Animation Sound Designer & Audio Engineer (Volunteer)

Animation Sound Designer & Audio Engineer (Volunteer)

PromiseStudios | Animation, Sound Design & Audio Post-Production

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStudios

Team: Animation

Location: Fully Remote — United States

Type: Volunteer Creative Production Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6 months

Reports To: Creative Director, Animation

Works Closely With: Animation Video Editor, Animators, Composers, Voice Actors, Writers, Illustrators, Motion Designers, and PromiseStudios Creative Leadership

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, creative expression, storytelling, career development, and community-centered opportunity.

Through PromiseStudios, MAP creates original media and storytelling experiences designed to inspire, engage, educate, and amplify meaningful stories.

About PromiseStudios

PromiseStudios is MAP's multidisciplinary creative production division, bringing together animation, film, photography, audio, music, motion design, post-production, and other creative disciplines.

The Animation Team develops original animated stories and visual experiences by bringing together writing, illustration, animation, voice performance, music, editing, and sound.

Sound is not something added after the animation is finished.

It is part of how the audience experiences the world.

Role Overview

MAP is seeking an Animation Sound Designer & Audio Engineer to shape the sound of original animated projects from dialogue and atmosphere to effects, music integration, mixing, and final delivery.

This role combines creative sound design with technical audio engineering.

The Sound Designer & Audio Engineer will transform animation from something audiences simply watch into something they can hear, feel, and experience.

The ideal candidate understands that animated sound is rarely limited to recording what exists. Animation often requires creating an entire sonic environment from imagination.

A door may not have been recorded.

A creature may not exist.

A magical object may have no sound in the real world.

The sound designer helps determine what those things should sound like.

Key Responsibilities

Sound Design

• Develop original soundscapes for animated projects.
• Create, source, edit, and layer sound effects.
• Build environmental ambience and background sound.
• Develop sonic identities for characters, objects, environments, and recurring story elements.
• Design transitions and audio moments that strengthen storytelling.
• Use silence intentionally when appropriate.
• Ensure sound supports the emotional and narrative direction of each scene.
• Maintain consistency of recurring sounds throughout a project.

Dialogue & Voice Editing

• Edit voice-over and character dialogue.
• Clean recordings and reduce unwanted noise.
• Balance dialogue between performers and scenes.
• Address appropriate timing and synchronization issues.
• Maintain natural vocal performances while improving technical quality.
• Coordinate with voice actors and production leadership when recordings require correction or replacement.
• Prepare dialogue tracks for final mixing.

The goal is not to process every voice until it sounds perfect.

The goal is to preserve the performance while making sure the audience can experience it clearly.

Foley & Character Sound

Develop or source appropriate sounds for movement and physical interaction, including:

• Footsteps
• Clothing movement
• Doors and objects
• Character actions
• Environmental interaction
• Props
• Impacts
• Movement
• Physical comedy
• Stylized animated actions

For highly imaginative projects, collaborate with animators and creative leadership to determine when realistic sound should give way to stylized sound.

Music Integration

Work closely with MAP composers and creative teams to integrate original music into animated projects.

• Prepare music for editorial use.
• Balance music against dialogue and effects.
• Support transitions between score and sound design.
• Coordinate revisions when timing changes.
• Maintain appropriate music files and versions.
• Ensure music strengthens rather than overwhelms storytelling.

Audio Editing, Mixing & Mastering

• Edit dialogue, effects, Foley, ambience, and music.
• Balance audio elements across scenes.
• Create clean and intelligible dialogue mixes.
• Manage dynamics appropriately.
• Apply EQ, compression, noise reduction, and other processing where needed.
• Maintain consistency throughout projects.
• Mix and master final animation audio.
• Prepare appropriate final audio deliverables.

Every element should have a reason to be heard.

Animation Synchronization

Work closely with the Animation Video Editor and animation team to ensure precise synchronization between picture and sound.

Follow a production workflow such as:

Script → Storyboard → Animatic → Animation → Editorial → Sound Design → Music → Mix → Quality Control → Final Delivery

• Work from animatics and picture-locked sequences as appropriate.
• Synchronize effects and dialogue to animation.
• Adjust sound as animation timing evolves.
• Identify picture changes that affect audio.
• Maintain communication across editorial and animation teams.

Audio Quality Control

Review final projects carefully before delivery.

Check for:

• Dialogue clarity
• Missing effects
• Synchronization errors
• Audio artifacts
• Abrupt edits
• Inconsistent levels
• Music balance
• Unintended background noise
• Distortion or clipping
• Missing or incorrect files
• Overall listening experience

A project is not finished because the audio exported successfully.

Someone must listen to the final version from beginning to end.

Audio Standards & Consistency

Help establish PromiseStudios standards for animation audio.

Develop guidance around:

• Dialogue recording
• File formats
• Sample rates
• Track organization
• Naming conventions
• Sound-effect libraries
• Mixing
• Loudness
• Mastering
• Version control
• Final delivery
• Archiving

As PromiseStudios grows, the goal is to create repeatable professional workflows rather than reinventing the audio process for every project.

File & Asset Management

• Maintain organized project sessions and audio assets.
• Follow established naming conventions.
• Maintain appropriate version control.
• Organize dialogue, music, Foley, ambience, and effects.
• Preserve project files for future revisions.
• Document specialized processing or technical requirements when appropriate.
• Respect licensing, copyright, and usage requirements for third-party audio assets.

Creative Collaboration

Work closely with directors, animators, editors, composers, writers, and other creative professionals.

The role should contribute creatively without losing sight of the director's overall vision.

Strong collaboration means being able to propose an idea, explain why it strengthens the scene, receive feedback, revise the work, and continue improving the project.

The objective is not to prove whose creative idea was right.

It is to make the story better.

Qualifications

Required

• Experience in sound design, audio engineering, audio post-production, or related work.
• Experience editing and mixing dialogue, sound effects, music, or other audio.
• Proficiency with professional audio software such as Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Logic Pro, Reaper, Ableton Live, or comparable tools.
• Strong understanding of audio editing, mixing, signal processing, and sound quality.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently in a remote production environment.
• Strong file-management and organizational practices.
• Ability to receive and incorporate creative feedback.
• Reliable communication and follow-through.
• Alignment with MAP's mission and dignity-centered values.

Preferred

• Experience designing sound for animation.
• Experience in film, television, games, motion design, or narrative media.
• Foley experience.
• Experience editing voice actors or character dialogue.
• Knowledge of audio post-production workflows.
• Experience collaborating with composers.
• Understanding of synchronization between sound and picture.
• Experience developing original sound effects or sonic environments.
• Knowledge of professional delivery and loudness standards.
• Familiarity with children's or family-oriented storytelling.

A traditional degree is not required.

A strong portfolio demonstrating technical skill, storytelling instincts, and thoughtful sound design matters more.

What Success Looks Like

Dialogue is consistently clear.

Sound effects feel intentional.

Characters and environments develop recognizable sonic identities.

Music, dialogue, ambience, and effects work together rather than competing with one another.

Audio problems are identified before publication.

Files remain organized enough that another qualified professional can understand the project.

Creative teams begin considering sound earlier in production.

And audiences may never consciously notice everything the sound designer did—but they feel the difference when they experience the finished story.

Why This Role Matters

Animation begins with images, but images alone do not create the entire world.

Sound tells us how large a room feels.

Whether something is approaching behind us.

Whether a moment is playful, uncomfortable, mysterious, peaceful, or dangerous.

It gives weight to footsteps, personality to imaginary objects, atmosphere to places that have never existed, and emotional depth to moments without dialogue.

For animation, sound does more than accompany the world.

Sometimes, sound helps invent it.

Commitment

• Volunteer position
• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Minimum 6-month commitment
• Fully remote
• Consistent communication through MAP's approved collaboration platforms
• Participation in relevant creative reviews and production meetings
• Reliable completion of agreed production milestones

What You'll Gain

• Experience creating sound for original animated productions.
• Portfolio-ready animation and audio work.
• Opportunity to develop original soundscapes and sonic identities.
• Collaboration with animators, composers, editors, voice actors, writers, and multidisciplinary creative professionals.
• Experience within a developing creative studio environment.
• Professional references and letters of recommendation based on demonstrated contribution.
• Opportunity to help establish the sound-design standards of PromiseStudios as its animation portfolio grows.

How to Apply

Interested candidates must apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Sound design, audio engineering, or audio post-production portfolio/reel
• Cover letter describing relevant experience and interest in MAP's mission

Applicants with animation, film, game, or narrative sound-design work are encouraged to include examples demonstrating how their audio choices contributed to storytelling.

This is an unpaid volunteer position.

At this time, MAP volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.

Every movement can have weight. Every environment can have a voice. Every silence can mean something. Help us build the sound behind the worlds we animate.