Jobs at Snowman

Snowman is a small studio at the center of artful experiences. Whether as a developer or creative partner, their goal has always been the same: to create meaningful experiences that you may sit with for a short time but that sit with you for a long while.

Founded in 2012 with the release of the to-do app Checkmark, Snowman went on to launch Shifts, Circles, and Super Squares before collaborating with Land & Sea on Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey. In 2019, they released Where Cards Fall and Skate City in conjunction with the launch of Apple Arcade.

In September 2022, Snowman launched their first partnership with Netflix in the vertically-scrolling platformer Lucky Luna. The partnership continued when Laya’s Horizon, an open-world flying adventure, was released in May 2023.

Skate City: New York, the anticipated sequel to Skate City, was released in January 2025 on Apple Arcade.

Snowman is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion. Snowman welcomes all races, religions, genders, countries of origin, and sexual orientations. We are proud to have completed disability awareness training through Liebs & Co and aim to continue to improve accessibility in our workplace and community.

Art Director

We’re looking for an Art Director to establish the visual identity of a new game at Snowman. You’ll work alongside a tight-knit team, leading the art direction from concept through production. This is a full-time position based in our downtown Toronto studio, with the option to work remotely 2 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Define and develop an original art style for a new 3D title.
• Create high-quality 3D assets and 2D concepts.
• Establish and oversee the art pipeline from concept to implementation.
• Provide direction and mentorship to the art team.
• Create key art for marketing materials, pitches, and promotional assets.
• Collaborate closely with other departments.
• Act as the primary point of contact for all art-related decisions.

Skills

• Strong 3D art skills with the ability to create 2D concept work (or collaborate effectively with concept artists).
• Experience developing a unified visual style and guiding artists to maintain it.
• Proficiency in modeling, texturing, and implementing 3D assets in Unity.
• Strong knowledge of lighting, shading, and rendering techniques in Unity.
• Expertise in industry-standard software such as Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop.
• Ability to solve complex visual and technical challenges creatively and efficiently.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to articulate artistic vision.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience as a 3D artist, Art Director, or in a similar art leadership role.
• A portfolio showcasing a range of artistic styles and high-quality work.
• Based in the Greater Toronto Area or willing to relocate.
• Able to work on-site at our studio 3 days a week.
• Legally authorized to work in Canada.

Nice to Haves

• Animation experience and a good understanding of motion.
• Understanding of UX and UI design principles.
• Knowledge of Python, MEL, MAXScript or a programming language (C++, C#, etc.)

Please submit your resume, cover letter and portfolio to jobs@builtbysnowman.com using the subject line "Snowman: Art Director".

3D Character Artist

We're looking for a 3D Character Artist to craft the cast for a new, stylized game at Snowman. You'll work closely with the Art Director and art team, creating characters, creatures and cosmetics from concept through implementation. This is a contract position based in our downtown Toronto studio, with the option to work remotely 2 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Build in-game models with clean topology, focusing on low-poly character work.
• Create a variety of humanoids, animals and creatures across a range of styles.
• Create game-ready assets within technical limitations without compromising quality.
• Responsible for all aspects of 3D character creation pipeline including concepts, modeling, UVing, texturing and basic implementation in Unity.
• Responsible for additional live-ops character customization assets and accessories.
• Follow established style guides, references and briefings to maintain stylistic consistency.
• Collaborate closely with the Art Director, rigger and design team to ensure assets align with the project's visual direction.

Skills

• Proficiency across the entire 3D character creation pipeline.
• Strong knowledge of human, animal and creature anatomy, silhouettes, clothing and colour theory.
• Deep topology knowledge that supports rigging, animation and facial expressions.
• Experience working with stylized and hand-painted textures.
• Proficiency in Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop.
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines.

Requirements

• At least 1 commercially shipped game as a character artist.
• A portfolio demonstrating 3D characters featuring solid mesh topology, anatomy, texturing, and a preference for stylized art styles.
• Based in the Greater Toronto Area or willing to relocate.
• Able to work on-site at our studio 3 days a week.
• Legally authorized to work in Canada.

Nice to Haves

• Experience rigging characters.
• Ability to visually communicate and express ideas through quick concepts and sketches.
• Traditional drawing, sculpting or other fine art skills.
• Familiarity with node-based shader creation.
• Knowledge of Substance Painter.

Please submit your resume, cover letter and portfolio to jobs@builtbysnowman.com using the subject line "Snowman: 3D Character Artist".

Gameplay Animator

We're looking for a Gameplay Animator to breathe life into a new, stylized world at Snowman. You'll work closely with the art and design teams, creating animations that make the game look and feel great to play. This is a contract position based in our downtown Toronto studio, with the option to work remotely 2 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Foundational knowledge of core animation principles.
• Intuitive understanding of game feel.
• Ability to animate a wide range of characters and personalities.
• Understanding of additive procedural animations in Unity.
• Experience with retargeting animations across multiple character rigs to maintain consistency and efficiency.
• Familiarity with animation blending and layering techniques in Unity.
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines.

Skills

• Animate characters, animals and select inanimate objects.
• Create dynamic gameplay animations and big, expressive character moments.
• Animate facial expressions using facial rigs and sprite swapping.
• Collaborate closely with the Art Director to realize the project's artistic vision.
• Collaborate with tech and design teams to ensure animations align within technical constraints while maintaining quality.
• Import, integrate and implement animations in Unity.

Requirements

• At least 1 commercially shipped game as a 3D Character animator.
• Proficiency in Autodesk Maya.
• Portfolio or demo reel showcasing 3D character animations demonstrating a range of actions, poses, facial animations and expressive character moments.
• Based in the Greater Toronto Area or willing to relocate.
• Able to work on-site at our studio 3 days a week.
• Legally authorized to work in Canada.

Nice to Haves

• Knowledge of 3D character rigging and skinning pipelines.
• Traditional animation skills.
• A personal connection to action or board sports.

Please submit your resume, cover letter and portfolio to jobs@builtbysnowman.com using the subject line "Snowman: Gameplay Animator".