Acting & Animation Specialist - AI Trainer

Obsidian; Pennsauken Township (NJ); Hybrid; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

Obsidian is seeking an experienced evaluator for its GenAI team, focusing on developing standards for AI-generated performances. The role requires 7 to 10 years of professional experience in the entertainment or animation industry. Responsibilities include establishing evaluation standards and collaborating with subject-matter experts.

This position is part-time with Cincinnatus LLC, allowing for flexible, remote work while inviting candidates to engage in on-site discussions in Los Angeles or New York once or twice a month.

Qualifications

• 7 to 10 years of professional experience in the entertainment or animation industry.
• A proven track record on 2 or more professional films.
• A meticulous eye for micro-expressions and emotional beats.

Responsibilities

• Establish clear evaluation standards for capturing performances.
• Curate benchmarks for meaningful model testing.
• Shape the profile and expertise of human reviewers.

Skills

Professional experience in the entertainment or animation industry

Character Animation

Character Technical Design

Acting Teacher or Coach

Director of Photography

AI proficiency

Job description

Join a leading AI lab's cutting‑edge GenAI team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced AI models.

Overview

A leading AI lab is building a performance transfer model: one that takes an actor's original performance and carries it faithfully into a new output, holding on to the timing, the emotion, and the small physical choices that make it feel real. The team believes AI should honor the craft of performance, not flatten it. We are looking for experienced people from film and animation to define what “good” looks like, critique the current evaluation approach, and shape the pool of reviewers who score model outputs.

This is a part‑time W‑2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI lab as part of their extended workforce.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish evaluation standards: define clear criteria for when a performance has been captured well, both in emotional resonance and physical fidelity, and point out where current evaluations fall short.
• Curate benchmarks: identify strong examples of performances that are easy to capture and ones that are genuinely hard, so the model has meaningful tests to measure against.
• Shape the evaluation pool: help define the right profile, expertise mix, and rubric for the human reviewers who assess outputs at scale.
• Collaborate with other experts: work alongside fellow subject‑matter experts to keep evaluations consistent and accurate.

Core Qualifications

• 7 to 10 years of professional experience in the entertainment or animation industry.
• A proven track record on 2 or more professional films.
• Specialization in at least one of the following: Character Animation (focused on human or character performance, not environments, scenes, or objects), Character Technical Design, Acting Teacher or Coach (film or theater), or Director of Photography (DP).
• A meticulous eye for micro‑expressions, emotional beats, and the subtleties that make a human performance feel authentic.
• AI proficiency: familiarity with AI tools and workflows, including the ability to generate your own visual samples for testing and comparison.
• The ability to translate complex visual details into clear, precise language that can be captured in data captions and evaluation templates.
• Able to come on‑site in Playa Vista (Los Angeles, CA) or New York, NY for in‑person working sessions once or twice a month.
• (Optional) Reliable access to a 4K‑resolution monitor for precise, pixel‑level review.

About Cincinnatus LLC

Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract‑based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W‑2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high‑impact initiatives.

Roles hired through Cincinnatus are not project‑based or freelance engagements. They are structured, role‑based positions that typically involve part‑time or full‑time commitments, close collaboration with a client’s internal teams, and integration into standard enterprise workflows.

Cincinnatus is a legal entity separate from Mercor. While opportunities may be discovered through Mercor’s platform, employment, onboarding, payroll, and benefits for these roles are administered by Cincinnatus LLC.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Cincinnatus is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans throughout the job application process.