Art Director

Buddy.ai is looking for an Art Director to develop a captivating and distinct visual style for our AI tutor and to lead the art team that will implement and perfect it.

Buddy.ai, the world’s first AI tutor for kids under 12

Buddy.ai provides affordable, high-quality 1X1 instruction to children worldwide using our interactive, voice-based character Buddy the Robot.

Buddy is powered by proprietary AI technology for children and features a unique UX and gameplay. He teaches kids using voice- and tap-based games in a fun-filled world created by educational experts.

With 20 million downloads last year alone, Buddy is the most popular language app for children on Google Play and one of TIME Magazine’s World's Top EdTech Rising Stars of 2024. We are backed by top VCs and angel investors, including stars of the game industry, deep tech, and Hollywood.

Here’s a short video about Buddy.ai.

Your Mission

• Create and refine a distinct, appealing art style that attracts children ages 4-12 to Buddy.ai’s game world.
• Develop a look and feel that competes with top mobile games for kids and positions Buddy as a strong IP in global pop culture.

Objectives & Outcomes

• Develop and refine Buddy.ai’s art style within two years.
• Implement this style to assist game designers and developers in creating a metagame and multiple educational mini-games.
• Build Buddy.ai’s art team from the ground up or collaborate with external contractors to achieve objectives.
• Help the Creative Producer and Social Media Marketers refine the style of Buddy.ai’s video content for various platforms.
• Support the Marketing Team’s brand-building efforts and ensure consistent communications.

Competencies

• Art leadership experience: 5+ years in mobile or console games, understanding both art and technical aspects.
• Relevant experience with children: Background in designing games for children under 12 or teaching experience.
• Creative/innovative approach: Ability to create new designs rather than reskin existing ones.
• Expertise in 3D design: Understanding of production pipelines, ideally with hands-on experience in Unity 3D.
• User/player-centric approach: Strives to understand and satisfy players' needs while seeking user feedback.
• Proactive and autonomous: Takes initiative and acts without detailed instructions, following through on commitments.
• High standards and ambitions: Genuine hunger to succeed by shipping top products and learning from the best.
• Team player: Values collaboration, actively seeks feedback, and supports peers as needed.

Gameplay (Here’s what you’ll do)

• You’ll be the first and only person on Buddy’s art team at the outset. Your work will include:
  • Building an internal art team from scratch. This means you will serve as “hiring manager” and personally pick everyone you need.
  • Alternatively, if you find it more efficient, you can complete the work using external contractors — individuals or art outsourcing agencies. In that case, you will have to find, contract, and organize the work of all your contractors.
• You will be tasked with finding and/or refining the unique art style of the Buddy.ai game and wider IP. You are free to work with external advisors and experts on this task. We will provide you with access to a wide network of game industry and Hollywood contacts we have made through our investors.
• You will create the style, look, and feel of a unique platform built around our talking interactive AI character – Buddy the Robot. Buddy is the centerpiece of our business because children love him. Much of your work will be focused on making Buddy even cooler and more lovable.
• You will work directly with our engineering team, as well as game designers and product managers, to ship new features to our users – Buddy.ai’s students and players. During the first year on the job, you will report directly to the CEO.
• We expect you to interact with our Marketing and Buddy the AI Influencer teams (who run Buddy’s YouTube channels) to help optimize their performance and ensure consistency of style across all communications.
• You will be a crucial member of our team from Day One. We need to ship multiple new features in nine months and almost completely rework the product within two years. Your work will be essential to achieving our goals. The learning curve will be steep, but the ride will be thrilling!

Position details

• Geography: Fully remote, based between Pacific Time Zone (Los Angeles, U.S.) and GMT+3 (Istanbul).
• Language: Must speak English. Russian is a plus.
• Remote position: 100% remote with 2-4 strategic offsite sessions per year.
• Compensation and benefits:
  • Competitive market salary
  • Paid sick leave and vacation days
  • Significant equity compensation (stock options)

We at Buddy.ai are leading the AI revolution in early learning. Our mission is to make 1X1 tutoring available for every child worldwide and help resolve the global teacher shortage. Here’s what sets our company apart:

• Unique product: At Buddy.ai, we are pioneering the Multimodal AI Tutoring approach, which means our tutor is a virtual character that uses voice recognition and conversational AI to teach children. Buddy is the first product of its kind, so we innovate, brainstorm, prototype, playtest on children in a lab, and AB test using real users.

• The leading consumer AI company in the early learning space: We have millions of users, and that number doubles year after year. Buddy is not another ChatGPT wrapper; we are developing proprietary AT technology for children that’s safe, fast, and compliant with COPPA and other regulations.

• High-level position with significant creative freedom: You’ll report directly to the Chief Product Officer, which means you’ll have lots of decision-making authority. Your ideas and decisions will affect the whole company and millions of our students/players worldwide.

• Team-building opportunity: You’ll get the chance to assemble a team according to the project's needs. Your focus will be on the Company’s product, business, and mission, with no unnecessary layers of decision-making.

• Mission-driven project: Our Company is inspired by our team’s experiences as immigrants and parents, as well as those of our children.

• Impact and love: It’s a great feeling knowing that you are building an educational product that helps children thrive. You can always draw inspiration and satisfaction from the love of Buddy’s users.

• Perfect job for Moms and Dads: Many (in fact, most) of our team members are parents. We draw inspiration from our children's experiences with Buddy.ai. It is a special feeling when your child admiringly asks, “Mom, did you really create Buddy?

• Friendly, open, and informal work environment: Our small (but growing) team is horizontally structured. All product and financial metrics are openly discussed because we work collaboratively and share everything. No politics, no BS — we work hard and have a lot of fun in the process.

• Contribution and growth: A small team means the opportunity for a large individual impact. The Company is growing fast, which allows team members to grow with it and create a lasting legacy.

• 100% Remote work with a flexible schedule/Generous paid sick leave and vacation days.

• A share of our success: This key role grants a Stock Option because when we win, we win together.

Join us in our mission to provide high-quality 1X1 tutoring to every child worldwide using AI!