Senior Technical Animator: Real-Time Character Pipeline Pro

Placements24; Mansfield Woodhouse; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Comprehensive benefits

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Technical Animator for a Randburg-based studio. The role bridges artists, riggers, and engineers to create performant, high-quality character animation.

You will build tools, scripts, and workflows to support the animation team, troubleshoot complex issues, and help polish character performances across the pipeline. Strong problem-solving and collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience as a Technical Animator or similar role in games.
• Proven experience developing tools and scripts for animation pipelines (Python or MEL).
• Strong rigging, skinning, and deformation knowledge.
• Proficiency with Maya and game engines (Unreal/Unity).

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain animation tools, scripts, and pipelines to streamline the workflow.
• Collaborate with animators and riggers to resolve technical issues in movement and deformation.
• Optimize assets for real-time performance with efficient memory usage and smooth playback.
• Integrate animation systems into the game engine with engineers.
• Troubleshoot physics, IK/FK setups, and custom solver issues.
• Create and maintain documentation for tools and workflows.
• Test and implement new animation technologies and techniques.
• Provide technical guidance to the animation team.
• Ensure consistency and quality of character animations across the project.
• Assist with motion capture data cleanup and integration when necessary.

Skills

Python scripting

MEL scripting

Rigging

Animation pipelines

Unreal/Unity integration

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Technical Animator for a Randburg-based studio. The role bridges artists, riggers, and engineers to create performant, high-quality character animation.

You will build tools, scripts, and workflows to support the animation team, troubleshoot complex issues, and help polish character performances across the pipeline. Strong problem-solving and collaboration are essential.