Senior Animator

The Role

You are an experienced animator and motion designer, relentlessly bringing ideas to life through movement, storytelling, and craft.

You're a strong conceptual thinker with exceptional motion instincts—comfortable shaping narratives, editing compelling sizzles, and creating sophisticated motion systems that elevate the work. You collaborate closely with designers, strategists, and creative leaders to deliver thoughtful, impactful work while remaining deeply hands-on in the craft.

Your Responsibilities

1. Generate and develop standout creative ideas in collaboration with senior creative leadership.
2. Create exceptional motion design across brand identities, digital experiences, campaigns, presentations, and product storytelling.
3. Craft compelling sizzles, editorial films, motion graphics, and animation systems that bring ideas to life through movement, pacing, rhythm, and storytelling.
4. Translate strategy into thoughtful motion—balancing big creative ideas with technical precision and exceptional craft.
5. Collaborate closely with Design, Strategy, and Client Services from concept through execution.
6. Help shape presentations and confidently communicate your work to both internal teams and clients.
7. Support junior creatives, contribute to creative discussions, and help elevate the quality of work across the team.
8. Take ownership of your work, actively seek feedback, and continually refine your craft.
9. Manage your time effectively and consistently deliver high-quality work within project timelines.
10. Bring a digital and AI-aware mindset, using emerging tools to support creative exploration without compromising craft.

About You

• You're an exceptional animator, motion designer, and editor with a strong eye for storytelling, pacing, rhythm, composition, and detail. You have 6-8 years of experience.
• You understand branding at a deep level and know how to translate brand systems into thoughtful, expressive motion.
• You have experience creating motion systems for brands across digital experiences, campaigns, and presentations.
• You love crafting polished sizzles, presentation films, editorial content, and motion graphics that inspire audiences and communicate ideas with clarity.
• You think conceptually and know how to transform strategy into compelling visual stories through motion.

Our Responsibilities

1. We will ensure you have meaningful and regular access to your manager to support your personal development and career trajectory.
2. We will actively reward performance with promotions, pay increases, and a discretionary annual bonus of up to 10% of salary to all employees.
3. We ensure Koto is an equal environment for all its employees.
4. We will support you in taking family leave and offer significant paid maternity and paternity.
5. We will actively encourage you to take 25 days of vacation annually, in addition to US bank holidays (on average seven), and a studio closure over the December Holidays.
6. We will contribute an additional up to 4% to anyone wanting to contribute to our 401k plan.
7. We deploy a monthly 'employee wellness' benefits package via Juno of $100 per month.
8. We offer access to YCN and fund relevant training opportunities to any employee looking to develop themselves and their career.
9. We reward five years of service with $5,000 and five days vacation. We reward ten years of service with $10,000 and four weeks' vacation.
10. We will give you the opportunity to work from any of the four Koto studios globally, for a set time period, with appropriate planning and application.

Our Culture

• At Koto, we encourage our team to be 'rationally optimistic' about the potential of our work, our clients, their businesses, and the power of brand.
• We pursue the best briefs, want to inspire meaningful work, and for those interested provide an opportunity to make the work of their lives. We are actively cultivating leadership, culture, and spaces to encourage this.
• We work in person with an optional WFH day on Friday, and an additional two weeks remote a year. We believe this produces the best work, mentoring opportunities, collective learning, and culture.
• We encourage autonomy in each member of our team, allowing them to manage their own time, hours, and personal commitments appropriately to complete work.