Lead Gameplay Animator — Mentor Team, Unreal Engine 5

Socket.dev; Novato (CA); On-site; USD 123,000 - 182,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloud Chamber is seeking a Lead Gameplay Animator to shape character performance and movement for our BioShock project. You will lead a team of animators, collaborate with design, art, engineering, and audio to deliver immersive, high-quality gameplay animations for first-person and third-person characters, including AI and human rigs.

You will refine pipelines, mentor staff, and ensure a culture of excellence and openness while aligning with studio values and project milestones.

Qualifications

• Shipped AAA titles in a Lead, Team Lead, or Senior Animator role.
• Deep knowledge of animation pipelines, motion capture, and data integration.
• Strong facial animation skills (FaceFX) and animation of humans, creatures, and mechanical objects.
• Excellent cross-disciplinary collaboration and communication across design, art, engineering.

Responsibilities

• Manage, support, and mentor a team of animators with 1:1s and evaluations.
• Partner with Animation Director to set vision and culture.
• Develop and refine animation pipelines, onboarding, and training.
• Deliver high-end hand-key animations and refine mocap data for multiple perspectives.
• Collaborate on milestones, sprint planning, and hiring efforts.
• Participate in animation leadership to guide team culture and address issues.

Skills

Unreal Engine

Gameplay animation

Character rigging

Team leadership

Job description

Cloud Chamber is seeking a Lead Gameplay Animator to shape character performance and movement for our BioShock project. You will lead a team of animators, collaborate with design, art, engineering, and audio to deliver immersive, high-quality gameplay animations for first-person and third-person characters, including AI and human rigs.

You will refine pipelines, mentor staff, and ensure a culture of excellence and openness while aligning with studio values and project milestones.