S

Sony Pictures Imageworks

High-end visual effects and animation services

Head of Animation Department

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
No salary listed
Expert
Montreal, QC, Canada
In Person
Art, Graphics & Animation

About the job

Requirements
  • Excellent communication skills in French and English.
  • Must be able to provide a demo reel illustrating relevant artistic and technical experience, including nuances specific to the role.
Responsibilities
  • Create objectives and key results with cross-functional teams to ensure focus and achieve results balancing creativity and efficiency.
  • Define and communicate the long-term vision, strategic direction, and operational priorities for the Animation Department across Feature Animation and Visual Effects productions.
  • Lead alignment with studio leadership, production leadership, and department heads to evolve departmental capabilities, workflows, and organizational practices that support creative excellence, scalability, and future business opportunities.
  • Represent departmental priorities in partnership with Technology and Development teams to drive workflow innovation, pipeline evolution, and the department's long-term technology roadmap.
  • Collaborate with Animation Directors, VFX Supervisors, CG Supervisors, production leadership, and partner departments to align workflows, resolve production challenges, and establish best practices that improve quality, efficiency, and consistency across productions.
  • Guide departmental onboarding, training priorities, documentation, and professional development initiatives in collaboration with Learning & Development.
  • Partner with Artist Management to support artist growth, retention, leadership development, succession planning, and long-term workforce strategy within the Animation Department.
  • Champion initiatives that improve production efficiency, creative quality, and organizational effectiveness.
  • Serve as the primary representative and advocate for the Animation Department, providing regular communication on departmental strategy, priorities, and technology initiatives.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, inclusion, collaboration, and continuous learning where artists and leaders can grow and perform at a high level.

About the company

S

Sony Pictures Imageworks

View

Sony Pictures Imageworks is a visual effects and animation studio that creates photorealistic visuals for live-action films and full CG features. The company delivers services for projects from early concept design to final visual effects integration, working on creature and character animation as well as large-scale CG sequences. It differentiates itself with a long track record and its own developed software and tools that help solve industry challenges, which it also licenses to other studios as an additional revenue stream. The business mainly earns money by providing VFX and animation work on a project basis and by licensing technology. The studio serves major film studios and production companies worldwide and aims to help productions achieve high-quality visuals while advancing film technology through its proprietary tools and creative output.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Culver City, California

Founded

1992

Get referred to Sony Pictures Imageworks

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Imageworks posted 51 active openings in August 2026, signaling strong current production demand.
  • The studio expanded hiring in Montreal and Vancouver, increasing delivery capacity across Canada.
  • Job postings for security and pipeline engineers show investment in IP protection and efficiency.

What critics are saying

  • Sony Pictures plans several hundred layoffs on April 7, 2026, threatening Imageworks staffing.
  • High reliance on Sony franchise work concentrates revenue in Spider-Man and related tentpole schedules.
  • VFX labor remains volatile; a delayed show pipeline or strike gaps can idle artists quickly.

What makes Sony Pictures Imageworks unique

  • Michelle Grady leads Imageworks from Vancouver, with Montreal and Los Angeles capacity in 2026.
  • Imageworks combines feature animation, VFX, and pipeline engineering across Spider-Verse and blockbuster franchises.
  • The studio still recruits specialized technical artists, showing deep proprietary workflow differentiation in 2026.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • Paid Vacation

Company News

Animation World Network
May 29th, 2025
Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks Release 'This Is Animation' Course

Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks have teamed with the educational platform Yellowbrick for "This Is Animation," a free online course that introduces learners of all ages to the art and industry of animated filmmaking.

Business In Vancouver
Jan 8th, 2025
Sony Pictures Imageworks relocating Vancouver office to The Post

Sony Pictures Imageworks is relocating its Vancouver headquarters from CF Pacific Centre to The Post, a coveted downtown location known for its revitalized mid-century architecture and a long-term tenancy by Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).

IMDb
Aug 13th, 2024
Sony Pictures Entertainment Chief Tony Vinciquerra to Receive the Variety Vanguard Award at Mipcom

Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Tony Vinciquerra to receive the Variety Vanguard Award at Mipcom.

postPerspective
Oct 4th, 2023
Sony Imageworks Promotes Michelle Grady to President

Sony Imageworks promotes michelle Grady to president.

Deadline
Oct 3rd, 2023
Sony Pictures Imageworks Promotes Michelle Grady To President

Sony Pictures Imageworks promotes Michelle Grady to President.