Lead Animator - Fantasy & Sci-Fi (UE5/Blender, Remote)

Snailgamesusa; United States; Remote; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-life balance

Paid holidays & leave

Medical, dental, vision, and Life/LTD

401k with company match

Job summary

Snail Games USA is seeking a Talented Animator to join our Central Art team, crafting expressive animations for human, creature, and alien characters across fantasy and sci-fi projects using Blender and Unreal Engine 5.

You will uphold animation standards, collaborate with the Senior Technical Animator, review overseas partners, and mentor teammates, combining artistic instinct with technical fluency in a remote US setting.

Qualifications

• Portfolio showing strong animation fundamentals, weight, timing, and expressiveness.
• Professional video game animation experience, including leadership or mentorship.
• Proficiency in Blender and Unreal Engine 5 for keyframe animation.
• Ability to create compelling performances for humanoid characters and creatures.
• Experience turning direction into actionable targets and feedback.
• Strong written and verbal communication, especially with remote teams.
• Ability to balance hands-on animation with reviews and mentorship.
• Collaborative, organized, proactive problem-solver.

Responsibilities

• Lead animation quality and execution across projects, aligning with creative direction and gameplay needs.
• Create polished keyframe animations for human, creature, and alien characters using Blender and Unreal Engine 5.
• Define and maintain animation standards, style guides, review criteria, and best practices with the Senior Technical Animator.
• Lead animation reviews, providing actionable written feedback, video critiques, and demonstrations to internal teams and overseas partners.
• Mentor animators in performance, body mechanics, timing, and animation polish.
• Collaborate with production and project leads to scope animation work, prioritize deliverables, identify risks, and support schedules.
• Partner with art, design, and tech teams to ensure animations integrate into gameplay systems and meet requirements.
• Maintain stylistic consistency within each project while supporting diverse animation approaches.
• Keep animation tasks, notes, references, and approvals organized in Jira.

Skills

Animation fundamentals

Video game animation

Humanoids & creatures

Actionable feedback

Remote collaboration

Mentorship

Team coordination

Creative problem solving

Tools

Blender

Unreal Engine 5

Job description

Snail Games USA is seeking a Talented Animator to join our Central Art team, crafting expressive animations for human, creature, and alien characters across fantasy and sci-fi projects using Blender and Unreal Engine 5.

You will uphold animation standards, collaborate with the Senior Technical Animator, review overseas partners, and mentor teammates, combining artistic instinct with technical fluency in a remote US setting.