Lead Animator — Hybrid Role with Relocation Support

Frontier; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Frontier is seeking an experienced Lead Animator to helm one of our Animation teams on an exciting new project in Cambridge. This in-studio or hybrid role offers the chance to shape gameplay through character and creature animation.

You'll own animation delivery, lead a large team, set vision and quality standards, collaborate with Production and Technical Animation, and help recruit and grow talent within a creative, inclusive studio.

Qualifications

• Significant animation experience in games with team leadership.
• Strong animation craft and pipeline knowledge.
• Proven ability to plan delivery and balance capacity.

Responsibilities

• Own animation progress, delivery, and quality on the assigned project.
• Lead and organise a large animation team, delegating ownership, balancing workload, and maintaining oversight.
• Set a clear animation vision, quality bar and delivery plan, with defined priorities and dependencies.
• Work closely with Production on scope, estimates, schedules, capacity, milestones and delivery risks.
• Coordinate with Project Direction and discipline leadership to align Animation with wider project goals.
• Identify and communicate risks, assumptions and mitigations to Project Direction and studio senior management.
• Manage team performance and delivery expectations through timely, direct, and constructive feedback.
• Guide character and creature animation practice, engine implementation and creative standards across internal and external contributors.
• Partner with Technical Animation, Animation Code and Rigging to improve tools, pipelines and workflows.
• Manage animation outsource relationships, briefs, feedback, quality expectations and delivery.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and capability planning.
• Facilitate documentation and reinforcement of workflows, technical decisions, and best practice.

Skills

Animation leadership

Character/creature animation

Team planning

People leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Frontier is seeking an experienced Lead Animator to helm one of our Animation teams on an exciting new project in Cambridge. This in-studio or hybrid role offers the chance to shape gameplay through character and creature animation.

You'll own animation delivery, lead a large team, set vision and quality standards, collaborate with Production and Technical Animation, and help recruit and grow talent within a creative, inclusive studio.