Animator

Valve; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Exceptional health insurance coverage

Generous vacation and family leave

401(k) retirement plan with unrivaled employer match

Flexible schedule

On-site amenities for health and efficiency

Fertility and adoption assistance

Child care reimbursement during interviews

Job summary

Valve is looking for talented animators in Bellevue, WA. The ideal candidates will work in a diverse and collaborative environment, producing a range of animated content and showcasing their unique skills and experiences. Successful applicants will prioritize teamwork and creativity while improving tools and workflows tailored to their craft.

Valve fosters diversity and inclusivity in its hiring practices, encouraging individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Qualifications

• Ability to collaborate with others and solve complex problems.
• Demonstrated experience in creating innovative work.
• Examples of accomplished, novel projects.

Responsibilities

• Determine work priorities collaboratively.
• Contribute creative solutions in production.
• Produce a variety of animated content.

Skills

Collaboration and problem solving

Animating believable physical movement

Storytelling and performance of 3D characters

Experience with Maya

Knowledge of rigging, scripting, and modeling

Job description

We work together in person, in Bellevue, WA, USA

We’re always looking to add talented individuals to our team.

At Valve we look beyond hiring for a set position, but instead, we seek exceptional people with broad skill sets who also exhibit deep expertise in their chosen craft. The animators at Valve are a world‑class group of artists working with writers, software engineers, and designers who are continually creating and releasing compelling entertainment experiences to players around the world.

Animators determine work priorities in collaboration with their peers, contributing creative solutions throughout production in a variety of ways. From conceptualizing ideas to producing an extensive range of animated content including dynamic interactive performances and large‑scale cinematic moments, whose work is crucial in helping shape ideas. Within each team, they are part of prototyping gameplay experiences with designers and programmers for a diverse array of characters, creatures, and in‑game encounters. They also work closely with software engineers to improve our proprietary tools, maximize efficiency of our workflow, and to ensure the animation that we create is exceptional.

At Valve our animators are highly experienced and can demonstrate a number of skills, most importantly:

They collaborate with other employees and solve hard problems that make products better.

Each of them has examples - that they can share - showing that they have done something particularly exciting that makes their work special.

What work or experiences can YOU share that are novel and inspiring?

Our animators’ work often utilizes:

• Product‑level thinking that informs intentional, meaningful decisions from concept to completion.
• An outstanding ability to portray believable physical movement, strong acting, storytelling and performance of 3D computer‑generated characters.
• A detailed understanding of Maya; experience working with motion capture and building animation state machines.
• Knowledge of rigging, scripting, modeling, texturing, lighting, and video editing.
• Prior professional experiences shipping world‑class products in the software, television or film industry.

Like most roles at Valve, we don't have headcount targets, we aren’t actively looking to fill an open position, and we don’t generally require specific credentials or qualifications. We’re just always looking for great people to hire.

Intrigued? Send us your reel, resume, and examples of interesting problems you’ve solved. Sorry, we do not accept student reels.

Apply now!

What We Offer

• An organization where 100% of time is dedicated as groups see fit
• The opportunity to collaborate with experts across a range of disciplines
• A work environment and flexible schedule in support of families and domestic partnerships
• A culture eager to become stronger through diversity of all forms
• Exceptional health insurance coverage
• Unrivaled employer match for our 401(k) retirement plan
• Generous vacation and family leave
• On‑site amenities in support of health and efficiency
• Fertility and adoption assistance
• Reimbursement for child care during interviews

Valve strives to improve the diversity of our teams to better serve our diverse global audience. We welcome and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply. Candidates will be considered without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, family status, veteran status or disability status. Valve is committed to creating an inclusive work environment and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment in the workplace.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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