Pipeline TD - Lead

Bardel; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work environment

Extended Health and Wellness from day

RRSP matching

Job summary

Bardel Entertainment in Vancouver, BC, is seeking a Pipeline Lead to guide the Core pipeline team in designing, implementing, and maintaining the studio's internal pipeline library ecosystem, CI/CD, and core services.

You will mentor developers, define engineering standards, and collaborate with production and creative teams to deliver stable, scalable tools across Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Katana, and Blender, while keeping up with industry trends.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in VFX, Animation, or Games pipeline development.
• Strong proficiency in Python (OOP and functional) with experience designing internal libraries.
• Experience with package management systems (Rez or equivalent).
• Experience with CI/CD systems (GitHub Actions or equivalent), source control, and automated testing/linting workflows.
• Experience with industry-standard DCC applications (Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Katana) and render farm management systems (Deadline).
• Excellent problem-solving, planning, and communication skills.
• Proven track record of managing complex technical projects and leading cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of the studio’s internal pipeline library ecosystem and CI/CD tooling.
• Own package management strategy and tooling across the pipeline.
• Collaborate with Systems and other pipeline teams to identify bottlenecks and develop tailored solutions.
• Ensure services, libraries, and tools are stable, well-documented, and follow coding standards.
• Mentor and manage a team of pipeline developers and TDs; provide code reviews and guidance.
• Set engineering standards and architectural decisions across the team’s codebase.
• Foster cross-departmental collaboration to align technical and artistic goals.
• Own and evolve the studio’s CI/CD system (GitHub Actions).
• Investigate and resolve DCC/render infrastructure issues.
• Research and evaluate emerging platform architectures.

Skills

Python

CI/CD systems

DCC applications experience

Project leadership

Tools

Rez

GitHub Actions

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

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 fearless 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 a culture that embraces innovative ideas, techniques, and technologies without hesitation or fear of failure, come and join us.

Reporting to the Head ofPipeline, the Pipeline Lead- Coreis responsible forthe design, development, and maintenance of the studio's internal pipeline library ecosystem, CI/CD infrastructure, and core services including the package management system.
This role leads the Core Pipeline TD team, sets engineering standards for pipeline code across the studio, and bridges technical and creative departments to ensure stable, well-tested tools and scalable infrastructure across the studio’s pipeline.

What you’ll be doing:

Pipeline Development & Optimization

• Lead the design and implementation ofthe studio’s internal pipeline library ecosystem, including libraries for environment resolution, path management, logging, farm submission/management,ShotGridintegration, etc.

• Own package management strategy and tooling across the pipeline (Rez), including environment resolution, dependency management, and package distribution.

• Collaborate with Systems & other pipeline teams toidentifyworkflow bottlenecks & develop tailored solutionsto support their workacross Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Katana, and Blender

• Ensureservices, libraries, and toolsare stable, well-documented, and follow coding standards set by the pipeline team.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor and manage a team of pipeline developers and technical directors;providing codereview,guidance,and support for their professional growth

• Set and enforce engineering standards & architectural decisions across the team’s codebase

• Foster cross-departmental collaboration to ensure alignment on technical and aesthetic goals

Technical Oversight & Innovation

• Provide technical leadership in areas such asProduction tracking systems, Package management (Rez), Containerized web services (Docker, K8s, Flask,FastAPI), Python best practices, etc.

• Own and evolve the studio’sGithubActions CI/CD system.

• Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies to drive innovation and continuousimprovement.

• Research andevaluate emerging platform architectures.

• Investigate and resolve DCC/render infrastructure issues spanning application crashes, environment configuration, andrendernode provisioning.

Project & Release Management

• Implement release scheduling policies and rollback plans to minimize disruption during major updates

• Author recurring pipeline status updates covering farm stability, core library development, and other initiatives

Documentation & Training

• Createandmaintaindocumentation and standardsguidesfor internal libraries, CI/CD workflows, and coding conventions

• Provide training and support topipeline developers, TDs, TAs, and artists on internal tools, workflows, and best practices

Cross-Departmental Integration

• Act as a liaison between Production, Pipeline, Systems, and Desktop teams to ensure smooth coordination and communication

• Support the integration ofDCC applications & core services with broader studio infrastructure across Windows 10, 11, and Rocky 9 Linux environments

What you’ll need:

• 3+ years of experience in VFX, Animation, or Gamespipeline development

• Strongproficiencyin Python, both OOP and functional, with experience designing internal libraries

• Experience with package management systems (Rez or equivalent)

• Experience with CI/CD systems (GitHub Actions or equivalent), source control, andautomated testing/linting workflows

• Experience with industry-standard DCC applications (Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Katana) & render farm management systems (Deadline).

• Experience with production tracking systems (ShotGridor equivalent) and their API integration

• Excellent problem-solving, planning, and communication skills.

• Proventrack recordof managing complex technical projects and leading cross-functional teams.

Location: Candidates must be based in BC

Pay Range: CAD $100,000 - $125,000 / year

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 - https://bardel.ca/careers/