Lead Motion Designer

Posted Jul 25

TL;DR: We’ve just launched a new and exciting brand, and we're looking for a Lead Motion Designer who will further elevate our motion design. 

Welcome to the video first world

From your everyday PowerPoint presentations to Hollywood movies, AI will transform the way we create and consume content. Today, people want to watch and listen, not read — both at home and at work. If you’re reading this and nodding, check out our brand video.

Despite the clear preference for video, communication and knowledge sharing in the business environment are still dominated by text, largely because high-quality video production remains complex and challenging to scale—until now….

Meet Synthesia

We're on a mission to make video easy for everyone. Born in an AI lab, our AI video communications platform simplifies the entire video production process, making it easy for everyone, regardless of skill level, to create, collaborate, and share high-quality videos. Whether it's for delivering essential training to employees and customers or marketing products and services, Synthesia enables large organizations to communicate and share knowledge through video quickly and efficiently. We’re trusted by leading brands such as Heineken, Zoom, Xerox, McDonald’s and more. Read stories from happy customers and what 1,200+ people say on G2.

In 2023, we were one of 7 European companies to reach unicorn status. In February 2024, G2 named us as the fastest growing company in the world. We’ve raised over $150M in funding from top-tier investors, including Accel, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins, Google and top founders and operators including Stripe, Datadog, Miro, Webflow, and Facebook.

About the role...

We’re looking for a Lead Motion Designer to join our Brand Design team in London. We’ve recently launched a new and exciting brand with partnership with Koto Studio. We're now looking for a Lead Motion Design to elevate our motion design to the next level. You will be instrumental in crafting the dynamic visual narrative of our brand, shaping our motion principals across all brand touch points, and pioneering motion design strategies that distinguish us in the market. Our preference is that this person is based in London, but we are open to remote applicants who are in Europe.

As a Brand Design team, we're all about making things easy. That's why we prioritise function over form. If something looks great but doesn't work well, we won't use it. It’s quite simple to design something that looks good on the surface but isn’t usable. It’s hard to combine both. We are here because of our customers. The solution that is the easiest to understand and use, wins. Now, it’s our job to also make it as beautiful as possible.

What you’ll do...

  • You will work across various creative assets and drive their execution, including marketing campaigns, interactive product demos, and UI animations. Your vision will animate our brand across all touchpoints.
  • Collaborate with the Brand Design team, including two brand designers and a senior motion designer, to conceptualise and storyboard motion graphic projects that align with our new brand guidelines and project objectives.
  • You will work with the Marketing team, their motion designers, and video editors to ensure a unified motion theory (please scroll down to see some examples of these videos).
  • You will build upon our existing motion guidelines to create a comprehensive system for video motion applicable across the board.
  • You will also develop guidelines for our UI motion, collaborating with our designers and engineers to enhance our website experience, eventually working with the Product Design team for consistency across our products.
  • You will establish, continuously evolve, and maintain a high standard for motion design at Synthesia.

We’d love to hear from you if you have...

  • At least 5 years of experience in motion design, a proven track record of innovation in this field, and a corresponding portfolio.
  • A portfolio that demonstrates your proficiency in tools such as Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro, or similar, to create captivating, immersive experiences. Knowledge of Cinema 4D and other 3D animation software is a bonus.
  • A deep understanding of animation principles, methodologies, and best practices, enabling you to manage complex projects with ease and precision.
  • A grasp of design principles, such as typography, colour theory, and composition, and are capable of creating designs from scratch. While we have in-house designers, proficiency in Figma is required.
  • The ability to critically assess videos to improve them and provide constructive feedback to other motion designers/video editors.
  • Attention to detail, ensuring that your work is meticulously executed.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with individuals at all levels within the company.
  • A positive contribution to the team dynamic and the ability to work well with others. You’re also capable of working independently and taking the initiative to complete tasks.

Our culture

At Synthesia we’re passionate about building, not talking, planning or politicising. We strive to hire the smartest, kindest and most unrelenting people and let them do their best work without distractions. Our work principles serve as our charter for how we make decisions, give feedback and structure our work to empower everyone to go as fast as possible. You can find out more about these principles here.

Benefits

  • A hybrid, flexible approach to work - we have European offices in London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, plus a hub in NYC. 
  • Expect occasional in person collaboration in the London office so we're ideally looking for someone who is willing to come in to our office. This is sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly. 
  • A competitive salary (£75,000 - £100,000 as a guideline for London-based candidates) + stock options
  • 25 days of annual leave + public holidays (plus the option to take 5 days unpaid leave and carry 5 days over)
  • Private healthcare through AXA, including mental health support through the Stronger Minds service
  • Pension contribution - Synthesia contributes 3% and employee contributes 5% on qualifying earnings
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • You will join an established company culture with optional regular socials and company retreats
  • Paid parental leave entitling primary caregivers to 16 weeks of full pay, and secondary 5 weeks of full pay
  • You can participate in a generous recruitment referral scheme if you help us to hire
  • The equipment you need to be successful in your role

Video examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vasEC45-ST4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oab5hkK5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1B-OSpD2M