A character has maybe two seconds to make someone care before the story even starts moving. The right silhouette, the right expression, and a player or viewer already has a feeling about who they're looking at. We're hiring a
Remote Character Illustrator to build that first impression for games, animation, and other narrative-driven work — fully remote, wherever you happen to be based.
The Basics
This role pays
$88,500 per year and is open to illustrators across the USA, Canada, the UK, the European Union, Australia, India, and several other regions we hire in. You'll design characters that hold up across formats, from a single key art piece to a full animation-ready turnaround sheet.
What You'd Be Making
Briefs come in loose sometimes — a vibe, a personality trait, a rough narrative role — and it's on you to turn that into something specific and consistent. Other times you're extending an established style, matching a look that's already locked in.
- Design expressive, distinct characters for games, animation, or storyboard use.
- Turn narrative briefs into stylized, consistent visuals that actually fit the project's tone.
- Build turnaround sheets, expression charts, and pose studies that animators can work from directly.
- Sit in on design critiques and adjust work based on feedback without losing what made a character distinct in the first place.
- Keep digital asset libraries organized using tools like Figma or Adobe Bridge.
- Prepare files that hold up across different platforms and output formats.
- Track your own progress through agile sprints using standard remote project tools.
Experience Needed
Two years minimum in professional character illustration gets you in the door, alongside a
Bachelor's degree as the baseline formal qualification. Digital-first project experience is a strong plus.
What We're Actually Looking For
Your portfolio should show range — different builds, different personalities, characters that don't all default to the same face with different hair. Strong fundamentals in anatomy, gesture, and composition matter more than any single software skill. And since character work almost always goes through revision, you'll need to take feedback without treating every note as a threat to your original vision.
Skills That Help
- Genuine storytelling instinct — knowing how a pose or expression communicates something the brief never spelled out.
- Comfort giving feedback as well as receiving it during team critiques.
- Some familiarity with 2D animation pipelines or Unity integration, though it's a bonus rather than a requirement.
- A self-starter streak; remote character work often means figuring out ambiguity on your own before checking in.
Software You'll Use
- Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for the bulk of your illustration work.
- Procreate and Clip Studio Paint for more organic, stylized drawing.
- Slack, Notion, and Zoom for team communication.
- Trello or Jira for tracking work within agile sprints.
The Team You'd Join
This is a fully distributed team that puts real effort into staying connected — through regular creative check-ins, team-wide critiques, and the occasional workshop unrelated to a deadline. People here have genuinely helped each other through things like relocating to a new country mid-project, not just logistics but actual support. If you found this listing through
Naukri Mitra, know that the inclusivity mentioned here isn't just a line — it shows up in how the team actually operates day-to-day, for illustrators of all backgrounds and identities.
Benefits
- Flexible hours structured around when your best creative work actually happens.
- Health coverage and paid time off.
- Access to an artistic development fund for courses, tools, or conferences.
- Direct mentorship from senior illustrators and art leads.
Where This Can Lead
Character illustrators here tend to move into Art Lead, Visual Director, or Narrative Designer roles over time. There's also real room to pitch your own character concepts or IP ideas for the team to consider — not just execute what's already been decided elsewhere.
Why This Work Is Worth Doing
Good character design does more than fill a slot in a game or animation — it gives an audience someone to actually root for, or fear, or laugh at. That's the real job here: not just drawing well, but making people feel something about a character before a single line of dialogue happens.
Apply
Send a portfolio that shows range — different characters, different moods, work that proves you can adapt style without losing your own instincts. If it fits what we're building, you'll hear back directly.
