Lead Technical Animator

Stack

Responsibilities

• ▹Work closely with technical animators, leads, directors and outsource managers to make sure assets are set up for success at every production stage
• ▹Align on and drive the strategy for technical animation and adjacent gameplay teams
• ▹Work with production to schedule, prioritize and delegate assets for the team, both internal and vendor
• ▹Collaborate with animators, modelers and designers to keep the development pipeline smooth and the assets high quality
• ▹Assist with pipeline tools and work with engine and project leads on continuously improving engine tools
• ▹Mentor rigging-focused technical animators
• ▹Rig characters, weapons, creatures and vehicles
• ▹Set up assets in Unreal Engine 5, including control rigs, cloth, physics and blueprints
• ▹Maintain detailed documentation, video reference and examples of asset production, procedures and engine requirements to support internal and external artists

Requirements

• ▹Extensive experience rigging characters in Maya and/or Unreal Engine
• ▹A portfolio demonstrating rigging for a range of characters, bipeds and creatures, both body and faces
• ▹Attention to aesthetic detail, especially character deformation and physics movement
• ▹Familiarity with the Unreal Engine 5 art pipeline
• ▹A positive attitude with strong written communication and teamwork skills
• ▹Exceptional problem-solving skills

Nice to have

• ▹Control Rig experience
• ▹Python programming

Soft skills

What we offer

• ▹Generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs for most employees
• ▹Open to multiple US locations (including CA, NYC and WA)

About the company

Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company that has been making award-winning games and engine technology for over 30 years. Unreal Engine is used by game developers and by creators in media, automotive and architecture.