Lead Animator – Game Development

People Profilers Pte Ltd; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading game development company is seeking a Lead Animator to elevate animation quality across high-end game projects. You will guide a team of animators, ensuring top-notch character and gameplay animations while establishing scalable animation pipelines. This role requires 5+ years of animation experience and proficiency in tools like Maya and Unreal Engine. Candidates should have excellent leadership and collaboration skills, with a preference for those experienced in outsourcing projects.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional animation experience, with 2+ years in a lead or senior role.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality animation.
• Strong understanding of animation principles and body mechanics.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creation of high-quality animations for characters, creatures, and gameplay.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure smooth animation integration.
• Review and critique animation work to uphold AAA standards.
• Mentor and guide animators.

Skills

AAA-quality gameplay and cinematic animation

Team collaboration

Strong communication skills

Proficiency in Maya or MotionBuilder

Experience with Unreal Engine (4/5)

Tools

Maya

MotionBuilder

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Lead Animator to elevate animation quality, direction, and workflows across a variety of high-end game projects. In this role, you will guide a team of animators to deliver fluid, expressive, and technically polished character, creature, and gameplay animations—whether fully keyframed or motion-capture based.

You’ll begin by leading an internal project and will help establish scalable animation pipelines, documentation, and standards that will support future outsourcing and co-development (co-dev) partnerships. Working closely with global leadership based in the U.S., you will facilitate cross-studio collaboration, ensuring alignment and consistency across regions.

Responsibilities

Lead the creation of high-quality keyframe and motion-capture animations for characters, creatures, and gameplay.

Define and maintain the animation vision, quality bar, and technical consistency across projects.

Collaborate with Design, Tech Art, Rigging, and Engineering to ensure smooth animation integration.

Review and critique internal and outsourced animation work to uphold AAA standards.

Troubleshoot animation, rigging, and implementation issues, partnering with Tech Art on pipeline improvements.

Mentor and guide animators, supporting development and onboarding.

Work with Production to scope deliverables, identify dependencies, and mitigate risks.

Maintain documentation, style guides, and communication with client-side animation leads.

Attend internal/external meetings, including some outside standard hours, to support project needs.

Requirements

5+ years of professional animation experience, with 2+ years in a lead or senior role.

Proven ability to deliver AAA-quality gameplay and cinematic animation.

Advanced proficiency in Maya or MotionBuilder, with strong understanding of animation principles and body mechanics.

Hands‑on experience with Unreal Engine (4/5) and/or Unity, including animation state machines and real‑time workflows.

Experience with keyframe and mocap cleanup/retargeting.

Strong collaboration skills with Tech Art, Rigging, and Design teams.

Excellent communication and leadership abilities in English, with experience guiding distributed teams.

Experience with outsourcing or co-development projects is preferred.

Your Application

Your application will include the following question:

• What's your expected monthly basic salary?