Lead Animator

Virtuos; France; Sur place; EUR 50 000 - 70 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A major independent game development company in France is looking for a Lead Animator to guide an animation team in translating the director’s creative intent into high-quality animations. The ideal candidate should have over 7 years of professional animation experience, expertise in gameplay animation, particularly with FPS, and proficiency in Unreal Engine and Autodesk Maya. This role offers opportunities to work on AAA titles, alongside a collaborative and inclusive work environment.

Prestations

Comprehensive medical healthcare

Remote work options

Teambuilding activities

Career mobility opportunities

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional animation experience, ideally on AAA or high-quality indie titles.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality animation content on schedule.
• Expertise in gameplay animation, ideally with FPS experience.

Responsabilités

• Collaborate with the Animation Director to ensure the creative vision is reflected in all gameplay and character animations.
• Define and maintain animation quality standards across the team.
• Lead, mentor, and support the animation team.

Connaissances

Professional animation experience

Gameplay animation

Leadership

Communication skills

Problem-solving skills

Unreal Engine

Autodesk Maya

Motion capture

Facial animation

English communication

Outils

Unreal Engine

Autodesk Maya

MotionBuilder

Blender

Description du poste

Reporting to the Animation Director, the Lead Animator helps bring the project’s animation vision to life. You’ll guide the animation team in translating the director’s creative intent into high-quality, responsive gameplay animations, ensuring consistency, technical excellence, and timely delivery across the production.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Animation Director to ensure the creative vision is reflected in all gameplay and character animations.
• Define and maintain animation quality standards across the team.
• Plan, assign, and track animation tasks and schedules, maintaining visibility on priorities and progress.
• Lead, mentor, and support the animation team — including senior and associate leads.
• Oversee gameplay animation creation, focusing on fluidity, responsiveness, and player feedback.
• Collaborate with art, design, and technical leads to integrate animations seamlessly into gameplay.
• Review and provide constructive feedback on animation work.
• Direct and manage motion capture sessions and data cleanup.
• Supervise facial animation workflows and performance capture integration.
• Drive team efficiency and implement best practices in workflow and pipeline usage.
• Contribute to improving animation tools, systems, and processes in Unreal Engine.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional animation experience, ideally on AAA or high-quality indie titles.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality animation content on schedule.
• Expertise in gameplay animation, ideally with FPS experience.
• Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Unreal Engine and Autodesk Maya (knowledge of MotionBuilder or Blender is a plus).
• Hands‑on experience with motion capture and facial animation workflows.
• Excellent English communication skills, written and spoken.
• Strong technical understanding of animation systems, state machines, and real‑time implementation.

Bonus Points

• Experience with motion matching systems.
• Technical animation or tools development experience.
• Passion for expressive, responsive, player-driven animation.

About Us

Founded in 2004, Virtuos is one of the largest independent video game development companies. We are headquartered in Singapore with offices in Asia, Europe, and North America. Specializing in full-cycle game development and art production, we have delivered high-quality content for more than 1,500 console, PC, and mobile games. Our clients include 23 of the top 25 gaming companies worldwide.

About Our Team

Founded in 2010 and later acquired by Virtuos in 2017, our Paris studio is located within the lush confines of Parc Saint-Christophe in Cergy – close to the city center of Paris and easily reachable by public transport.

Our studio has a full suite of capabilities to undertake projects of varying scopes, including co‑developments, adaptations, and remasters of AAA games. A great example of this is our recently launched homemade game, Mahokenshi, which was released in January 2023.

Virtuos Paris houses a team of experts from technical artists and game designers to engineers. Our Paris studio takes pride in its engineering team’s depth of experience, which has been providing its rich expertise in re‑engineering and adaptation, as well as in gameplay mandates to our global partners to bring some of the world’s top AAA games to life.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Work at Virtuos Paris studio, close to the city center of Paris - the iconic capital of France
• Contribute to the world’s biggest AAA titles in gaming
• End‑of‑project celebrations, teambuilding outings, and studio bonding activities
• Gaming corners with consoles and a common area
• Comprehensive medical healthcare provided for all staff
• Remote work is possible
• Career and international mobility opportunities with Virtuos Internal Mobility Program
• People matter. Diverse opinions and experiences matter. At Virtuos, our talented teams are the cornerstone of our success, and we recognize that fostering and advocating for inclusivity is at the center of what we do best - we make games better, together. Virtuos is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity of thought, expression, culture, and backgrounds.