--- title: 'Executive Creative Director at Exploding Kittens' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/executive-creative-director-exploding-kittens-los-angeles-3xayns060k3g' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-06' --- # Executive Creative Director at Exploding Kittens - **Company:** Exploding Kittens - **Location:** Los Angeles, CA - **Compensation:** $180k–$220k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-11-03 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/explodingkittens/e21bf74c-dc51-4bb4-be3e-7d9b03d5aec8 ## Job description The Executive Creative Director helps shape and execute on the Exploding Kittens’ distinct brand identity across games and new product lines. This role partners closely with cross-functional teams to develop new products and ensure all output from Art & Design and Game Development is irreverent, bold and unmistakably on-brand. Operating as a hands-on leader with a strong CPG background who can mentor and shape a team to create innovative and commercially viable work (from game design, packaging and product components) that resonate across a wide variety of audiences. They embrace the start-up-mentality and are comfortable building processes and systems as needed. The Executive Creative Director understands the mass market, respects the brand EK has built over the past decade and takes it into the next. They are responsible for the integrity of our tone of voice and visual standards while evolving our creative identity with fresh ideas, decisiveness and proactivity. Humble, hungry, and people-smart, they put the team's success first. They bring a growth mindset and a commitment to continually developing their craft and evolving as a leader. ## WHAT YOU'LL DO - Set the creative vision for each new product, inspiring and guiding the creative team (product designers, illustrators, and game designers) fostering a high-performing, experimental and collaborative team culture. - Drive constant innovation and games category disruption by staying ahead of trends in design, humor, and entertainment. - Own and evolve our voice and brand identity across all creative. - Establish creative team workflows and address creative resource gaps to improve and scale the lean and scrappy process. - Advocate for the Creative Strategy and collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Product Management, Production and Sales to ensure brand integrity and commercial viability at every stage of the process. ## WHAT YOU'll BRING - Strong portfolio and proven creative leadership overseeing product development for high-growth CPG brands that are built with the consumer in mind - Experience in refreshing and evolving brands - navigating growth, maturity, and category expansion while protecting core identity. - Demonstrable ability to translate strategic direction into bold and original creative execution. - Deep understanding of consumer behavior and cultural trends with the ability to adapt creative direction to various audience tastes and interests. - Inspiring leader and exceptional communicator; comfortable in fast-paced, collaborative, iterative environments. - 10+ years overseeing creative teams in a leadership and people management role. - Based in Los Angeles, CA. ## About Exploding Kittens ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Exploding Kittens designs and publishes party card games, mobile apps, and entertainment content that bring people together through humor and play. - **Entity Type**: Private (Venture-backed; total funding $81.4M across multiple rounds) - **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States - **Founded**: 2015 - **Founders**: Elan Lee (former Xbox game designer) and Matthew Inman (founder of The Oatmeal) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Tabletop games / Entertainment / Digital games - **Target customers**: B2C – families, friends, and casual gamers of all ages - **Mission**: “To inspire people to connect, laugh, and play fun games in the physical world.” ## Products & Services - **[Exploding Kittens (card game)]**: The flagship party card game – the #1 most-backed project in Kickstarter history (219,000 backers, $8.7M raised). Over 20 million copies sold worldwide. - **[Kitty Letter (mobile app)]**: A free-to-play word-based mobile game. - **[Exploding Kittens (mobile app)]**: A premium app available on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch, consistently a top 30 premium game. - **[Netflix series *Exploding Kittens*]**: An animated series in production, expanding the brand into streaming content. - **Other games**: Nearly 30 games in the portfolio, including expansions and spin-offs, available in 35+ languages. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – $81.4M (as of 2025); Annual Revenue – approximately $4M (2025 estimate) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: TCG (led $30M venture round in 2019), Netflix (series partnership), Kickstarter (original crowdfunding platform) - **Growth Signals**: - Sold over 20 million games to date (up from 18M in earlier reports) - Workforce grew 3.2% YoY (51 employees as of 2025) - Active job postings increased 100% year-over-year (4 open roles) - Expanding into digital and streaming (Netflix series, mobile games) ## Competitive Advantages - **Brand & Community**: Massive cult following built on Kickstarter; strong brand recognition (“Exploding Kittens” is synonymous with modern party games). - **Creative Talent**: Founders with deep game design and viral web comic experience; team includes top talent from Netflix, Kickstarter, and major game studios. - **Distribution**: Products sold in 35+ languages and available in retail, e-commerce, and digital app stores. - **IP Ownership**: All original characters and designs (e.g., Taco Cat, Cattermelon) are proprietary, enabling cross-platform expansion. ## Strategic Focus - **Digital expansion**: Growing mobile app presence and launching a Netflix animated series to reach new audiences. - **Product diversification**: Continuing to release new physical games and expanding the mobile game portfolio. - **International growth**: Increasing distribution in non-English markets (employees in 5 countries). ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Highly collaborative, cross-departmental work environment; described as “motivated, well-selected people” with “remarkable expertise.” Emphasis on creativity, humor, and inclusion. - **Hybrid policy**: Flexible hybrid model – employees choose how they work best, with a cool office space in Los Angeles. On-site time is flexible. - **Perks**: 401(k) matching, paid parental leave, performance bonuses, relocation assistance, home-office stipend, pet-friendly office, commuter benefits, health/dental insurance, and learning opportunities (Lunch and Learns, online course subscriptions). - **Diversity**: Highly diverse management team; hiring practices promote diversity. - **Open roles**: Contract Game Designer, FP&A Manager/Senior Manager, Principal Game Developer, International Sales Manager. ## Sources 1. [jobs.lever.co/explodingkittens](https://jobs.lever.co/explodingkittens/) 2. [explodingkittens.com/pages/careers-team-and-culture](https://www.explodingkittens.com/pages/careers-team-and-culture) 3. [explodingkittens.com/pages/about-exploding-kittens](https://www.explodingkittens.com/pages/about-exploding-kittens) 4. [linkedin.com/company/exploding-kittens](https://linkedin.com/company/exploding-kittens) 5. 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