Lead Motion Designer

Whatnot

$90K — $130K *
Media
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-8+ years of experience in motion design
  • Strong portfolio showcasing high-quality work across 2D and 3D
  • Expert-level proficiency in Adobe After Effects
  • Working knowledge of Cinema 4D/Redshift
  • Ability to produce detail-oriented work under tight timelines
  • Confidence in collaborating with designers and marketers in a fast-paced environment

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate closely with marketing, product, and communications teams to develop motion work that aligns with campaign strategies
  • Conceptualize and execute high-quality 2D and 3D motion graphics for various brand initiatives
  • Animate 3D models and scenes, focusing on timing, pacing, and storytelling nuances
  • Contribute to visual direction and design exploration to enhance brand presence across mediums
  • Utilize Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Suite, and Figma to bring concepts to life
  • Evolve the company's motion language through creativity and trend awareness
  • Deliver polished, production-ready work under tight deadlines

Benefits

  • Flexible Time Off Policy and Company Holidays including spring and winter breaks
  • Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, and Vision
  • Home office setup allowance and monthly reimbursements for phone and internet
  • Wellness monthly allowance and annual childcare allowance
  • Lifetime benefits for family planning such as adoption or fertility
  • 401k with employer match and international pension plans
  • Monthly allowance for using the app personally
  • 16 weeks paid parental leave with a month of gradual return to work
Full Job Description
Role

We're looking for a Senior Motion Designer to join the creative team at Whatnot. Our small but mighty team builds the Whatnot brand and delivers best-in-class creative across campaigns, launches, and live moments, both on-platform and off. As a core member of the team, you'll play a key role in shaping how motion defines our visual identity, collaborating alongside brand designers and creative leads from the ground up to concept and execute high-impact work that drives campaigns and brand moments. We're looking for a hands-on designer with strong taste and a point of view who works across 2D and 3D to bring depth, energy, and storytelling into projects early, influencing layout, pacing, composition, and overall creative direction. If you're excited to explore emerging tools, experiment with new visual approaches, and help define what great motion looks like at Whatnot, we'd love to hear from you.
  • Collaborate closely with marketing, product, and comms teams to develop and execute motion work that supports campaign strategies and business objectives.
  • Concept and execute high-quality 2D and 3D motion graphics for campaigns, events, product launches, and brand activations, owning projects end-to-end from initial concept to final delivery.
  • Animate 3D models and scenes with strong timing, pacing, camera work, and storytelling.
  • Contribute to visual direction, layout thinking, and design exploration, ensuring motion is a driving force in how our brand shows up across digital and physical touchpoints.
  • Work fluidly across Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Suite, and Figma to bring ideas to life.
  • Help evolve Whatnot's motion language through experimentation and exploration, staying ahead of trends, emerging tools, and creative best practices to keep our motion work fresh, effective, and culturally resonant.
  • Deliver polished, production-ready work under tight timelines while maintaining a high standard of craft.

We offer flexibility to work from home or from one of our global office hubs, and we value in-person time for planning, problem-solving, and connection. Team members in this role must live within commuting distance of our San Francisco, New York, or Los Angeles hubs.

You

People who do well at Whatnot tend to be comfortable figuring things out as they go, biased toward action, and genuinely curious about what they're building. They care more about outcomes than credit and stay close to the product and the people using it.

As a Senior Motion Designer, you should have 5-8+ years of experience in motion design, with a strong portfolio demonstrating refined, high-quality work across 2D and 3D. This is a hands-on role and your focus will be delivering exceptional motion graphics in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.

Candidates should have:
  • A portfolio showcasing highly polished motion design work across brand, campaign, and digital experiences.
  • Expert-level proficiency in Adobe After Effects.
  • Strong working knowledge of Cinema 4D/Redshift.
  • The ability to produce refined, detail-oriented work under tight timelines.
  • Confidence collaborating closely with designers, marketers, and creative leads to bring ideas to life.
  • A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset in a fast-moving environment.

Nice to have:
  • Experience with Rive.
  • Background in a high-growth startup or creative studio environment.
Benefits
  • Flexible Time off Policy and Company-wide Holidays (including a spring and winter break)
  • Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
  • Work From Home Support
    • Home office setup allowance
    • Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
  • Care benefits
    • Monthly allowance on wellness
    • Annual allowance towards Childcare
    • Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
  • Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally
  • Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
  • Parental Leave
    • 16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work *company leave allowances run concurrently with country leave requirements which take precedence.

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