Job Description

Company Overview

ICON Creative Studio is Canada’s largest independently owned animation entertainment company, located in the historic Gastown district of Vancouver, BC. Our talented team includes specialists across the entire animation pipeline, working alongside creative and management professionals to deliver outstanding animated content. Known for our commitment to quality, efficiency, and timely deliveries, ICON has partnered with distributors, broadcasters, and leading streaming platforms worldwide to create and produce noteworthy, impactful projects. We operate from a holistic philosophy, leveraging the unique skill sets of our team members to maximize production efficiency while maintaining an optimal balance of creativity and quality on-screen.

Why work at ICON?

• Collaborate on top-tier feature and episodic CG franchises for major streaming platforms, including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon, Peacock, and Paramount+.
• Be part of a diverse team of artists from around the globe who have joined us here in British Columbia.
• Work with the latest tools and software, ensuring you're always equipped to do your best work.
• Be part of a studio that upholds a premium standard of quality across all productions, putting every resource into what’s on-screen.
• Enjoy flexibility, autonomy, and a supportive workplace culture.
• Access direct deposit and a generous benefits package.
• Grow with us through continuous learning opportunities, mentorship, and empowering you to achieve your professional goals.
• We offer a competitive total rewards package that includes comprehensive extended health, dental, vision, prescription drug, and paramedical coverage, and access to mental health and wellness resources. Employees also enjoy a pet-friendly studio, an onsite gym, and regular social events that bring teams together both virtually and in person.

Character Sculptor (Adult Series)

Job Overview

As a Character Sculptor at ICON Creative Studio, you will help define the look and personality of characters for a premium, stylized adult animated series.

We are looking for an artist with a sophisticated understanding of anatomy, form, silhouette, proportion, facial structure, and character design who can translate 2D concepts into compelling three-dimensional characters while preserving the intent, attitude, and graphic appeal of the original artwork.

The ideal candidate is comfortable working within a highly stylized visual language that combines believable anatomy with pushed proportions, strong shape design, expressive faces, and a cinematic level of detail. This role is particularly suited to artists with experience in high-end animation, games, cinematics, or character-focused feature production.

Key Responsibilities

• Sculpt high-quality stylized characters from concept artwork, turnarounds, reference material, and creative direction.
• Translate 2D character designs into compelling 3D forms while preserving silhouette, proportions, personality, and graphic appeal.
• Create anatomically convincing characters while adapting anatomy and proportions to support a highly stylized adult visual language.
• Sculpt heads, faces, bodies, hands, clothing, hair forms, and other character-specific details to a premium production standard.
• Develop expressive facial forms that support nuanced acting, emotion, and close-up performance.
• Establish primary, secondary, and tertiary forms with particular attention to anatomy, planes of the face, musculature, weight distribution, and surface definition.
• Work closely with Character Designers, Art Directors, Modeling Supervisors, Rigging, Groom, Look Development, and other departments to ensure characters function effectively throughout the production pipeline.
• Interpret loose or exploratory concept artwork and resolve unanswered design questions in three dimensions.
• Maintain consistency across a cast while preserving the individuality and personality of each character.
• Respond to creative and technical feedback and iterate efficiently while maintaining a high artistic standard.
• Ensure sculpts are appropriate for downstream modeling, topology, rigging, deformation, grooming, surfacing, and animation requirements.
• Contribute to the development of character standards, workflows, and visual benchmarks for the production.
• Participate in reviews and provide constructive artistic feedback to other members of the character team.
• Assist with character-development tests and R&D as the project's visual language evolves.

Qualifications

• Strong professional character-sculpting experience in animation, feature film, games, cinematics, or visual effects.
• Advanced proficiency in ZBrush.
• Strong understanding of human anatomy, facial anatomy, proportion, gesture, silhouette, shape language, and three-dimensional design.
• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating stylized character work, particularly characters grounded in believable anatomy while incorporating sophisticated exaggeration and graphic design.
• Strong ability to translate 2D concepts into three-dimensional characters without losing the appeal or intent of the original design.
• Experience sculpting expressive faces and characters intended for performance-driven animation.
• Strong understanding of how sculpted forms will translate into topology, rigging, deformation, and animation.
• Ability to work across a range of body types, ages, facial structures, and character archetypes.
• Ability to adapt to an established visual style and maintain consistency across a large cast of characters.
• Strong artistic eye for proportion, rhythm, balance, asymmetry, appeal, and visual storytelling.
• Ability to receive artistic direction and incorporate feedback quickly and effectively.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and collaborative skills.
• Ability to manage multiple assets and deliver high-quality work within production schedules.

Additional Experience Considered an Asset

• Experience on premium adult animated series, AAA games, high-end cinematics, or stylized animated features.
• Experience with Maya, Blender, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, or Houdini
• Knowledge of character topology and production-ready modeling workflows.
• Experience working closely with rigging and facial-rigging teams.
• Experience developing blendshape or facial-expression sculpts.
• Experience sculpting realistic and stylized clothing, folds, armor, props, or costume elements.
• Traditional sculpture, life drawing, anatomy study, or character-design experience.
• Experience helping establish the visual language or character pipeline for a new production.

We are particularly interested in artists whose portfolios demonstrate mature, sophisticated character design / modeling, strong anatomy, expressive faces, bold silhouettes, and a stylized cinematic sensibility rather than a traditional children's-animation aesthetic.

In accordance with British Columbia's pay transparency legislation, the wage displayed reflects the minimum rate established under ICON's collective agreement. Additional compensation may be considered based on experience, qualifications, and project needs, where permitted by the collective agreement.

ICON Creative Studio is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.