Senior Manager, Animation

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) is one of the largest integrated sports and entertainment companies in the country with one of the most diverse partnership groups in all of sports. MSE owns and operates seven major and minor sports teams: 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s 2019 Championship Washington Mystics, NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go, 2021 & 2020 NBA 2K League Champion Wizards District Gaming and Caps Gaming, an esports sub-brand of the Capitals. Additionally, it holds a significant investment in a seventh professional team, Team Liquid, an endemic esports team owned and operated by aXiomatic, in which MSE is an investor.

In September 2022, MSE acquired the regional sports network, then-called NBC Sports Washington and newly rebranded as Monumental Sports Network. Monumental Sports Network now holds the exclusive local television media rights to Capitals’, Wizards’, and Mystics’ games. The network is both a linear channel and a digital operation. Prior to acquiring the linear platform, the digital platform was launched by MSE in 2016, as the first-of-its-kind regional sports network for digital, mobile, and streaming platforms. Those linear and digital platforms are now combined and join Caps Radio, Wizards Radio, MSE Outdoor and Monumental Productions for a full suite of six media enterprises.

In addition to Capital One Arena – a venue which hosts 3M+ visitors across over 250 events annually, MSE also manages MedStar Capitals Iceplex (training facility for the Capitals), MedStar Health Performance Center (training facility for the Wizards, Mystics, and Go-Go) and EagleBank Arena (a 12,000+ live event venue on George Mason University’s campus).

In July 2020, MSE partnered with William Hill (subsequently acquired by Caesars Entertainment) to open the first ever in-arena sportsbook in North America, now called Caesars Sportsbook. The space now also boasts a destination culinary experience, Guy Fieri’s DC Kitchen + Bar.

MSE opened “District E powered by Ticketmaster” in the spring of 2023, a flagship esports and entertainment venue. This 14,000-square-foot live-event theater offers a 365-day-a-year series of immersive experiences in esports, music, culinary excellence, event programming, and community events.

MSE proudly promotes its core values for all those that interact with the company. As a member of our team:

You will provide first-class customer service and value for our fans.

You will champion a double-bottom line that engages, unifies, and gives back to the community we serve.

You will work tirelessly to build generationally exceptional teams that compete for championships year after year and create lifelong memories for our fans.

You will measure performance with specific objectives and metrics and our analysis and decisions are compelled by data.

You will prize leadership, but you should value teamwork and collaboration and transparency even more. We treat each other with respect. We act with honesty and integrity. We remain humble.

You will innovate. We are nimble and first to market. We are not averse to risk.

You will have fun. We are in the business of happiness.

Position Overview: The Senior Manager, Animation is responsible for leading a team of Motion Graphic Designers on creative initiatives across Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE). This position will see projects through from conception to execution and delivery. You will be the go-to resource for our creative leadership, helping them accomplish animation initiatives with the intention of creating and driving the MSE standard.

Do you have strong motion graphic experience, communication skills, are detail driven, innovative, and a resourceful problem-solver? We would love to hear from you!

Responsibilities:

Take creative leadership of projects and collaborate with Managers, Producers and Motion Graphic Designers to oversee visual ideas that ladder up to the MSE brand.

Collaborate closely with Marketing Leads from the respective Teams to understand their business objectives and creative needs.

Lead the development of all seasonal Team creative and support the team of Motion Graphic Designers to create compelling campaigns and then finalizing selected campaigns into Toolkits to be used throughout the company.

Take ideas from concept to execution, working with project managers, design colleagues, team specific marketing departments, and content experts to deliver an exciting fan experience.

Create and manage both short and long-term creative project calendars for all Teams and Enterprises.

Present creative concepts to Marketing and Business leaders across MSE.

Develop the design and look for creative campaigns across all MSE properties.

Conceptualize, design, and oversee compelling innovative 2D and 3D motion graphics for platforms including video, digital, social, broadcast and in-game/arena presentation.

Proactively communicate with clients to ensure clear understanding of needs and requirements, and to communicate design ideas and rationale.

Supervise work completed by motion graphic designers (staff, contract and freelance) to provide feedback and mentorship.

Recruit, train, support and retain talent specializing in a variety of disciples within creative design.

Organize and prioritize work and resources across engagements based on short- and long-term need. Timelines, budgets, and availabilities change - we need someone adaptable.

Manage animation/motion design vendor relations for production.

Oversee department budget.

Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in graphic design, film, media, communications or related fields.

8+ years of work experience in related field with experience working with green screen footage and video.

Proficient in Photoshop, After Affects. Premiere a plus.

Strong understanding of animation, timing, editing as it relates to MGFX.

Experience working within a sports organization or network, leading interactive agency, or traditional advertising agency is a plus.

Experience pitching and driving creative ideas for projects and prospective clients.

A great teammate with strong ability to provide clear creative direction, timely and helpful feedback to improve creative processes to keep work on budget and schedule.

Proven leadership skills including team building, mentoring and guiding large groups of creative talent.

Ability to work efficiently and drive productivity with a team; excellent attention to detail.

A portfolio demonstrating a track record of delivering highly creative and effective content.

Strong communication skills with ability to communicate effectively in visual, verbal, and written form to teams, clients and leadership.

Strong interpersonal skills, able to positively work with a wide variety of professional staff from varied subject areas and backgrounds.

Organized and able to prioritize and problem solve in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Must possess a highly positive and service driven approach to working both internally and externally.

Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.