Principal Technical Animator

31st Union; Brighton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Hangar 13 in Brighton is seeking a Principal Technical Animator (Gameplay) to shape the technical vision and long-term strategy for character animation across the studio. You will champion innovation and drive the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to ensure world-class animation quality and responsiveness.

In this role you’ll collaborate with Design, Animation and Engineering to build future-proof pipelines, solve complex R&D challenges, and mentor the animation department, influencing the

Qualifications

• Extensive experience architecting gameplay animation systems for AAA titles with Unreal Engine.
• Master-level expertise in Unreal Engine animation tools and blueprints.
• Deep understanding of runtime optimisation, memory management and threading.
• Strong cross-discipline communication linking Art, Design, and Engineering leaders.
• Ability to translate creative pillars into production-ready plans.
• Solid grasp of gameplay mechanics, game feel, and character movement physics.
• Portfolio showing complex technical animation challenges in shipped titles.

Responsibilities

• Architect and oversee high-level design of gameplay animation systems.
• Drive R&D initiatives to evaluate cutting-edge animation tech.
• Partner with Engineering and Tech Animation leadership on roadmaps.
• Solve complex runtime bugs and drive animation optimisation.
• Define and document technical standards and pipelines.
• Collaborate with Design and Animation leads to iterate 3C mechanics.
• Mentor senior and mid-level technical animators through reviews.

Skills

Unreal Engine

Anim Blueprints

Motion Matching

Control Rig

State Machines

Sequencer

Runtime optimisation

Memory management

Multithreading

Communication

3C mechanics

AI animation

C++

Python

Job description

Principal Technical Animator (Gameplay)

Department

Technical Art

Location(s)

Brighton, Prague, Brno

Reports To

Associate Director Technical Animation

Job Type (Permanent, fixed term, internship)

Permanent

Job Summary

The Principal Technical Animator (Gameplay) will help define the technical vision, architectural framework, and long-term strategy for character animation integration across the studio. In this highly influential role, you will champion innovation, driving the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to ensure our games achieve world-class animation quality and responsiveness. You will serve as a technical authority on gameplay animation, solving the studio's complex R&D challenges while collaborating with design, animation and engineering to establish future-proof pipelines. While not a people manager, you will inspire, mentor, and elevate the technical capabilities of the entire animation department.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Architect and oversee the high-level design of gameplay animation systems, ensuring scalability, performance, and seamless integration across complex real-time systems.
• Drive R&D initiatives to evaluate and implement cutting-edge animation technologies (e.g., advanced Motion Matching, machine learning/AI animation, next-gen physics).
• Partner with Engineering and Tech Animation leadership to implement project-wide animation roadmaps and toolsets.
• Solve deep, complex runtime bugs and drive animation optimisation efforts to meet strict performance and memory budgets.
• Define and document technical standards, best practices, and pipeline workflows for the wider technical animation team.
• Collaborate closely with Design and Animation leads to heavily iterate on and perfect 3C mechanics (character, camera, controls), maximizing game feel.
• Actively mentor and upskill senior and mid-level technical animators through code/blueprint reviews and hands-on guidance.

Essential Skills, Attributes and Experience

• Extensive proven experience architecting and integrating gameplay animation systems for AAA titles using Unreal Engine.
• Master-level expertise in Unreal Engine’s animation suite (Anim Blueprints, Motion Matching, Control Rig, State Machines, and Sequencer).
• Deep technical understanding of low-level animation concepts, including runtime optimisation, memory management, and threading for animation.
• Exceptional cross-discipline communication skills, with a proven track record of aligning Art, Design, and Engineering directors on complex technical visions.
• Expertise in feature breakdown and scoping, with the ability to translate abstract creative pillars into robust, production-ready plans.
• A profound understanding of gameplay mechanics, game feel, and the mathematical principles behind smooth character movement and physics.
• A portfolio or reel demonstrating a history of solving highly complex, innovative technical animation challenges in shipped titles.

Highly Desirable

• Strong proficiency in C++ for extending Unreal Engine’s animation system, alongside Python for pipeline tool automation.
• Experience contributing to proprietary engine tools or custom modifications to Unreal’s core animation code.
• Production experience with advanced DCC tools, including Maya API, MotionBuilder, or Houdini for runtime or pipeline integration.
• Background in traditional animation or motion capture data manipulation to better bridge the gap between art and code.

Hangar 13 prides itself on the diversity of its team members, partners, and communities. For this reason, we remain committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all aspects of the employment relationship, from recruitment and hiring through compensation, benefits, discipline and termination.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are also committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation(s) to participate in the job application and/or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need to request reasonable accommodation.