Lead Gameplay Animator — Unreal Engine 5 Visionary

2K Games, Inc.; Novato (CA); Hybrid; USD 123,000 - 182,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloud Chamber seeks a Lead Gameplay Animator to shape character performance for BioShock. You will lead a team of animators, collaborating with directors to deliver high-end gameplay and AI animations for first-person and third-person characters in Unreal Engine 5.

You will mentor the team, refine pipelines, and contribute to a positive, high-standard studio culture while delivering responsive animations under tight schedules.

Qualifications

• Shipped multiple AAA titles as Lead/Team Lead or Senior Animator, ideally with Unreal Engine.
• Deep knowledge of gameplay/AI animation systems, animation graph/data integration, motion capture pipelines, rigging/prototyping.
• Strong hand-key facial animation and ability to animate diverse subjects including humans and machines.

Responsibilities

• Manage, mentor, and evaluate a team of animators with regular 1:1s and performance reviews.
• Partner with Animation Director to set the animation vision and uphold studio values.
• Develop and refine animation pipelines, onboarding, and Mocap planning in Unreal Engine 5.
• Deliver high-quality hand-key animations and edit motion capture data for FPS and TPS characters.
• Collaborate with Production on milestones, sprint planning, and hiring efforts.

Skills

AAA-title experience

Lead / Team Lead Animator

Unreal Engine

Gameplay & AI animation

Facial animation (FaceFX)

Human bipeds, animals, mechanicals

Animation principles & anatomy

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

Cloud Chamber seeks a Lead Gameplay Animator to shape character performance for BioShock. You will lead a team of animators, collaborating with directors to deliver high-end gameplay and AI animations for first-person and third-person characters in Unreal Engine 5.

You will mentor the team, refine pipelines, and contribute to a positive, high-standard studio culture while delivering responsive animations under tight schedules.