Senior Technical Animator

Team: Design

Location: US

Commitment: Full-time

Workplace Type: remote

Accountabilities:

• Develop and maintain animation systems, character rigs, automated lip-sync solutions, and runtime animation systems within Unreal Engine.
• Build and improve tools and pipelines that increase the efficiency, consistency, and scalability of animation workflows.
• Collaborate closely with animators to ensure rigs, skeletons, and animation assets perform effectively within the game.
• Partner with gameplay engineers to integrate animation features and systems into gameplay experiences.
• Optimize animation assets for performance, memory usage, and runtime stability across supported platforms.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex animation, rigging, deformation, and pipeline issues throughout development.
• Support motion capture integration, animation retargeting, and procedural animation systems when required.
• Establish, document, and promote best practices for animation pipelines, technical standards, and production workflows.
• Contribute hands-on animation work when needed to support production goals and maintain a strong understanding of the creative process.
• Mentor junior technical animators and provide technical guidance to the broader animation team.
• Collaborate across art, design, and engineering disciplines to identify technical opportunities and deliver reliable animation solutions.

Requirements:

• Bring 3+ years of professional experience in technical animation and rigging within the video game industry.
• Demonstrate strong experience with Unreal Engine, particularly Control Rig and animation systems within the engine.
• Have strong proficiency with Maya or similar digital content creation tools, including rigging and scripting workflows.
• Understand animation state machines, blend trees, and runtime animation systems.
• Have a solid understanding of character rigging, skinning, deformation, and related technical animation systems.
• Bring familiarity with Python, MEL, C++, or Blueprint scripting for developing animation tools and production pipelines.
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving and debugging skills, particularly when addressing complex animation and rigging challenges.
• Have excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with artists, designers, engineers, and other disciplines.
• Experience with motion capture pipelines and retargeting systems is a valuable advantage.
• Knowledge of Unreal rigging tools, procedural animation with Control Rig, physics-based animation, or inverse kinematics systems is preferred.
• Experience optimizing animation for console or PC performance constraints is beneficial.
• Experience creating animations in a production environment is a plus.
• Experience shipping at least one AAA or mid-sized studio game title is highly desirable.
• Experience developing animation tools or plugins is an additional advantage.

Benefits:

• The annual base salary range varies by U.S. metropolitan area and location.
• San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, DC metropolitan areas: $125,000–$149,000 USD annually.
• Austin, Denver, Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Miami metropolitan areas: $100,000–$130,000 USD annually.
• All other U.S. locations: $92,000–$118,000 USD annually.
• Final compensation within the applicable range is determined based on factors such as experience, qualifications, and work location.
• Eligible U.S.-based full-time employees receive profit sharing.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance are available to eligible employees.
• A 401(k) matching program is provided.
• Flexible spending and health savings account options are available through FSA/HSA programs.
• Employees receive paid time off, sick time, and paid holidays.
• Parental leave is available to eligible employees.
• The role supports a remote working arrangement, subject to applicable employment and location requirements.
• The organization is committed to equal employment opportunities and an inclusive workplace.