Technical Animator

SYBO is part of the Miniclip family and known for the widely popular game, Subway Surfers - the most downloaded mobile game in the world, with over four and a half billion downloads. Located in the heart of Copenhagen, we aim to create playful moments that inspire our fans to care.
Subway Surfers is played by hundreds of millions every month. Not many places can offer you a stage to showcase your animations with that volume - and even fewer places with the delivery cadence - and therein instant player feedback - that we have.
We’re looking for a Technical Animator who is interested in taking ownership of animation for Subway Surfers and who is always keen on pushing the bar on their work - be it through animations, or how they create the animations, and how they solve technical problems related to these.

We’ll need a certain amount of seniority to arrive as an expert in the technical area, as well as an ability to dive into animation work. We don’t necessarily expect you to be an expert of the tooling we use, as this is something you can learn relatively quickly.

You’ll join a highly collaborative art team who loves giving feedback, discussing both outputs and ways of working and generally supporting each other through whatever is needed - but the animation area will belong to you, and ownership is expected.
If you feel like you’re ready to take the stage for this role and work with one of the most recognizable IP’s in the industry - here’s your chance.

Key responsibilities

Create expressive, production-ready stylised gameplay animations for characters and game features on a regular cadence..
Take animation work from brief and reference through blocking, review, polish, implementation and in-game validation.
Translate creative direction from the Lead Artist into clear animation choices and independently diagnose and improve the animation craft.
Implement animations in Unity and bug fixing of animation-related issues in the game in collaboration with the Technical Artist
Create and maintain character rigs, skinning and weight painting, including secondary-motion setups for hair, capes, bags, hats and similar character elements.
Own the animation workflow from an animator’s perspective, while developing pipeline tools and larger technical solutions collaboratively with the Technical Artist.
Balance animation quality with the performance and memory constraints of a live mobile game, including support for older devices.
Plan and estimate animation work, communicate risks early and contribute actively to briefs and production planning.

Life at SYBO

In your first month - You’ll get an understanding of how the cogwheel turns on Subway Surfers, and what makes the IP unique and exciting. You’re on your way with your first animation tasks - creatively and technically to learn our styles and methods quickly.
In your first 3 months - At this point you’re already up and running, and now have full ownership of animation - with guidance as needed - and you’re an important asset to the entire art production of Subway Surfers - you’re implementing animations, fixing technical bugs and generally on top of things - while still learning.
In your first 12 months - At this point you’re the champion of animation and tech in the art team (with the Technical Artist), and you’re pushing for crosscompany collaboration and craft level up as we go. You’re actively identifying and addressing challenges and points for optimization as they appear for you, and working closely with the art team to remain the top of class art team that we have always been known for :)

Requirements

A solid professional foundation in character animation, demonstrated through a portfolio or showreel.
Strong understanding of core animation principles, particularly timing, weight, posing, silhouettes, spacing and locomotion.
Experienced in animating in Blender or other major 3D software, together with animating in Unity or other game engines - we use Blender and Unity.
Previous experiences working independently from direction and feedback, while knowing when to seek specialist input from cross department collaborators
Confidence working across artistic and technical disciplines, including with character artists, concept artists, Technical Artists, producers and developers.

Bonus Points

Previous experience working in mobile games or on a live game.
Experience with stylised animation.
Experience with rigging, skinning, secondary motion or real-time animation pipelines beyond the core requirements.

About SYBO

We're SYBO, the mobile games studio behind the legendary Subway Surfers, with over 4.5 billion downloads worldwide! Join our team in the heart of Copenhagen, where creativity flourishes in our new, state-of-the-art studio.

If you join us, you'll have the opportunity to dive into exciting and creative projects alongside a diverse group of like-minded colleagues from over 30 countries across the globe.

We truly believe you perform your best, when you have the equipment you need - and our IT team is always on hand to ensure you have access to the latest tools and gear, enabling you to be at your best - even remotely with a home-office budget!
We also pride ourselves in taking care of your well-being, offering a delicious lunch buffet, a variety of healthy snacks, and regular social events to keep the energy flowing.
Not in Copenhagen? Not a problem! We have in-house relocation specialists who will help you relocate, and feel right at home in Copenhagen and at SYBO!

SYBO is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants, regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Technical Animator