Technical Animator

Job Description:

• Create sophisticated IK solutions (foot placement, terrain adaptation) in Unreal Engine Control Rig and Anim Blueprints
• Rig human characters, dinosaurs, and fantasy creatures with precise attention to anatomy, understanding joint placement and muscle deformation
• Design and implement advanced procedural and gameplay-driven animation systems using Animation Blueprints (AnimBPs) in Unreal Engine 5
• Build responsive state machines, blend spaces, pose drivers, animation modifiers, notifies, and layered logic tightly coupled to gameplay and physics
• Develop physics-based animation systems including active ragdoll blending
• Leverage Houdini to procedurally modify, generate, or optimize meshes and skeletons
• Solve complex technical animation challenges while collaborating with modeling, animation, design, and engineering teams
• Perform quality checks, optimization (including LOD behavior), and seamless engine integration
• Create clear technical documentation and help evolve the animation & rigging pipeline

Requirements:

• 3+ years of professional experience as a Technical Animator / Technical Artist in game development, with at least 1 shipped title
• Strong expertise in Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints, procedural animation techniques, IK/FK systems, and real-time character/creature workflows
• Practical experience with physics simulation in real-time engines (ragdoll, active physics blending, joint constraints, momentum-based animation)
• Ability to quickly adapt to new pipelines, tools, and evolving engine features
• Excellent problem-solving skills and strong communication
• Maya rigging experience
• Previous work on creature animation
• Programming experience
• Rigging pipelines from Maya → UE5
• Motion capture experience
• Familiarity with performance optimization
• Houdini experience

Benefits:

• We pay 100% of all premiums for the employee and discounted rates for dependent premiums.
• Our coverage includes Medical (5 different plans to choose from), Dental, Vision, Short Term and Long Term Disability, Life Insurance, 401(k) option, 100% covered Parental Leave, PTO, Paid Holidays, Unlimited Sick Time, and FSA/ HSA options