About Afrotoons
Afrotoons is building the next generation of global African storytelling—animated worlds inspired by our cultures, languages, landscapes, heroes, and humour.
Our first flagship series, Selase’s Adventures, explores Africa country by country through magical passports, family-centred storytelling, and cultural learning.
We are seeking a Head of Story who will shape the voice, soul, and narrative structure of the Afrotoons animated universe.
Role Mission
The Head of Story will lead story development across Afrotoons shows, beginning with Selase’s Adventures, and build a powerful, emotionally compelling storytelling pipeline that can scale across future series, films, and spin-offs.
This person will take ownership of episode scripting, manage the writers’ room and Afrotoons’ growing network of cultural consultants across the continent, uphold story quality, and develop story bibles and character arcs.
The Head of Story will also work directly with the Chief Content Officer to expand the Afrotoons universe.
Key Responsibilities
Story Leadership
- Own the narrative direction of Selase’s Adventures and upcoming Afrotoons intellectual properties.
- Design multi-season story arcs, themes, character development, tone, and narrative rhythm.
- Create and maintain a master story bible and canon rules for internal use.
- Translate educational, historical, and cultural material into fun, engaging show concepts and episodes.
- Ensure that every story reflects Afrotoons’ creative vision, audience needs, and cultural values.
Script & Writing Pipeline
- Write and oversee the development of episode scripts.
- Build and lead a writers’ room as the creative team expands.
- Edit, supervise, and approve story concepts, outlines, treatments, scripts, and dialogue passes.
- Manage multiple scripts and story concepts through different stages of development.
- Work closely with storyboard artists to strengthen story flow, pacing, visual clarity, and comedic timing.
- Provide clear and constructive feedback to writers and other creative contributors.
Research & Cultural Authenticity
- Research African history, food, languages, dialects, customs, folklore, and locations to develop compelling new stories and series.
- Collaborate with cultural advisors and consultants to ensure accuracy, authenticity, and sensitivity.
- Identify and recruit writers from across Africa to bring local knowledge, perspectives, and richness to Afrotoons’ stories.
- Ensure that cultural and educational elements are naturally integrated into entertaining stories.
Collaboration & Production Flow
- Work closely with the design, storyboarding, animation, production, and sound teams throughout the production process.
- Participate in voice casting and provide script-to-performance direction where required.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across multiple countries, disciplines, and time zones.
- Document workflows and develop repeatable systems for story development, review, and approval.
- Work directly with the Chief Content Officer to develop and expand the Afrotoons story universe.
Required Skills & Experience
- Strong screenwriting experience in animation, children’s media, film, television, or a closely related field.
- A natural comedic instinct and strong emotional storytelling ability.
- A strong sense of wonder, rhythm, pacing, and clarity of character voice.
- Excellent understanding of story structure, including act flow, set-ups and payoffs, character arcs, and educational beats.
- Ability to write, edit, and provide constructive feedback on scripts and story materials.
- Ability to manage multiple scripts and projects in development simultaneously.
- Strong creative leadership, organisation, and communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively with different stakeholders across multiple time zones within a pan-African collaborative team.
Nice to Have
- Previous experience working on children’s animation or media.
- Familiarity with African storytelling traditions, cultures, and languages.
- Experience leading a writers’ room or story development team.
- Storyboarding literacy and an understanding of visual storytelling.
- Experience developing story bibles, character profiles, and multi-season story arcs.
- Experience collaborating with cultural advisors, researchers, or educational specialists.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should submit:
- CV or résumé
- Portfolio and writing samples, submitted as a PDF or links to scripts
- A one-page pitch for a future Selase’s Adventures episode set in an African country of your choice
Important: The use of AI tools is not permitted when preparing the one-page episode pitch. The submission must represent the applicant’s original ideas and writing.
Applications should be sent to:
careers@afrotoons.com
Please use “Head of Story Application – [Your Name]” as the email subject.
Role Details
- Role: Head of Story
- Company: Afrotoons