Senior Character Animator New IP
RESPONSIBILITIES
We are seeking a Senior Character Animator to join our team. The job will require creating high-quality character animations that bring gameplay, cinematics, and storytelling to life for cutting-edge games targeting the latest generation platform hardware with a proprietary multiplatform engine.
- Create high-quality gameplay and cinematic character animations that meet the project's artistic and technical standards.
- Work directly with Designers, Technical Animators, Character Artists, and Programmers to deliver responsive and believable character movement.
- Create animations for player characters, NPCs, creatures, and interactive gameplay mechanics.
- Collaborate with the design team to ensure animations support gameplay readability, responsiveness, and player experience.
- Refine and polish animation sets based on gameplay feedback and playtesting.
- Help establish and maintain animation quality standards, workflows, and best practices.
- Troubleshoot animation-related issues and work with cross-functional teams to resolve them efficiently.
- Mentor junior animators and provide constructive feedback to help elevate the team's quality.
- Document animation workflows and share knowledge with the wider animation team.
REQUIREMENTS
- Expert-level proficiency in Maya or equivalent 3D animation software.
- Strong understanding of body mechanics, weight, timing, acting, and character performance.
- Proven experience creating high-quality keyframe animations for realistic characters.
- Experience working with game engines such as Unreal Engine, Unity, or similar.
- Solid understanding of animation state machines, blend spaces, and gameplay animation pipelines.
- 5+ years of experience as a Character Animator in AAA game development.
- Ability to animate both humanoid characters and creatures.
- Good communicator with strong verbal and written English skills.
- Excellent problem-solving and time management skills.
- Self-direction and motivation.
- Proactive attitude.
- Desire to continuously improve animation quality and production workflows.
- Ability to work under strict schedules and time pressure.
Preferences
- Experience with motion capture cleanup and integration.
- Experience creating first-person and third-person gameplay animations.
- Experience with facial animation and performance capture.
- Understanding of animation systems such as IK/FK, root motion, additive animation, and layered animation.
- One shipped AAA title on consoles.
- Experience working with Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints or similar animation systems.
