Senior Technical Animator - Remote Unreal Engine 5

Snailgamesusa; Beverly Hills (CA); Remote; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Life/LTD

401k with company match

Paid holidays & vacation

Job summary

Snail Games USA is seeking a Senior Technical Animator to build robust animation systems and workflows across fantasy and sci-fi game projects. You will connect animation, art, design, and engineering to develop rigs, tools, and runtime animation in Unreal Engine 5, with ownership from development to production handoff.

Join a central art team and help create reusable, well-documented systems, train teammates, and ensure in-game animation quality while optimizing performance and memory usage.

Qualifications

• Professional technical animation experience on video game projects.
• Strong hands-on Unreal Engine 5 experience.
• Experience with MetaHuman, Control Rig, IK Rig, IK Retargeter.
• Knowledge of character rigging, skinning, deformation, and animation fundamentals.
• FBX animation assets integration into functional gameplay systems in Unreal Engine.
• Proficiency in Maya or Blender and workflows between DCC tools and Unreal Engine.
• Ability to design reusable animation systems and troubleshoot issues across the asset-to-engine pipeline.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including explaining technical concepts to artists and engineers.
• Demonstrated experience documenting systems and enabling teammates to use and maintain them independently.
• Self-directed, organized approach to delivering production-ready work and coordinating across departments.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain UE5 animation systems using Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, montages, and layered animation.
• Develop and support character rigs, Control Rigs, retargeting workflows, and MetaHuman animation integration.
• Own animation integration from FBX import and skeleton setup through Blueprint configuration, gameplay implementation, and final validation.
• Troubleshoot rigging, deformation, retargeting, blending, root motion, and runtime animation issues.
• Create reusable tools and workflows that improve animation production and reduce repetitive work.
• Build modular, maintainable systems that other technical artists and animators can extend independently.
• Write clear documentation covering system structure, setup, usage, limitations, troubleshooting, and maintenance.
• Train teammates and provide practical demonstrations to support successful adoption and handoff.
• Work with animators, designers, engineers, and the Lead Animator to define requirements and preserve animation quality in-game.
• Establish technical review criteria and validate submitted animation assets before production integration.
• Profile and optimize animation systems for runtime performance and memory usage.
• Independently plan work, communicate dependencies and risks, and track progress in Jira.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5

MetaHuman

Control Rig

IK Rig

FBX Integration

Character Rigging

Maya/Blender

Documentation

Communication

Production Ownership

Tools

Maya

Blender

Unreal Engine

Blueprint Scripting

Job description

Snail Games USA is seeking a Senior Technical Animator to build robust animation systems and workflows across fantasy and sci-fi game projects. You will connect animation, art, design, and engineering to develop rigs, tools, and runtime animation in Unreal Engine 5, with ownership from development to production handoff.

Join a central art team and help create reusable, well-documented systems, train teammates, and ensure in-game animation quality while optimizing performance and memory usage.