Technical Animation Artist

OUR STORY

For more than 35 years, Bardel Entertainment has been growing and evolving, yet at our core, we remain grounded in the creative roots of the craft of animation.  Our pursuit of fresh ideas, techniques, and technologies is driven by the belief that together, through creativity and collaboration, we can accomplish anything!  If you want to be part of an environment that empowers you to experiment, learn, and contribute to exciting projects, come and join us.

Role Overview

We're looking for an Animation Technical Artist who enjoys building tools, improving workflows, and solving technical challenges that enable great animation. You'll work at the intersection of Animation, Rigging, and Pipeline, creating and supporting solutions that help artists work more efficiently and deliver high-quality animation.

Success in this role means developing practical tools and workflows that remove technical obstacles before they impact production, improving the reliability of our animation processes, and enabling animators to focus on creating great performances.

What You’ll Do 

• Develop, maintain, and enhance tools and workflows that improve the efficiency of the Animation department.
• Create Python, MEL, or similar scripting solutions to automate repetitive production tasks and streamline artist workflows.
• Collaborate with the CG Supervisor, Rigging, and Pipeline teams to design and improve animation tools and production workflows.
• Provide technical support to Animators by troubleshooting issues related to scenes, rigs, caches, assets, and character deformations.
• Integrate, validate, publish, and maintain animation assets throughout production.
• Investigate recurring production issues and develop scalable solutions that improve pipeline stability and artist productivity.
• Support the successful delivery of animation assets by identifying and resolving technical issues throughout the production process.
• Evaluate emerging tools, technologies, and workflows that could benefit the Animation department.
• Document tools, workflows, and technical processes to support knowledge sharing and long-term maintainability.
• Escalate complex technical issues to Pipeline or Software Engineering teams when appropriate.

What You’ll Bring

Required

• Professional experience as an Animation Technical Artist, Technical Artist, or in a similar technical production support role within animation or VFX.
• Strong knowledge of Autodesk Maya and CG animation production workflows.
• Professional experience developing production tools and workflow automation using Python and MEL.
• Experience supporting artists by troubleshooting technical issues related to animation scenes, rigs, caches, and assets.
• Familiarity with character rigging, deformation systems, constraints, and animation pipelines.
• Experience working with ShotGrid or comparable production tracking software.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to document tools and technical workflows.

Preferred

• Experience collaborating with Pipeline or Software Engineering teams.
• Familiarity with version control and production pipeline technologies.
• Experience supporting large-scale animated feature or television productions.

Pay Range: CAD $1400 - $1500 per week   

This salary range provided reflects our current expectations for these roles as of this posting’s date. Your final salary offer will consider various key factors, including your education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographical location, as well as the needs and requirements of the business. 

Flexible work environment, Extended Health and Wellness from day 1, RRSP matching are just some of the benefits. For more details, check out our website. 

If this seems like a good fit, what are you waiting for, get your application in!