Lead Gameplay Animator

Role Description:

We’re looking for a Lead Gameplay Animator to join our Firesprite studio and bring the world of a dark, story-driven next generation ‘Narrative Adventure’ to life. Working closely with other teams, you’ll develop and deliver playable animations to the highest quality possible.

We’re striving for a specificity of character and emotion that delivers distinct performance, heightens player immersion, and sets a new bar for gameplay character animation. As a part of the animation team, you will be instrumental in bringing that ambition to life.

With the use of our OptiTrack-Unreal Live Link, on-site Motion Capture facility, you and your team will be empowered to create next level high quality animations for the game.

With genre-defining goals, this title has AAA ambitions and a strong focus on character. We are taking atmosphere, storytelling, player-agency and narrative into ground-breaking territory, on next-gen technology.

Ideally, we would love individuals to be based in the studio for 1-3 days per week, but we may consider those who have a preference for remote working in the UK.

What you’ll be doing:

As the lead of a collaborative team, you will guide the creation of high-quality gameplay animation assets and systems. You’ll find creative solutions, artistic, technical or both, to deliver that specificity on a range of characters and other animated elements.

• Be the voice for the Gameplay Animation team.
• Work with the Art Directors and Art Leads to shape and uphold the project direction/vision.
• Deliver that vision for features and animation systems and empower feature owners and members of the animation team to do so.
• Work with related teams on block-out to final animations & systems, that work seamlessly with non-gameplay animation where required.
• Establish clear and consistent schedules in conjunction with production and identify potential problems in the pipeline and work with other product owners to mitigate them.
• Mentor, motivate, collaborate with and guide animators; Amplify their strengths, review their work on technical and aesthetic bases, and stay aware of their workloads.
• Create a welcoming and respectful atmosphere for collaboration, communication and creativity.
• Interview, hire, and train new team members in collaboration with the Recruitment team.

What we’re looking for:

• Experience as a Lead Animator on at least one PC or console title.
• Solid knowledge of animation principles and an eye for dynamic poses, strong in keyframe animation and motion capture methods.
• A deep understanding of human behaviour, strong sense of expressing character through movement.
• Experienced in developing animation for game engines and movement systems; Working with motion capture data and relevant pipelines; working with Unreal Engine or similar.
• Experience with Motion Matching and State Machines development.
• Experience shooting and directing motion capture for gameplay animation.
• Excellent communication, organisational and interpersonal skills.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in MotionBuilder.
• Knowledge UE4 or similar engines.
• A passion for video games and an understanding of current trends in relation to animation.
• Experience mentoring and growing an animation department.
• Understanding of facial animation.

Benefits:

• Discretionary bonus opportunity
• Hybrid Working (within Flexmodes)
• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Scheme
• 25 days holiday per year
• Free soft drinks
• Access to cycle garage and showers