Senior Animation Programmer

Build A Rocket Boy; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading video game development company in Edinburgh is looking for a Senior Animation Programmer. In this role, you will design and implement large scale animation systems, providing support and mentoring to junior staff. You should have strong C++ programming skills, a deep understanding of animation concepts, and experience with graph-based animation systems. The position offers excellent benefits, including mental health support, learning allowances, and generous annual leave that accommodates your celebrations.

Benefits

Unlimited coaching & therapy

Annual Learning Allowance

Stock Options

Compassionate Leave

Birthday Present

Birthday Day off

Caregiver Leave

New baby gift

Remote Working Budget

Pension scheme

Socials

29 Annual Leave + 3 bank holidays

Long Service Days

Private Medical Insurance

Healthcare Cash Plan

Enhanced Family Leave

Cycle2Work Scheme

Electric Car Charging

Qualifications

• Strong C++ programming and debugging skills.
• Excellent practical understanding of animation concepts.
• Experience with graph-based animation systems.
• Able to tune animation systems with minimal assistance.
• Capable of reading and understanding complex code.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality game animation systems.
• Support teams and deliver features for animation systems.
• Identify and debug technical problems rapidly.
• Mentor junior programmers and communicate effectively.

Skills

Strong C++ programming and debugging skills

Excellent understanding of animation concepts

Strong communication skills

Extensive algorithm and data structure skills

Videogame programming experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Software Engineering or equivalent

Job description

The Senior Animation Programmer is responsible for designing and implementing large scale animation systems with minimal guidance and providing technical support and mentoring to more junior members of staff. The Senior Animation Programmer position will report to either a Lead or Director in the programming team. The position is also expected to be proactive in dealing with other disciplines to resolve problems quickly, elicit clear requirements and translate them into flexible reusable solutions. As well as solving challenging new technical problems, a Senior Animation Programmer will have an excellent understanding of best-practice and standard techniques within game animation (including experience with animation graphs) with a focus on character animation and will keep up-to-date on innovations within the industry.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high quality game animation systems using appropriate levels of abstraction.
• Support other teams in the use of animation systems and work closely with technical animators and animators to deliver features.
• Identify and debug technical problems quickly and efficiently.
• Prioritise, plan and manage the time of assigned tasks with minimal oversight.
• Collaborate on technical direction and develop innovative solutions for difficult animation problems.
• Mentor junior members of the Animation Programming team and communicate clearly with other team members with minimal external help.
• Help educate and support other teams to correctly and efficiently use animation systems.
• Use appropriate data structures and algorithms to maximize efficiency (for both development time and runtime performance).
• Be vigilant for and report new problems, delays and risks to the appropriate Lead/Director.
• Seek support from higher level management when required.

Requirements

• Strong C++ programming and debugging skills.
• Excellent practical understanding of animation concepts.
• Understanding of the performance trade-offs for animation systems.
• Experience with graph-based animation systems.
• Able to tune animation systems based on high level design input with minimal assistance.
• Strong communication skills, comfortable working across teams and mentoring staff.
• Extensive algorithm and data structure skills (including time & space complexity and real-world vs theoretical performance).
• Able to understand and utilize multi-threading primitives & high-level networking concepts.
• Capable of reading and quickly understanding complex code.
• Self-motivated and driven to creatively solve problemsAble to plan an entire sub-system including external dependencies with minimal input.
• Videogame programming experience on animation systems, including having shipped at least one AAA PC/console title.
• Bachelor’s degree with a Computer Science/Software Engineering focus or equivalent

Our Global Benefits & Perks

• Unlimited coaching & therapy — with Oliva, to support your mental health
• Annual Learning Allowance — to spend on your development
• Stock Options — everyone owns a piece of our success
• Compassionate Leave — regardless of who it is, whether you’ve miscarried, or a lost a pet, you don’t need to tell us why
• Birthday Present — gift voucher or a charity donation
• Birthday Day off — to celebrate your birthday away from work each year
• Caregiver Leave — up to 5 days each year to support your loved ones
• New baby gift — money toward a meal delivery or cleaning service
• Remote Working Budget – for remote workers to get out of the house
• Pension scheme — to finance those golden years
• Socials —office & remote events, play sessions and company-wide parties
• And even more benefits based on your location!

If you’re based in the UK

• 29 Annual Leave + 3 bank holidays - we’re flexible with most bank holidays so you can use the time to celebrate what’s important to you
• Long Service Days - 2 extra days added on your 2nd & 4th anniversaries with us.
• Private Medical Insuranc e - full cover with AXA
• Healthcare Cash Plan - Level 3 cover with Medicash
• Enhanced Family Leave - Primary caregivers; 13 weeks full pay, 13 weeks half pay, Secondary caregivers; 2 weeks full pay
• Cycle2Work Scheme - lease a bike through us and save on tax too!
• Electric Car Charging - electric car charging at our Port office in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Please note: Our benefits are reviewed annually and subject to change.