Principal Animator

Familiar Machines & Magic; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Familiar Machines & Magic in Los Angeles seeks a Principal Animator to expand the emotional vocabulary of Familiars through movement, behavior, and sound. This role blends art and embodied system challenges with cross-functional collaboration in a fast-paced environment.

Ideal candidates bring 10+ years in animation, a BFA in Animation, and proficiency in Maya/Blender. Experience with real-world constraints and hardware-aware rendering is a plus.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience bringing characters to life through motion.
• Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation or similar.
• Proficiency with Maya and Blender.

Responsibilities

• Develop animations for Familiars across contexts and emotions, ensuring clarity within hardware limits.
• Advise on tools and external partners to optimize workflows.
• Collaborate on internal tools to integrate physical constraints for rapid iteration.

Skills

Animation

Collaboration

Communication

Art direction

Education

Bachelor's in Fine Arts in Animation

Tools

Maya

Blender

Job description

About Us

Familiar Machines & Magic (FM&M) is building the Physical AI platform for human connection, beginning with Familiars — physically embodied AI systems designed to form long-term, emotionally intelligent relationships with people. Our mission is to create artificial life to build a more caring world.

Founded by industry leaders from iRobot, Outrider, and Amazon, our team has collectively deployed over 50 million consumer robots worldwide and led advances in navigation, machine learning, and human-robot interaction.

Familiar Machines & Magic is building a mission-driven team of high performers, anchored in our unique Culture Principles and Ways of Working.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Principal Animator to expand, refine, and elevate the emotional vocabulary of our Familiars as expressed through movement, behavior, and sound. This role blends the art and craft of animated movement with the real technical challenges of embodied systems, requiring well-honed aesthetic sensibilities, strong cross-functional collaboration skills, and adaptability to new tools and environments. Experience with the realities of adapting artistic intent to the physical constraints of robotic systems will be a big advantage.

The right candidate is passionate about innovation, execution, and culture-forward workplaces and thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

What You’ll Do

• Develop animations for Familiars across a wide range of contexts, emotional states, and goals. Create motions that provide maximum clarity within real hardware limitations, and which maintain legible and consistent character/personality across animations.

• Advise on the right tools and external partners to work with to create the most effective workflows.

• Collaborate on the development of internal tools that integrate physical constraints for rapid iteration before deployment.

• Critique the output of control policies.

• Collaborate with experience designers on how best to create a long-term emotional connection between Familiars and people.

• Create visual assets that communicate and illustrate the nuances and value of key animation decisions.

• Keep a tidy, version-controlled repository of animations.

• Advise on key hardware decisions for future Familiars.

What You’ll Have

• 10+ years of experience bringing characters to life through motion.

• Minimum of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation or similar

• Proficiency with industry-standard animation tools like Maya and Blender.

• Ability to direct the rendering of multi-material deformable surfaces, including textiles (fiber, weft, etc) and rubber.

• Experience with the limitations of real-world systems (torque, collisions, etc)

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Demonstrated aesthetic sensibilities for creating appeal and agency in non-humanoid forms

• Ability to operate in a dynamic environment with complex, multidisciplinary inputs

• Clear and persuasive communication skills

• Skilled at working across diverse disciplines and with external experts, from scientists to mechanics

• Demonstrated passion for exploring new ideas and technologies

• Excitement for innovating in the non-human companionship space

• Openness and excitement for new tools and processes, including AI-powered workflows.

Please Note: We have often hired those that do not meet the exact requirements but that we found to be a great culture fit and have the relevant experience to be successful in the role. Please consider applying if this is you.

Familiar Machines & Magic is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all individuals are valued and respected. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.