Houdini Technical Director – Advanced Pipeline TD (Onsite)

Swaybox Studios; New Orleans (LA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Swaybox Studios is seeking an experienced Houdini Technical Director to develop, implement, and maintain tools, procedures, and workflows that optimize our Houdini pipeline across VFX, Animation, Unreal, and Technical Direction teams.

Working closely with artists and pipeline developers, you'll create intuitive procedural tools that automate repetitive tasks, improve production efficiency, and solve complex technical challenges.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a Houdini Technical Director, Pipeline TD, or similar technical role in a high-end VFX, Animation, or hybrid production environment.
• Expert knowledge of Houdini, including procedural modeling, simulations, SOPs, DOPs, LOPs/Solaris, COPs, HDAs, and production pipeline development with a heavy focus/comprehension of lighting and rendering through Arnold.
• Strong proficiency with Python, VEX, and HScript, with experience developing custom procedural tools, automation, and pipeline integrations.
• Deep understanding of film production pipelines and how Houdini integrates with FX, animation, lighting, compositing, and rendering workflows.
• Experience building scalable, production-ready tools that support complex film-quality workflows.
• Strong troubleshooting and debugging skills with a proven ability to diagnose and resolve production issues quickly and effectively.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills with the ability to balance production support alongside ongoing tool development.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical artists.
• Experience with ShotGrid (Flow Production Tracking) management software’s API
• Efficiency and experience with Linux systems and shell scripting.
• An iterative mindset and willingness to receive and implement constructive feedback.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and optimize custom Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs), procedural tools, scripts, and workflows that improve artist efficiency and uphold pipeline best practices.
• Design scalable procedural systems that support simulation, environments, asset generation, geometry processing, lighting, and other production workflows.
• Develop and maintain non-destructive scene-graph pipelines and create custom operators for the artists to work from.
• Implement and maintain naming conventions, asset organization standards, version control practices, and pipeline integrations that align with the studio's production infrastructure.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues related to Houdini tools, simulations, procedural networks, asset processing, caching, lighting, rendering, and pipeline integration, serving as a primary technical resource for artists.
• Automate manual production tasks through Python, VEX, and Houdini's procedural framework to improve consistency, efficiency, and reliability.
• Balance immediate production support with long-term pipeline development, prioritizing critical production needs, while continuing to improve studio workflows.
• Collaborate closely with Supervisors, Pipeline TDs, Production, and artists to identify workflow challenges and develop practical technical solutions.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, user guides, training materials, and onboarding resources that encourage successful adoption of new tools and workflows.
• Continuously evaluate production workflows, artist feedback, and emerging technologies to recommend improvements that enhance efficiency and creative flexibility.
• Partner with Pipeline, Unreal, Maya, and Nuke Technical Directors to ensure smooth interoperability between applications and maintain a cohesive production pipeline.
• Collaborate with Pipeline TDs and Render Wranglers to integrate Houdini and Arnold with Deadline in-house and via cloud-based rendering.
• Use ShotGrid (Flow Production Tracking) API to automatically configure networks within Houdini.
• Excel in a fast-paced environment, with shifting priorities and tight deadlines, demonstrating exceptional organization and flexibility.
• Stay current with advances in Houdini, procedural workflows, simulation technologies, and industry best practices, evaluating opportunities to improve the studio's technical capabilities.

Skills

Houdini

Python

VEX

HScript

HDAs

Arnold

ShotGrid API

Linux scripting

Tools

Git

Rez

Deadline

Unreal Engine

Maya

Nuke

Job description

Swaybox Studios is seeking an experienced Houdini Technical Director to develop, implement, and maintain tools, procedures, and workflows that optimize our Houdini pipeline across VFX, Animation, Unreal, and Technical Direction teams.

Working closely with artists and pipeline developers, you'll create intuitive procedural tools that automate repetitive tasks, improve production efficiency, and solve complex technical challenges.