Senior Character Rigger

analogai; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 300,000 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

Education support

Generous leave

Job summary

Analog is seeking a hands-on Senior Character Rigger to join as an individual contributor. You will design, build, and deliver production-ready character rigs in Autodesk Maya for real-time 3D and AR/VR experiences, and collaborate with animators to ensure optimal workflows with Unity and Unreal engines.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of professional rigging experience, deep knowledge of anatomy, deformation, skinning, and animator-focused control design, with a proven track record shipping

Qualifications

• Expert-level rigging experience in Autodesk Maya (non-negotiable).
• 5+ years of professional experience as a character or creature rigger.
• Proven experience shipping real-time 3D projects (AAA games, AR/VR, or high-end interactive experiences).
• Strong understanding of anatomy, deformation, skinning, and corrective techniques.
• Solid grasp of animation fundamentals (timing, weight, staging) to support animator needs.
• Experience working with Unity or Unreal pipelines from a rigging perspective.
• Ability to work independently, take ownership, and deliver production-ready work.
• Strong communication skills and ability to clearly explain rigging decisions.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deliver production-ready character and creature rigs in Autodesk Maya
• Own skeleton setup, skinning, deformation systems, constraints, and corrective solutions
• Create clean, stable, and animator-friendly control rigs focused on performance and usability
• Collaborate closely with animators to support expressive and efficient animation workflows
• Ensure rigs meet real-time engine constraints (Unity / Unreal) in collaboration with technical teams
• Debug, iterate, and improve rigs based on animation and runtime feedback
• Maintain and improve existing rigs without compromising quality or consistency

Skills

Rigging

Character rigging

Maya

Real-time 3D

Unity/Unreal

Animation collaboration

Independent work

Communication

Tools

Autodesk Maya

Unity

Unreal Engine

Job description

Overview

Analog is pioneering the era of physical intelligence. Where digital intelligence transformed our online lives, Analog is transforming the lived world, making cities more adaptive, industries more resilient, services more human centered, and experiences more extraordinary. At the heart of our approach are living world models, continuously updated, enriched by every capture point, every device, every interaction. Within them resides Ana, the Analog Neural Agent. Ana perceives, adapts, and guides, transforming raw data into foresight and orchestration that improves outcomes across sectors, from safeguarding high-value assets to enhancing human performance.

Senior Character Rigger

We are seeking a hands‑on, production‑proven Senior Character Rigger to join Analog as an individual contributor. This is a rigging‑focused role, centered on building high‑quality, animator‑friendly rigs in Autodesk Maya for real‑time 3D and AR/VR experiences.

This position is intended for a specialist rigger who actively builds, debugs, and ships rigs in production. It is not a hybrid Tech Artist or animation systems role. We are open to strong mid‑level or senior candidates, provided they are deeply hands‑on today.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deliver production‑ready character and creature rigs in Autodesk Maya
• Own skeleton setup, skinning, deformation systems, constraints, and corrective solutions
• Create clean, stable, and animator‑friendly control rigs focused on performance and usability
• Collaborate closely with animators to support expressive and efficient animation workflows
• Ensure rigs meet real‑time engine constraints (Unity / Unreal) in collaboration with technical teams
• Debug, iterate, and improve rigs based on animation and runtime feedback
• Maintain and improve existing rigs without compromising quality or consistency

This Role Is Not

• A Tech Artist or tools‑focused role
• A lead‑only or supervisory position with limited hands‑on rigging
• An animation‑first position
• A Blender‑ or 3ds Max–centric rigging role

Qualifications

• Expert‑level rigging experience in Autodesk Maya (non‑negotiable)
• 5+ years of professional experience as a character or creature rigger
• Proven experience shipping real‑time 3D projects (AAA games, AR/VR, or high‑end interactive experiences)
• Strong understanding of anatomy, deformation, skinning, and corrective techniques
• Solid grasp of animation fundamentals (timing, weight, staging) to support animator needs
• Experience working with Unity or Unreal pipelines from a rigging perspective
• Ability to work independently, take ownership, and deliver production‑ready work
• Strong communication skills and ability to clearly explain rigging decisions

Nice to Have

• Cloth, hair, or secondary motion setups in Maya or real‑time environments
• Motion capture familiarity and basic mocap cleanup workflows
• Understanding of character modeling and texturing pipelines

Portfolio Requirement

• Applicants must provide a portfolio that clearly demonstrates:
• Multiple fully built character or creature rigs
• Clear evidence of personal, hands‑on contribution
• Deformation quality, control design, and animator usability

Candidates should be comfortable walking through their rigs and explaining how and why they were built.

What Working At Analog Offers

• Culture: A collaborative, globally minded team building the future of physical intelligence. We value curiosity, courage, and creativity, and we’re united by a belief that technology should amplify human potential rather than replace it.
• Impact: The opportunity to work on projects with national and global significance, from adaptive cities and resilient infrastructure to next generation sports, entertainment, healthcare, and energy. Every product you help build contributes to shaping a safer, smarter, more human centered world.
• Growth: Outstanding opportunities for learning and career development. You’ll collaborate with leaders across AI, robotics, mixed reality, and systems engineering, while working on industry first, frontier scale solutions.
• Rewards: A competitive compensation package with healthcare, education support, and generous leave benefits, reflecting the high value we place on our people and their families.