Lead Crowd TD: VFX Motion & Tools Leader

Industrial Light & Magic; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Industrial Light & Magic in London is seeking a Lead Crowd TD to drive the creative and technical direction of crowd sequences for high-end VFX projects. You will mentor artists, evolve crowd tools, and lead a show or sequence, balancing performance with artistic intent.

The role requires strong leadership, expertise in Houdini for crowds, and a deep understanding of crowd behaviours, with hands-on work in VEX, Python and Linux environments.

Qualifications

• Experience on high-end VFX or animated feature productions.
• Experience leading or mentoring teams in production environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of crowd artists creatively and technically.
• Develop shot templates and tools with fellow crowd artists for efficient workflows.
• Maintain show motion library and plan motion capture shoots.
• Manage crowd agent setups and variation logic for balance and performance.
• Mentor artists on Houdini workflows and document pipelines.
• Collaborate with Production and Artists to assign tasks and meet deadlines.
• Troubleshoot complex issues in the crowd pipeline and propose solutions.
• Participate in meetings about shots, sequences, and production.
• Assist with recruitment and staffing of the crowd team.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Crowd workflow knowledge

Problem solving

Communication

Storytelling mentorship

Cinematography understanding

Crowd behaviour knowledge

Leadership & organization

Tools

Houdini for crowds

VEX

Python

Linux

Shell scripting

C/C++

Job description

Industrial Light & Magic in London is seeking a Lead Crowd TD to drive the creative and technical direction of crowd sequences for high-end VFX projects. You will mentor artists, evolve crowd tools, and lead a show or sequence, balancing performance with artistic intent.

The role requires strong leadership, expertise in Houdini for crowds, and a deep understanding of crowd behaviours, with hands-on work in VEX, Python and Linux environments.