About the Role
The details are what make a product feel great: an icon that reads instantly, a pictogram that explains a concept without words, a small animation that makes an interaction feel right.
As Senior Art Director, Illustration & Motion, you'll own that layer of craft across Expedia's products.
You are a maker first. You'll art direct and set the visual standard, and you'll also open the file and do the work. You'll partner closely with product designers, the design system team, and engineers, and you'll build systems and workflows that scale quality, not just speed.
Locations: New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles (West Hollywood), Chicago, Austin
What You'll Do
Design Product Illustration and Iconography
•Create icons, pictograms, spot illustrations, and illustrated system assets used across iOS, Android, and web
•Maintain and evolve our visual language, keeping assets consistent, accessible, and scalable
Design and Produce UI Motion
•Craft UI animations, micro-interactions, and animated illustrations that add clarity and delight
•Prepare assets and motion details so engineers can implement them accurately (e.g., Lottie, Rive, native animation)
•Review builds and give feedback so the shipped experience matches the design intent
Build Scalable Systems for Assets in Figma and Code
•Design and maintain scalable systems for icons, pictograms, illustration, and motion, with clear structure, naming, tokens, and versioning
•Build well-organized Figma libraries and components that make assets easy for designers to find, use, and customize
•Partner with design system and engineering teams to define how assets are packaged, delivered, and implemented in code across platforms (e.g., icon fonts or SVG pipelines, asset catalogs, animation files)
•Create documentation and guidelines so teams can adopt assets correctly and consistently, and set up processes for contribution, updates, and deprecation
Scale Craft with AI and Automation
•Build repeatable AI-assisted workflows for illustration, iconography, and motion production that raise output without lowering quality
•Evaluate, adopt, and teach new AI tools, and set clear quality, brand, and ethical standards for how they're used
•Automate repetitive production work (e.g., asset generation, variations, exports, QA, Figma-to-code handoff) so the team can focus on high-value creative decisions
Art Direct and Collaborate
•Provide art direction and critique to designers, freelancers, and partners to keep work cohesive and high quality
•Translate product and brand goals into clear creative direction
•Manage multiple projects at once, from concept through delivery
What Success Looks Like
•Our products have a cohesive, recognizable system of icons, pictograms, and illustration
•Assets are easy to find, use, and implement, in both Figma and code, with minimal rework
•UI motion feels polished and consistent, and ships as designed
•Teams produce more high-quality assets, faster, through AI-enabled workflows
•Creative quality stays high as production scales
What You Bring
Minimum Qualifications:
•A strong portfolio showing illustration and motion work in a product context, including icons, pictograms, and UI animation
•Hands-on expertise in illustration and motion tools (e.g., Illustrator, Figma, After Effects, Rive, or equivalent)
•A high bar for AI fluency: demonstrated experience using AI tools and automation to scale creative work while maintaining craft, taste, and brand consistency, with examples you can share
•Systems thinking: experience building or contributing to scalable asset systems (icon, illustration, or motion libraries) in Figma, with an understanding of how those assets are implemented in code
•Experience art directing or providing creative feedback to other designers, freelancers, or agencies
•Strong foundations in composition, color, shape, and timing, with attention to detail at small sizes
•Working knowledge of how illustrated and animated assets are handed off and implemented across iOS, Android, and web
•Clear communication and the ability to present work and rationale to cross-functional partners
•Bachelor's degree in Design, Motion, HCI, User Experience, or related field (or equivalent experience)
•5–10+ years of experience in product design or related disciplines
Preferred Qualifications:
•Experience working directly within a design system, including tokens, variables, and component architecture
•3D skills (e.g., Blender, Cinema 4D) and experience blending 3D with illustration or motion
•Scripting or tooling skills (e.g., Python, JavaScript, Figma plugins) to build automations and asset pipelines
•Experience in travel, consumer marketplaces, or high-volume consumer products
•Video editing and sound design experience
Benefits and Perks
Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership.
Pay Ranges
•New York: total cash range $187,000.00 to $261,500.00, with potential to increase up to $299,000.00 based on performance
•Chicago: total cash range $161,000.00 to $225,500.00, with potential to increase up to $257,500.00 based on performance
•Beverly Hills: total cash range $173,000.00 to $242,500.00, with potential to increase up to $277,000.00 based on performance
•Austin: total cash range $173,000.00 to $242,500.00, with potential to increase up to $277,000.00 based on performance
•San Francisco: total cash range $187,000.00 to $261,500.00, with potential to increase up to $299,000.00 based on performance
Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual's knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.
About Expedia Group
Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.
