The Role

You’re a Junior Motion Designer — curious, ambitious, and developing your craft. You’re excited by how movement brings brands to life, and you’re building your skills in animation, storytelling, and systems thinking.

At Koto, you’ll support the creation of motion work across a range of projects — learning how rhythm, behavior, and narrative can turn strategy into emotion and design into experience. You’ll collaborate with designers, strategists, and motion teammates, contributing to work that feels thoughtful, expressive, and distinctly Koto.

You’re hungry to learn, open to feedback, and motivated to get better with every project brief.

Your Responsibilities

1. Support motion across projects.
   You contribute to motion work — from graphics and transitions to elements of larger systems — bringing care, curiosity, and attention to detail. You’re learning how to translate design into motion that feels clear and intentional.

2. Develop your craft.
   You’re building your skills in animation, timing, and storytelling. You take feedback openly and use it to refine your work and grow your confidence.

3. Collaborate with the team.
   You work closely with motion designers, brand designers, and strategists — asking questions, staying engaged, and supporting wherever needed.

4. Present your thinking.
   You begin to share your work internally, building confidence in explaining your ideas and decisions clearly and simply.

1. Work hands-on.
   You spend most of your time designing and animating. You’re developing proficiency in After Effects, with working knowledge of Figma and Illustrator. Experience with editing, 3D (C4D), or motion for web (Lottie, Rive) is a plus.

2. Manage your time.
   You stay organized, meet deadlines, and take ownership of your tasks — with support from your team.

3. Bring the Koto spirit.
   You contribute to a positive, in-person studio culture in New York — bringing energy, curiosity, and a collaborative mindset.

Our Responsibilities

1. Provide regular access to your manager to support your growth and career trajectory.

2. Reward performance with promotions, pay increases, and a discretionary annual bonus of up to 10%.

3. Ensure an equal and inclusive workplace for all employees.

4. Support family leave with generous paid maternity and paternity.

5. Offer 25 vacation days annually, plus US bank holidays and a December studio closure.

6. Contribute up to 4% to participants in our 401k plan.

7. Provide a monthly $100 wellness benefit via Juno.

8. Offer access to YCN and fund relevant training opportunities.

9. Celebrate milestones: $5,000 and five extra vacation days after five years; $10,000 and four weeks after ten.

10. Give you the opportunity to work temporarily from any Koto studio worldwide with appropriate planning.

Our Culture

• At Koto, we encourage our team to be ‘rationally optimistic’ about the potential of our work, our clients, their businesses, and the power of brand.

• We pursue the best briefs, want to inspire meaningful work, and, for those interested, provide an opportunity to make the work of their lives. We are actively cultivating leadership, culture, and spaces to encourage this.

• We work in person, with an optional WFH day on Friday and an additional 20 days remote a year. We believe this produces the best work, mentoring opportunities, collective learning, and culture.

• We encourage autonomy among our team members, allowing them to manage their time, hours, and personal commitments appropriately to complete their work.