Senior Character TD (CONTRACT)

PlayStation Network; United States; Remote; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading gaming company as a Senior Character Technical Director (TD), where you'll design and create character rigs for AAA games. Collaborate with talented artists and engineers while contributing to high-quality animations and developing tools to improve workflows. Embrace diversity and innovation as part of an inclusive team dedicated to empowering employees and fostering creativity.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

Qualifications

• Extensive knowledge of Maya and advanced scripting skills in MEL, Python, and PyMel.
• Knowledge of character animation techniques.
• Strong UI development skills.

Responsibilities

• Create high-quality animation rigs for characters and props.
• Collaborate with art and animation teams to solve production challenges.
• Mentor junior Character TDs and run specific meetings as assigned.

Skills

Maya

MEL scripting

Python scripting

UI development

Animation techniques

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation5, PlayStation4, PlayStationVR, PlayStationPlus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.

PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

CONTRACT ROLE

Insomniac Games is looking for a contract Senior Character TD. In this role, the Senior Character TD is responsible for creating rigs for heroes, enemies, weapons, vehicles, and props, and supporting Art and Animation teams with scripts and tools. Contributes to the design, implementation, and maintenance of the character rigging pipeline.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:

• Works independently to consistently create high quality animation rigs, systems, and setups that directly contribute to the realization of successful game characters.
• Able to create AAA quality character rigs for multiple types of character features and authors simulation setups for cloth and hair.
• Effectively communicates with the project Lead, Directors and Project Manager to ensure progress is correctly reported and tracked in the Jira database, and deliverables are completed on time.
• Sets the bar for quality, speed, and communication that inspires other Character TDs as the foundation for character development.
• Collaborates directly with Character Artists, Riggers, Animators, Designers, Programmers, and other artists to ensure that the work of the team is created in the most efficient and technically responsible manner.
• Designs and develops new standalone tools to solve production challenges.
• Works with Art on modeling practices to facilitate the character set-up process and to advance the visual fidelity of character performances.
• Assists the animation team in troubleshooting setup and animation problems as they arise, especially as they relate to projects.
• Acts as an intermediary between the animation and technical teams to elucidate the workflows, needs, and terminologies of each team, and supports the Core team by creating tools and improving the DCC-to-Engine art pipeline.
• Identifies opportunities for improving the development pipeline as well as ensuring that Character TDs receive responsive and appropriate technical support.
• Ability to manage reasonable workload expectations and to communicate effectively with leadership to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• Adheres to lawful and ethical business practices in support of a diverse team of artists.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Assists leadership with mentoring more junior level Character TDs. Runs select meetings as assigned by leadership. Assists leadership in Hiring Management when requested. Runs or aids in running strike teams when requested.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge,

skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Computer Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of Maya, and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
• Advanced working knowledge of MEL, Python, and PyMel scripting as it applies to character setup and animation.
• Strong working knowledge of UI development with PySide/PyQt.
• Knowledge of the Maya API and Plugin Development is a plus.

Other Skills:

• The ability to articulate thoughts and ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
• This position may be required to help evaluate new technical tools and make suggestions in either the implementation or practical uses of said tools.
• Possess an understanding of animation techniques for the purpose of proactive problem solving and trouble shooting.
• Maintains an understanding of skeletons, facial animation methodologies, constraints and other Maya tools and systems used for character animation.

Please refer to ourCandidate Privacy Notice for more information about how we process your personal information, and your data protection rights.

At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click here to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.

$70 - $70 USD

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

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