Animation Director

EA SPORTS; Orlando (FL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

EA SPORTS in Orlando is seeking an experienced Animation Director to lead our animation team, set the vision, and define the style and quality bar for in-game motion.

You will collaborate with Creative, Art, Design, and Engineering to ensure motion supports gameplay, while guiding a team to deliver high-quality work on time and within budget. Relocation assistance may be available; hybrid work model requires three days on site per week in Orlando.

Qualifications

• Strong eye for style, performance, and quality with technical understanding.
• Passion for innovation and continuous improvement.
• 5+ years as a senior animation contributor or leader, including directing on AAA games.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver the vision and quality bar for all motion in the game.
• Drive animation quality while balancing performance, continuity, scheduling, and budget.
• Hire, mentor, guide, and manage the animation team.
• Provide regular feedback and direction to the animation team.
• Drive the evolution of the animation pipeline and establish efficient workflows.

Skills

Animation direction

Leadership

Motion capture

Team mentoring

Communication

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

Frostbite

Job description

Description & Requirements

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

Role: Animation Director

Note: This is a hybrid (3x per week) role located in Orlando, FL (this role may qualify for relocation assistance).

EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, fan programs, and cross-platform digital experiences. EA SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sport through industry-leading sports video games, including Madden NFL football, EA SPORTS College Football, EA SPORTS FC, EA SPORTS NHL hockey, and EA SPORTS UFC.

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Animation Director to lead our animation team and drive the animation direction for our games. In this role, you will be responsible for setting the animation vision, defining the style and quality bar, and ensuring the seamless integration of animation into compelling player experiences.

Your Responsibilities

• Define and deliver the vision and quality bar for all motion in the game.


• Drive animation quality while balancing performance, continuity, technical scheduling, and budgetary requirements.


• Hire, mentor, guide, and manage the work of our exceptional animation team.


• Provide regular feedback and direction to the animation team.


• Drive the evolution of the animation pipeline and establish efficient animation workflows and procedures.

You Will Collaborate With

• Creative and Art leadership to define the overall animation direction, style, and execution.


• Design and Engineering to ensure motion meets the gameplay.


• Technical animators, character riggers, and modelers to ensure our characters maintain a consistently high quality bar in motion.


• Graphics engineers to ensure characters are grounded in the world through lighting, shadows, visual effects, weather, and environmental interaction.


• Physics engineers to ensure characters operate within the physical rules you define and interact with other characters and the environment in believable ways.

Your Qualifications

• A great eye for style, performance, and quality, combined with strong technical understanding.


• Passion for innovation and continuous improvement.


• 5+ years as a senior animation contributor or leader, including experience directing animation on high-quality AAA games.


• Strong leadership, people-management, communication, and mentoring skills.


• Ability to inspire and lead a team to deliver high-quality work on time and within budget.


• Skill in guiding a team to balance creative ambition with technical and production requirements.


• Experience and confidence directing actors and athletes for motion capture.


• A collaborative, motivated, and accountable approach to team leadership.


• Strong knowledge of current animation practices, technologies, and industry trends.


• Experience directing or working with real-time animation systems, including blend trees, state machines, motion‑matching systems, or comparable runtime solutions, in engines such as Unreal Engine, Unity, Frostbite, or other proprietary technology.

Beneficial Qualifications

• Experience evaluating and applying emerging animation technologies, including machine learning, procedural animation, performance capture, and automation tools, to improve quality or production efficiency.


• A passion for sports and strong knowledge of American football.


• Technical fluency with scripting, tools, or engine workflows that supports effective collaboration with engineers and technical teams.

About Electronic Arts

We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well‑being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.