Principal Animation Engineer - Central Tech

Activision Blizzard, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 171,000 - 317,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision

401(k) match

Paid time off

Wellbeing programs

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Activision Blizzard, Inc. seeks a Principal Animation Engineer for the Central Tech group to advance animation fidelity and believability across AAA titles. You will lead cross-team efforts, prototype new features, and enhance workflows in a fast-paced environment.

Remote work eligibility is included, with roles based in the United States or Europe. Expect collaboration with global studios and continued innovation in animation technology for diverse game modes.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of professional programming experience focused on skeletal animation.
• Proficiency in C/C++ in multithreaded environments.
• Experience with low-level game animation systems.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with animators and engineers to prototype and implement new features for character fidelity and believability at scale and complexity.
• Develop and upgrade workflows to efficiently build, improve and debug animation behaviors by animators and engineers alike.
• Support and proactively collaborate with Activision studios worldwide.

Skills

Skeletal animation

C/C++ multithreaded

High-fidelity animation

3D math

Animation systems

Leadership

Multi-thread coordination

Tools

Maya

Job description

Job Title:

Principal Animation Engineer - Central Tech

Requisition ID:

R028032

Job Description:

Your Mission

Activision’s Central Animation Technology Group is looking for a dedicated Principal Animation Engineer to join our growing team focused on the future of Animation in our games. Our group’s goal is to make radical improvements to the way our characters move and behave. We are seeking engineers with a passion for realistic human and creature movement. The successful candidate will be ready to tackle the wide variety of engineering challenges vital to deliver believability and style across diverse situations and game modes.

This role has flexibility to be based in one of our Studios in the United States or Europe. Work arrangements may change at the company’s discretion to meet business needs. (Remote work eligibility included)

What you bring to the table…

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Work with animators and other engineers to research, design, prototype, and implement new features to continuously improve our character fidelity and believability at ever increasing scale and complexity.
• Develop and upgrade workflows to allow the efficient building, improvement and debugging of animation behaviors by animators and engineers alike.
• Support and proactively collaborate with team members at Activision studios across the world.

Minimum Requirements

• 15+ years of professional programming experience with a focus on skeletal animation.
• Proficiency in C/C++ in multithreaded environments
• Passion for advancing high-fidelity interactive animation in AAA games.
• Strong 3D math and linear algebra.
• Experience working directly on low-level game animation systems.
• Good knowledge of animation topics such as inverse kinematics, blend trees, ragdolls, state machines and secondary motion techniques.
• Capable and eager to take a leading role on projects.
• Multitasking: ability to work on multiple tech threads with different teams

Extra Points

• Credited on 3 or more AAA game titles for PC or consoles.
• Familiarity with content creation tools such as Maya.

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™ and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our press start is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up.

Ready to Activate Your Future?

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for 'Every World' - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full‑time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $171,100.00 - $316,576.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.