4A Games is looking for a highly skilled and proactive Senior Technical Animator to join our team in developing a cutting-edge new IP. You will play a critical role in supporting the Animation team by establishing, maintaining, and improving the rigging and animation pipelines for our proprietary engine targeting the latest generation console hardware.
🛠️ Core Responsibilities
- Pipeline & Standardization: Establish and maintain efficient animation pipelines and robust rigging standards for characters, creatures, and mechanics.
- Rigging & Skinning: Create production-ready rigs and high-quality skinning for a wide range of organic (humanoid, creature, facial) and mechanical objects.
- Systems Development: Work with Programmers to improve existing animation toolkits and systems, and establish new, streamlined workflows.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate directly with Animators, Designers, Modelers, and Programmers to ensure seamless integration and final delivery of character movements, facial animations, mechanics, and cinematic sequences.
- Advanced Locomotion: Build and maintain complex creature locomotion systems, including custom movement logic, animation cycles, and dynamic state machines for non-humanoid entities (quadrupeds, flying, or hybrid creatures).
- Troubleshooting & Documentation: Proactively identify pipeline bottlenecks, troubleshoot complex problems, construct timely solutions to unforeseen design issues, and document necessary processes for colleagues.
✅ Required Skills & Experience
| Category | Requirement |
| Experience | 5+ years of dedicated rigging and technical animation experience on AAA-quality titles. |
| Software Mastery | Expert-level proficiency in Maya, including advanced rigging, high-quality skinning, scripting (MEL/Python), and animation tool development. |
| Rigging Variety | Strong experience building and maintaining custom rigs for humanoid, creature, mechanical, and facial animation systems. |
| Engine Knowledge | Solid experience working with and implementing assets in modern game engines (e.g., Unreal, Unity, or proprietary engines). |
| Problem Solving | Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex issues under pressure. |
| Attitude | Self-directed, highly motivated, and proactive with a strong desire to drive year-over-year improvement in the game engine. |
| Communication | Good verbal and written English communication skills for instructing colleagues and collaborating across departments. |
🌟 Desirable Qualifications (The Advantage)
- Experience working with procedural and/or physically-altered animation techniques.
- Prior experience in facial animation setup and pipelines.
- Deep understanding of real-world kinematics and the ability to replicate physical movement using simulation or skeletal animation.
- Experience working with animation blueprints or similar visual scripting systems.
- Contributed to at least one shipped AAA console title.
A comprehensive benefits package is available.