Careers in Animation

By Willy Franzen

Looking for an entry level job or internship in animation? Here's an overview of how to approach the search and a list of companies that might have entry level and internship opportunities that will interest you.

See companies with animation careers or search the latest animation jobs and internships.

Photo Credit: Flickr user dyashman

Every animation you watch, from a full-screen feature to a two-minute clip on Youtube, takes a lot of work to make. The animation itself can be divided into two rough areas: the art and the programming. In both cases, standing out with an outstanding demo reel or portfolio is the best way to get a job in animation.

If the art of animation interests you, then some possible careers include a 2D or 3D animator, a digital cel animator, a character designer, or a mixed media animator, depending on where your animation interests lie. If the programming interests you more, jobs in software development and production–writing the scripts that make the animations animate–would be more up your alley. No matter which side of animation interests you more, knowing a little about the other part of animation will only help you.

While entering a career in entertainment is a popular option, it’s not the only one. Game companies, movie studios, and cartoon channels employ a lot of animators, but simulations and virtual reality are becoming more common, and animations are often used for training as well.

Companies with Entry Level Jobs and Internships in Animation

Team Detroit - Team Detroit is an ad agency that in 2006 brought together parts of five legendary agencies that were under the same ownership and already working with Ford.

See the complete Team Detroit profile

Job Title	Location
Software Design Lead-Relocation to Austin, TX	United States
Team Class A CDL Truck Drivers Needed for Dedicated Run - 866-492-1768	Detroit, MI
CDL-A OTR Teams & Truck Team Driver (North)	Highland Park, MI
Product Engineer - FST	Detroit, MI
Product Engineer	Detroit, MI

See all 16,874 job postings

Gameloft - Gameloft is a New York, NY based company that allows its “fans to play games anywhere, anytime, and on any digital platform.”

See the complete Gameloft profile

Job Title	Location
Production Intern	New York, NY
Animator	New Orleans, LA
QA Tester	New York, NY
Account Executive	Chicago, IL
3D Artists	New Orleans, LA

See all 46 job postings

Healthline - Healthline is a San Francisco, CA based company that has built “the largest, most clinically accurate classification of health information available on the web.”

See the complete Healthline profile

Job Title	Location
Assistant Editor	San Francisco, CA
Bariatric Program Coordinator	Kirkland, WA
RESOURCE COORDINATOR	Ohio
Freelance-Writers, Journalists, Fact Checkers	San Francisco, CA
Pharmacist Managing Editor	San Francisco, CA

See all 49 job postings

Laika - Laika is a Hillsboro and Portland, OR based “animation company specializing in feature films, commercials and short films.”

See the complete Laika profile

Job Title	Location
CG Texture Artist Intern - Winter/Spring 2015	Hillsboro, OR
Editor	Hillsboro, OR
Freelance Reception Coordinator - Future	Hillsboro, OR
Instructor: Graphic Design, Integrated M...	Gresham, OR
RP Quality Assurance	Hillsboro, OR

See all 14 job postings

Pocket Gems - Pocket Gems is a San Francisco, CA based company that “develops free-to-play mobile games that are ridiculously fun.”

See the complete Pocket Gems profile

Job Title	Location
Character Concept Artist	San Francisco, CA
3D Character Artist Intern	San Francisco, CA
Story Writer (Contract)	San Francisco, CA
Video Game Writer (Contract)	San Francisco, CA
Comic Book Writer (Contract)	San Francisco, CA

See all 31 job postings

Fuhu - Fuhu is an El Segundo, CA based company aiming to be "the leading designer, seller and innovator of ‘thoughtful’ consumer products and services for children.”

See the complete Fuhu profile

Job Title	Location
Creative Writer	Los Angeles, CA
Game Development - Artist/Animator (DENVER)	Denver, CO
Unity Animator	Los Angeles, CA
Jr. Animator	Los Angeles, CA
Project Coordinator (Contractor)	Los Angeles, CA

See all 120 job postings

Crunchyroll - Crunchyroll is a San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan based company that offers “the leading global video service for Japanese Anime and Asian media.”

See the complete Crunchyroll profile

Job Title	Location
Subtitle Timer (Korean)	San Francisco, CA
Subtitle Timer (Japanese)	San Francisco, CA
Translator and Subtitler (Japanese)	San Francisco, CA
Translator and Subtitler (Korean)	San Francisco, CA
Subtitle Script Editor (Japanese)	San Francisco, CA

See all 36 job postings

G2 - G2 is a marketing communications agency that helps its clients sell more. They have offices in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

See the complete G2 profile

Job Title	Location
LabVIEW Software Engineer	Apex, NC
Psychiatrist - Addictive Disorders Treatment Program (ADTP) (Ope	Reno, NV
Design and Analysis Engineer 4\5	Oklahoma City, OK
Undergraduate Internship	Annapolis Junction, MD
General Surgeon	Wichita, KS

See all 267 job postings

Industry Weapon - Industry Weapon is a Pittsburgh, PA based company that offers a platform makes controlling digital media simple by centralizing and organizing it.

See the complete Industry Weapon profile

Job Title	Location
HTML5, CSS and JavaScript Developer	Pittsburgh, PA
Mechanical Engineering Senior Analyst	Livermore, CA
Character Artist	United States
Great Minds In STEM HENAAC Requisition College Intern Technical	Herndon, VA
Acquisition Logistics Analyst	Stafford, VA

See all 1,076 job postings

Trailer Park - Trailer Park is a Hollywood, CA based full-service entertainment marketing agency that serves “a broad spectrum of clients."

See the complete Trailer Park profile

Job Title	Location
Truck Driver - Owner-Operator Team Tanker Truck Driver - Solo Over the Road	Fayetteville, GA
Semi-Trailer Mechanic, 2nd Shift, FULL BENEFITS, 401K	Indianapolis, IN
Diesel Mechanic $3000.00 Sign-on / Retention Bonus	Baton Rouge, LA
Dedicated Runs - CDL A Drivers Needed - Weekly Pay	Breinigsville, PA
Class A CDL Truck Driver	Amarillo, TX

See all 1,793 job postings

J. Crew - J. Crew is a New York, NY based apparel retailer that started with a catalog in 1983 and is known for its preppiness, but that may be changing.

See the complete J. Crew profile

Job Title	Location
Summer Internship 2015	New York, NY
Total Station Operator	Denmark, WI
Store Director	Natick, MA
Business Development Analyst	Menlo Park, CA
IT Summer Internship 2015	New York, NY

See all 847 job postings

Edventure More - Edventure More is a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that “inspires the playful pursuit of enrichment for the next generation.”

See the complete Edventure More profile

Job Title	Location
Graphic Designer	San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Spanish Speaking Non Profit Office Administrative Assistant- Part Time	San Francisco, CA
Field Marketing and Event Team Member	San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Website and Wordpress Assistant	San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Science Presenter and School Year Staff	San Francisco Bay Area, CA

See all 12 job postings

Arkadium - Arkadium is a New York, NY based company that develops “casual, mobile, social, and Windows 8 games.”

See the complete Arkadium profile

Job Title	Location
Marketing Associate	New York, NY
Product Manager	New York, NY
Inside Sales Associate	New York, NY
Sales Executive	New York, NY
Director of Game Design, New York	New York, NY

See all 6 job postings

Tremor Video - Tremor Video is a New York, NY based company that is working hard to increase engagement with video advertising.

See the complete Tremor Video profile

Job Title	Location
Product Manager - Demand Side Platform	New York, NY
Advertising Operations Manager	New York, NY
Regional Sales Manager CPG	New York, NY
Programmatic Account Manager	New York, NY
Account Manager	New York, NY

See all 28 job postings

Z2Live - Z2Live is a Seattle, WA based company that “creates original next-generation, free-to-play, social and multiplayer games for mobile devices.”

See the complete Z2Live profile

Job Title	Location
Game Programmer	Seattle, WA

See all 1 job postings

JESS3 - JESS3is a Los Angeles, CA based “creative interactive agency that specializes in the art of data visualization

See the complete JESS3 profile

No current job openings.

TrainSignal - TrainSignal is a Schaumburg, IL based company that helps people improve themselves through video software training, and they're hiring.

See the complete TrainSignal profile

No current job openings.

Hill Holliday - If you’re digging Hill Holliday’s portfolio, then you’re in luck, because they also appear to be an awesome place to work.

See the complete Hill Holliday profile

Job Title	Location
Management Supervisor	Boston, MA
Experience Designer	New York, NY
Media Planner	Boston, MA
Platform Media Assistant	Boston, MA
Billing Coordinator	Boston, MA

See all 14 job postings

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia - If you enjoy Martha Stewart and want to work on the media or merchandise side, you definitely need to take a look at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Careers.

See the complete Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia profile

Job Title	Location
Editorial Assistant	New York, NY
Editorial Assistant, Living	New York, NY
Speech Writer	New York, NY
Executive Editor	New York, NY
Corporate Maintenance Associate	New York, NY

See all 18 job postings

38 Studios - 38 Studios is “combining the ages-old art of the story with 21st century interactive entertainment" and they're hiring lots of people to help achieve this.

See the complete 38 Studios profile

Job Title	Location
Over-The-Road (OTR) Class A Truck Drivers	Chicago, IL
Tuba/Euphonium	Tuscaloosa, AL
Program Assistant	Phoenix, AZ
Singers, rappers, songwriters, top liners	New York, NY
Viola	Tuscaloosa, AL

See all 30 job postings

Organic Motion - The technology behind Organic Motion is pretty complex, so you should probably read up on it before considering a job with them.

See the complete Organic Motion profile

Job Title	Location
Restaurant General Manager	Boston, MA
Visual Design Intern	San Francisco, CA
Animator	Carlsbad, CA
Kitchen Manager	San Diego, CA
Internship - Scientist	Vadnais Heights, MN

See all 102 job postings

Lucasfilm - Lucasfilm is a dream employer for many, and if you’re not insanely fanatical, you’re probably not going to be a great fit (unless you’re just really good).

See the complete Lucasfilm profile

Job Title	Location
Star Wars Brand Marketing Lead	Redwood City, CA
Promotions Specialist	San Francisco, CA
Marketing Coordinator	San Francisco, CA
Personal Assistant	Canoga Park, CA
Principal Counsel	San Francisco, CA

See all 32 job postings

Watercooler - Watercooler has already raised $9.5 million in venture capital, so they’re certainly in a growth stage. This is also evident when you look at their Jobs page.

See the complete Watercooler profile

Job Title	Location
Summer 2015 HLNTV.com - Editorial intern	Atlanta, GA
Harvest Expert	New York, NY
Data-Driven Marketing Manager	New York, NY
Lead Database Engineer	New York, NY
Senior Technology Editor	Boston, MA

See all 5 job postings

DreamBox Learning - The founder of Netflix is putting a ton of money and attention into online education, and if you want to join him, check out Jobs at DreamBox Learning.

See the complete DreamBox Learning profile

Job Title	Location
Marketing Communications Manager	Bellevue, WA
E-Learning Regional Sales Executive	Raleigh, NC
Product Marketing Manager	Bellevue, WA
AWS Operations Engineer - Cloud Configuration Automation	Bellevue, WA
Principal Software Engineer	Bellevue, WA

See all 8 job postings

Firstborn - The currently available jobs at NYC's Firstborn most likely to be suitable for new or recent grads are 3D/Motion Artist and Software Engineer.

See the complete Firstborn profile

No current job openings.

Sportvision - Sportvision is constantly developing new technology to make sports more fun to watch on tv, and they're hiring new grads to help do it.

See the complete Sportvision profile

Job Title	Location
Software Engineer	Fremont, CA
Chief Technology Officer	Fremont, CA
General Manager, Hockey	Fremont, CA
AV Production Engineer	Chicago, IL
Quality Assurance Manager	Fremont, CA

See all 8 job postings

Riot Games - With all of the recent investment, Riot Games is growing its headcount rapidly. Their Jobs page will show you that they have nearly two dozen full-time openings

See the complete Riot Games profile

Job Title	Location
Engineering Intern - Frontend Dev Team - Summer 2015	San Mateo, CA
Data Scientist Intern - Summer 2015	San Mateo, CA
UX Research Intern - Summer 2015	San Mateo, CA
FirstMark Elite Summer 2015	New York, NY
Recruiting Coordinator, Game Design	Santa Monica, CA

See all 30 job postings

Slide - Slide is very clearly growing, and as I mentioned in the opening of this post, they’re hiring a lot of new grads.

See the complete Slide profile

Job Title	Location
SHARED SERVICES DEVELOPMENT MGR	Salisbury, MD
Pediatric Speech and Language Pathologist / SLP Needed	Las Vegas, NV
Pediatric Occupational Therapist / OT Needed - Henderson, Nevada	Henderson, NV
ANALYST	Texas
Product Manager - Investment Firm	Santa Fe, NM

See all 6,199 job postings

Rockstar Games - It's amazing how many job openings Rockstar Games has, so whether you're an artist, programmer, or marketer, there's probably something for you.

See the complete Rockstar Games profile

Job Title	Location
Group Fitness Instructor (Part Time)	San Mateo, CA
Certified Bootcamp Trainer (Part Time)	San Francisco, CA
Certified Fitness Instructor (Part Time)	Mill Valley, CA
Network Team Intern & Food Lover	Santa Monica, CA
Community Team Intern & Food Lover	Santa Monica, CA

See all 169 job postings

Bungie - I don’t know if it’s because unemployed people buy video games or it’s hard to find people w/ the right skills, but I’m shocked to see Bungie has 21 job openings

See the complete Bungie profile

Job Title	Location
Entry Level All Stars - Artists & Animators	Novato, CA
Entry Level All Stars - Junior Producers/PA's	Novato, CA
Entry Level All Stars - Engineers	Novato, CA
Entry Level All Stars - Game Designers	Novato, CA
Animator	Orange County, CA

See all 50 job postings

Kaos Studios - If you’re sitting around playing video games instead of diligently job seekeing, then you’re the reason that companies like Kaos Studios are on “a hiring binge”

See the complete Kaos Studios profile

No current job openings.

Blue Sky Studios - Entry level jobs at Blue SKy Studios include Production Assitant, Admin (Production), Temp Animator, Modeler, Character Designer and quite a few more.

See the complete Blue Sky Studios profile

Job Title	Location
Animator, Temp	Greenwich, CT
SCM Analyst	Atlanta, GA
Rocketmade – Android Developer	Saint George, UT
Scheduling Coordinator (Blue Sky Studios)	Greenwich, CT
Global Community & Content Manager - Classics	Canton, MA

See all 15 job postings

Blizzard Entertainment - Even in this down economy, Irvine, CA based Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind World of Warcraft, seems to be on a hiring binge.

See the complete Blizzard Entertainment profile

Job Title	Location
TeSPA Intern, Content Manager	Irvine, CA
Creative / Artistic Recruiter	Irvine, CA
eSports Project Manager Intern	Irvine, CA
Business Ops & E-Commerce Intern	Irvine, CA
Production Intern	Irvine, CA

See all 214 job postings

Marvel Enterprises - Are you a superhero whose alter ego is looking for a job? Just for cover, of course, because superheroes don't actually need to work. How about a job at Marvel?

See the complete Marvel Enterprises profile

Job Title	Location
Installation/Service Agent	Troy, MI
Installation/Service Tech I	Nashville, TN
Systems Administrator	Carthage, MO
Junior Associate	Texas
Appliance Installer	Phoenix, AZ

See all 5 job postings

Pixar - Positions that new grads at Pixar are currently working in include Technical Director Resident, Animator, Software Engineer, Lighting Director, and Layout.

See the complete Pixar profile

Job Title	Location
Product Manager (Alameda, California)	Alameda, CA
Winter/Spring Temporary Exhibits Intern	Massachusetts
Intern and Volunteer	Burbank, CA
R&D Documentation & Presentation Intern Glendale Spring 2015	Glendale, CA
Management Trainee	Hodgkins, IL

See all 61 job postings

Armstrong White - Armstrong White has a number of job openings that could presumably be good fits for new grads who love cars and are trying to get into Computer Graphics.

See the complete Armstrong White profile

No current job openings.

AngelVision Technologies - Based in Portland, OR, AngelVision Technologies creates “impact movies” that go beyond the normal text-based marketing that drives most online business.

See the complete AngelVision Technologies profile

No current job openings.

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