Remote Viewmodel Gameplay Animator (Contract)

Sledgehammer Games, Inc.; Santa Monica (CA); Remote; USD 41,000 - 77,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work allowed

Job summary

Sledgehammer Games, Inc. in Santa Monica seeks a Viewmodel Gameplay Animator for a fixed-term contract. You will craft first‑person weapon animations and work with animation, design, engineering, and tech art teams to bring weapons and gameplay systems to life.

The role requires 3+ years of animation experience, strong fundamentals, and proficiency with Maya. Remote work is permitted; candidates should be comfortable collaborating across U.S. studio locations.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional animation experience.
• 1+ years of professional game animation experience.
• Strong animation fundamentals with emphasis on human movement, weight, timing, posing, and physicality.
• Experience creating or implementing first‑person, or gameplay animation.
• Advanced proficiency with Autodesk Maya.
• Experience working with animation implementation tools and game engines.
• Strong problem‑solving skills across creative and technical challenges.
• Ability to work effectively with multiple disciplines in a collaborative development environment.
• Ability to receive feedback, iterate quickly, and maintain a high‑quality bar.
• Strong communication, organization, and self‑direction.

Responsibilities

• Use traditional animation fundamentals to craft game motions ranging from stylized to hyper‑realistic.
• Create polished first‑person weapon animations including firing, reloads, handling, inspections, melee, and equipment use.
• Apply strong animation fundamentals to maintain weapon readability and convincing weight.
• Animate and refine first‑person camera motion to support gameplay clarity and impact.
• Collaborate with designers, engineers, tech artists, riggers, modelers, and other animators to solve problems.
• Implement, test, and debug animation in the game engine or proprietary tools.
• Iterate quickly based on feedback to achieve AAA polish.
• Identify workflow improvements to increase animation team efficiency.
• Communicate progress, risks, issues, and intent to partners and leads.

Skills

Animation fundamentals

First‑person/game animation

Collaboration

Communication

Learning quickly

Problem solving

Ship game title (preferred)

Tools

Autodesk Maya

Job description

Sledgehammer Games, Inc. in Santa Monica seeks a Viewmodel Gameplay Animator for a fixed-term contract. You will craft first‑person weapon animations and work with animation, design, engineering, and tech art teams to bring weapons and gameplay systems to life.

The role requires 3+ years of animation experience, strong fundamentals, and proficiency with Maya. Remote work is permitted; candidates should be comfortable collaborating across U.S. studio locations.