Motion Designer jobs

Job Description: Freelance Motion Designer

Department: Creative
Location: Dubai, UAE / Hybrid
Reporting To: Associate Creative Director / Art Director
Engagement Type: Freelance / Project-Based

Role Purpose

The Freelance Motion Designer at sweetwater is responsible for transforming creative concepts, brand stories, and campaign ideas into compelling motion-led content across digital, social, experiential, and live environments.

The role holder will work closely with Art Directors, Designers, Creative Leads, Client Servicing, Production, and Technology teams to develop high-quality motion assets that strengthen campaign storytelling and elevate the overall creative experience.

This is a hands-on creative role that requires a strong understanding of animation, typography, visual rhythm, storytelling, and brand design, combined with the ability to work quickly and accurately within demanding project timelines. The Motion Designer must be comfortable moving between social-first content, campaign films, digital screen content, event visuals, branded animations, and experiential environments.

The role is project-based and requires someone who can enter an active creative workflow quickly, understand the visual direction, and independently translate static design systems into sophisticated motion executions without losing the integrity of the original idea.

Key Responsibilities1. Motion Concept Development

• Translate campaign concepts, storyboards, key visuals, and static design systems into strong motion directions.
• Contribute motion-led ideas during campaign and experiential concept development.
• Develop animation styles, transitions, visual treatments, and motion behaviours that reinforce the central creative idea.
• Create mood films, motion references, styleframes, and animation tests to support creative presentations and client approvals.
• Work closely with Art Directors to ensure motion design feels integrated into the overall campaign rather than added as an afterthought.

2. Digital & Social Motion Design

• Design and animate content across social and digital platforms including Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Meta, and digital advertising formats.
• Produce reels, stories, short-form videos, animated posts, carousels, paid media assets, motion graphics, and campaign cutdowns.
• Adapt master creative into multiple platform-native formats while maintaining visual consistency.
• Ensure motion content is optimized for different screen sizes, durations, aspect ratios, and platform requirements.
• Develop content that is visually engaging while remaining appropriate to the audience, brand, and campaign objective.

3. Experiential & Event Motion Content

• Create motion content for LED screens, digital installations, event environments, stage backdrops, projection surfaces, and interactive displays.
• Collaborate with experiential, 3D, technology, and production teams to understand technical specifications and content requirements.
• Develop animated brand moments, countdowns, transitions, ambient visuals, show graphics, and event content packages.
• Adapt motion concepts for large-format and multi-screen environments while considering scale, resolution, viewing distance, and audience experience.
• Support live event and activation content requirements where required.

4. Campaign Films & Brand Content

• Support the development of campaign films, brand films, teasers, promotional content, case-study videos, and event recaps.
• Translate creative scripts and storyboards into engaging visual sequences.
• Work with editors, videographers, and production teams to integrate motion graphics into filmed content.
• Develop title sequences, supers, lower thirds, animated typography, graphic overlays, and branded transitions.
• Support different campaign versions, cutdowns, and adaptations while preserving the original creative idea.

5. Animation & Visual Craft

• Demonstrate a strong command of animation principles including timing, pacing, composition, hierarchy, transitions, and visual rhythm.
• Create sophisticated typography-led motion and graphic animation.
• Maintain high standards of design craft across all motion outputs.
• Understand how sound, music, and motion interact to strengthen storytelling.
• Ensure motion work feels intentional and aligned with brand identity rather than relying on generic animation effects.

6. Art Direction & Creative Collaboration

• Work closely with Art Directors and Creative Leads to interpret and execute approved visual directions.
• Collaborate with Graphic Designers to animate existing key visuals, campaign identities, and design systems.
• Provide input on how static designs can be structured to work more effectively in motion.
• Participate in internal creative reviews and respond constructively to feedback.
• Where appropriate, contribute ideas that improve the overall campaign rather than limiting involvement to execution.

7. Storyboarding & Pre-Production

• Develop clear storyboards, animatics, styleframes, and motion references before full production.
• Help Creative and Production teams understand the proposed visual journey, pacing, and technical requirements.
• Identify potential production challenges early and propose practical solutions.
• Ensure approved animation direction can be achieved within the project's scope, budget, and timeline.

8. Production & Technical Delivery

• Manage assigned motion deliverables from initial briefing through final export and handover.
• Prepare files according to required technical specifications, codecs, resolutions, aspect ratios, frame rates, and output formats.
• Maintain organized project files and ensure working files are properly handed over to sweetwater at project completion.
• Conduct quality checks before final delivery to ensure visual consistency, accurate branding, clean transitions, and technical compliance.
• Make amendments efficiently while maintaining version control.

9. Project & Timeline Management

• Understand project priorities, deadlines, review cycles, and dependencies before beginning production.
• Manage multiple motion deliverables simultaneously without compromising quality.
• Communicate progress, challenges, and dependencies proactively to the relevant Creative or Project Lead.
• Flag delays or technical concerns early rather than allowing them to impact final delivery.
• Work efficiently within agreed freelance hours, project scopes, and deliverables.

Technical Proficiency

• Advanced proficiency in Adobe After Effects
• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro
• Strong understanding of Photoshop and Illustrator
• Experience working with Figma-designed assets and digital design systems
• Strong understanding of codecs, frame rates, resolutions, aspect ratios, and export specifications
• Experience with 2D animation, kinetic typography, transitions, and compositing
• Knowledge of Cinema 4D, Blender, or other 3D motion tools is highly advantageous
• Experience with AI-assisted creative and motion workflows is an advantage
• Familiarity with live-event content workflows, LED specifications, projection mapping, or digital signage is beneficial

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum 4–7 years of professional motion design experience, preferably within advertising, experiential, digital, branding, or integrated creative agencies.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality motion work across campaigns, social media, advertising, brand content, and digital experiences.
• Experience developing motion content from established art direction as well as contributing original motion ideas.
• Demonstrated ability to manage fast-turnaround assignments while maintaining strong creative standards.
• Experience working with regional or international brands is preferred.
• Previous experience producing motion content for experiential events, installations, or large-format screens is advantageous.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

Success in This Role Looks Like

The Freelance Motion Designer is successful when motion becomes a meaningful part of the creative idea rather than simply movement applied to static artwork.

The role holder should be able to quickly understand sweetwater's creative direction, translate that direction into polished motion outputs, and work independently while remaining highly collaborative with the wider project team.

Success means delivering high-quality, visually sophisticated, technically accurate work on time, while demonstrating strong creative judgment, adaptability, and the ability to elevate campaigns through movement, rhythm, and storytelling.

Pay: AED6,000.00 - AED12,000.00 per month

Work Location: In person