Senior Gameplay Animator

Hidden Jobs; United States; Hybrid; USD 106,000 - 119,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Job summary

Hidden Jobs is seeking a Senior Gameplay Animator to craft high-quality animations for a flagship AAA title. You will collaborate across disciplines to integrate animation into the engine, supporting artistic, narrative, and technical goals.

You will lead animation across gameplay scenarios, work with motion capture data, and implement hand-keyed animation within the engine, using Maya and proprietary tools. Hybrid studio environment offered.

Qualifications

• Significant professional experience as a gameplay animator on shipped AAA titles.
• Advanced knowledge of Maya and common state machine flow in game engines.
• Proven skills in motion capture integration, hand key animation, and engine-side implementation.
• Strong cross-discipline collaboration and troubleshooting skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop high-quality animations for gameplay characters aligned with artistic direction and technical standards.
• Collaborate with designers and programmers to implement animations in engine using Maya and proprietary tools.
• Utilize motion capture data and hand-keyed animation to create believable characters.
• Deliver animations across hero traversal, combat, boss, mission, open world, and gameplay camera cinematography.
• Work with the animation team to ensure cohesive execution of the established direction and provide feedback.
• Communicate effectively with designers, programmers, writers, PMs, art, audio, character, and rigging teams.

Skills

Gameplay animation

Collaboration

Motion capture integration

Tools

Maya

Proprietary engine tools

MotionBuilder

Adobe Premiere

Job description

Role overview

Contribute to a major AAA game development studio as a Senior Gameplay Animator, crafting high-quality animations that bring characters and worlds to life. You will collaborate across disciplines to integrate animation into the engine, supporting the creative, narrative, and technical vision of a flagship title.

Responsibilities

• Develop high-quality animations for gameplay characters aligned with established artistic direction and technical standards
• Collaborate with designers and programmers to implement animations in engine using Maya and proprietary engine tools
• Utilize motion capture data and hand-keyed animation to create believable characters
• Deliver animations across hero traversal, combat, boss, mission, open world, and gameplay camera cinematography
• Work with the animation team to guarantee cohesive execution of the established direction, providing constructive feedback
• Communicate effectively with designers, programmers, writers, project managers, art, audio, character, and rigging teams

Requirements

• Significant professional experience as a gameplay animator on shipped AAA titles, working with minimal supervision
• Advanced knowledge of Maya and common state machine flow in game engines
• Proven skills in motion capture integration, hand key animation, and engine-side implementation
• Strong cross-discipline collaboration and troubleshooting skills

Nice to have

• Familiarity with MotionBuilder, Adobe Premiere, and studio-proprietary animation tools
• Experience with open-world and cinematic gameplay animation at a senior level

Benefits and work setup

• Estimated hourly base pay range of $76.92-$86.06 USD, with variation based on location and experience
• Eligible benefits typically include medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Hourly, on-site or hybrid studio environment