overs

• Experience working with and adapting to different art styles and visual tones

• Knowledge of technical constraints across multiple gaming platforms

• Strong understanding of game art production pipelines across multiple disciplines and ability to artistically guide each of them, including environment art, character art, animation, VFX, lighting, UI, and promotional art

Beyond your experience, we believe you are someone who enjoys helping others succeed. You know when to provide direction, when to make decisions, and when to step back and allow the team to find solutions themselves. You understand that great leadership is not about having all the answers, but about creating an environment where great work can happen.

At CSN we have employees from different parts of the world, and it's therefore mandatory to be fluent in English, both verbally and in writing.

Perks of working at Coffee Stain
We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that go beyond the usual payments to your pension fund and insurances.

• We believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind, so on top of the wellness grant you get some paid time off to work out. Did we mention there are several gyms right beside our office?

• Every fourth week it's Creative Friday, giving you the opportunity to explore your own ideas, learn new things, or experiment with something you're passionate about.

• To have fun together and get inspired, we play games on the clock every fourth Friday.

• We also have great parental benefits, including extra pay on top of what you get from the social insurance agency during your parental leave.

• And, of course, you will be part of a wonderful team of colleagues working on exciting projects in a studio where every role has creative impact and freedom with responsibility

Practical info
The position is permanent, full-time, 40 hours per week. We have a hybrid setup and offer the possibility of working from home two days per week. Our office is newly renovated, and located in Kungsholmen, Fridhemsplan. We have, among other things, a ping-pong table, a big lounge area where we hang out, watch movies, or play games together, and last but not least - a giant goat statue (what more do you need?).

Apart from us, the Coffee Stain Group consists of a myriad of successful studios, among them COFFEE STAIN STUDIOS (Sanctum and Satisfactory), Ghost Ship Games (Deep Rock Galactic), Tuxedo Labs (Teardown) and COFFEE STAIN PUBLISHING who work with close partners like Iron Gate (Valheim), to name a few.

Your application
If you are interested, please apply! Due to GDPR, we can't accept applications through email. If you have any questions regarding the role, please reach out to Maria Sjöman, HR, maria.sjoman@coffeestain.com .
Please note: Due to summer vacation, we will not screen applications during week 30, 31 and 32.

Department Art Locations Stockholm