Technical Director - Ink

At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world. Together, we partner with creators as they experiment with a range of cutting-edge tools that bridge innovation with imaginative storytelling. Come join Inkubator to shape what’s next and explore the creative possibilities.

POSITION SUMMARY: 

We are seeking Technical Directors to join our pioneering team creating animated shorts and specials using experimental, creative-led, GenAI-native production pipelines. Working alongside artists and productions, this role will help support show-specific workflow and technical needs as we aim to develop feature-quality content in a creator-led environment.

What you’ll do

• Work on productions alongside artists to support show-specific workflow and technical needs.

• Strategize with artists to develop workflows that meet a particular show’s creative requirements.   Where emerging tools fall short of meeting creative requirements, provide hybrid workflow solutions that integrate established 3D workflows and DCCs.   

• Provide critical workflow and tool support to artists.  Document and regularly update onboarding and training materials for artists.   

• Provide beta test feedback to the engineering org for new internal infrastructure or integration tooling.  Provide testing feedback to artists and craft experts on new releases of external tooling.  Ensure a stable and current production software environment for the artists

• Working with artist and craft experts, identify model fine-tuning opportunities and data requirements.   Create custom fine-tuning for a show utilizing internal and external tooling.  

• Proactively monitor artist pain points in daily reviews or dailies and iterate on tools and processes to remove friction.

• Support and troubleshoot the handoff of data between artists and editorial.  

• Support the use of Production Tracking systems on a show and ensure it meets the particular needs of a show.  

• Evaluate and document the impact of new external tool releases on existing workflows, and communicate recommended adoption plans to artists and leads.

• Identify standardization opportunities for engineering and encourage adoption in a particular show.

• Monitor performance and reliability of compute resources during production and flag or mitigate bottlenecks impacting artist productivity.

• In collaboration with studio engineering and Netflix infrastructure teams, help identify a show’s distributed compute and workstation requirements.  As needed, develop, deploy, and support last-mile software integration solutions for artists on a particular show.

• As needed, create and deliver final material for a production.

What you need 

• Working knowledge of both commercial and open source generative and traditional CG tools and workflows (eg ComfyUI).  

• Demonstrated ability to stay current with the highly dynamic and changing landscape of tools. 

• Ability to synthesize creative requirements from artists and craft experts into practical workflows using both emerging and established tools.

• Familiarity with modern and emerging software development technologies and the ability to rapidly prototype and deploy solutions that meet a show’s requirements

• Excellent communication skills and ability to translate evolving technical concepts to both artist and production leadership.  

• Expertise in maintaining artist working environments that balance rapid deployment of new tools and security requirements.  

This job may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement.  If so, pay for the position is governed by the currently effective applicable collective bargaining agreement and thus will be no less than $62.74 an hour and up to any better conditions and terms negotiated and obtained as expressly provided therein.  

Depending on whether you are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, INK benefits can include medical/dental/vision plans, mental health support, retirement programs, and family-forming benefits, paid leave of absence programs, and paid time away programs to be used for vacation and sick paid time off.

Inclusion is a Netflix value and we strive to host a meaningful interview experience for all candidates. If you want an accommodation/adjustment for a disability or any other reason during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.