Outsource Support Animator (Apex Legends)

Respawn Entertainment; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 93,000 - 129,000; Full time

Job summary

Respawn is seeking an Outsource Support Animator to bridge internal gameplay animation with external partner production for Apex Legends. This hybrid role blends hands-on animation with ownership of outsourced animation execution, feedback pipelines, and milestone alignment across a broad feature set.

You will coordinate with external vendors and internal teams to ensure vendor-produced animation meets gameplay readability, responsiveness, and performance standards within a live-service cadence,

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional game animation experience.
• Strong blocking, gameplay timing, and polish skills.
• Experience working directly with outsourced animation teams.
• Combat animation experience.
• First person viewmodel animation experience.
• Familiarity with engine integration pipelines.
• Experience tracking work in Jira or similar tools.
• Live service development experience.
• Experience writing animation briefs, asset estimates, and production documentation.

Responsibilities

• Block and prototype gameplay animations to establish timing, weight, and design intent.
• Partner with Animation Directors and Gameplay teams to co-direct motion capture sessions.
• Review, refine, and integrate vendor-delivered keyframe and mocap cleanup work.
• Ensure assets meet gameplay readability, responsiveness, and technical requirements.
• Manage day-to-day communication with external animation vendors.
• Provide clear, structured feedback aligned with internal animation direction.
• Partner with Animation Directors to define briefs and reference packages.
• Track sprint and milestone deliverables, revisions, and approval cycles.
• Identify risks in quality or schedule and escalation proactively.
• Support vendor onboarding and documentation updates.
• Provide performance notes and help shape capture goals.
• Export, ingest, and validate animation assets in-engine.
• Maintain animation briefs, scope breakdowns, and feedback documentation.
• Support Statement of Work (SOW) creation with detailed asset estimates.
• Ensure naming conventions, rig compatibility, and version control standards.
• Coordinate with Tech Animation and Engineering to resolve integration issues.

Skills

Game animation

Outsourced animation

Maya

Motion capture workflows

Jira

Tools

Maya

Motion capture workflows

Job description

Respawn is seeking an Outsource Support Animator to bridge internal gameplay animation and external partner production for Apex Legends. This hybrid role combines hands-on gameplay animation work with ownership of outsourced animation execution, feedback pipelines, and milestone alignment across a broad range of features.

You will serve as both a creative contributor and external development coordinator, ensuring partner-produced animation meets Apex's gameplay clarity, responsiveness, and performance standards within a live-service production cadence.

What You'll Do...

Gameplay Animation Execution

• Block and prototype gameplay animations to establish timing, weight, and design intent
• Partner with Animation Directors and Gameplay teams to co-direct motion capture sessions
• Review, refine, and integrate vendor-delivered keyframe and mocap cleanup work
• Ensure assets meet gameplay readability, responsiveness, and technical requirements

External Development Coordination

• Manage day-to-day communication with external animation vendors
• Provide clear, structured feedback aligned with internal animation direction
• Partner with Animation Directors to define briefs and reference packages
• Track sprint and milestone deliverables, revisions, and approval cycles
• Identify risks in quality or schedule and escalation proactively
• Support vendor onboarding and documentation updates
• Provide performance notes and help shape capture goals

Pipeline & Integration

• Export, ingest, and validate animation assets in-engine
• Maintain animation briefs, scope breakdowns, and feedback documentation
• Support Statement of Work (SOW) creation with detailed asset estimates
• Ensure naming conventions, rig compatibility, and version control standards
• Coordinate with Tech Animation and Engineering to resolve integration issues

Ideally you have...

• 2+ years of professional game animation experience
• Strong blocking, gameplay timing, and polish skills
• Experience working directly with outsourced animation teams
• Combat Animation Experience
• First Person Viewmodel Animation Experience
• Strong knowledge of Maya and motion capture workflows
• Familiarity with engine integration pipelines
• Experience tracking work in Jira or similar tools
• Live service development experience
• Experience writing animation briefs, asset estimates, and production documentation.

Pay Transparency - North America

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).

PAY RANGES

• British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria) $92,900 - $129,200 CAD
• California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. San Francisco) $104,400 - $157,400 USD

Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA.

In the US, we offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.

For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and other incentive programs.