Senior Technical Animator — UE5 Rig Systems

Snail Games; Beverly Hills (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-life balance

Paid holidays

Medical/dental/vision

401k with match

Job summary

Snail Games USA is seeking a Senior Technical Animator to build reliable animation systems and workflows across our fantasy and science-fiction game projects. You will connect animation, art, design, and engineering to develop rigs, tools, and runtime animation systems in Unreal Engine 5.

You will document technical decisions, train teammates, and own development from initial creation to production handoff, ensuring maintainable, extensible solutions for the team.

Qualifications

• Professional technical animation experience on video game projects.
• Strong hands-on Unreal Engine 5 experience, including Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, montages, and Blueprint scripting.
• Practical experience with MetaHuman, Control Rig, IK Rig, IK Retargeter, and skeletal animation workflows.
• Strong understanding of character rigging, skinning, deformation, and animation fundamentals.
• Experience integrating FBX animation assets into functional gameplay systems in Unreal Engine.
• Proficiency in Maya or Blender and experience supporting 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 the ability to explain technical concepts to artists and engineers.

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

Animation Blueprints

Character Rigging

MetaHuman/Control Rig

Blueprint scripting

Performance optimization

Documentation

Tools

Maya

Blender

Job description

Snail Games USA is seeking a Senior Technical Animator to build reliable animation systems and workflows across our fantasy and science-fiction game projects. You will connect animation, art, design, and engineering to develop rigs, tools, and runtime animation systems in Unreal Engine 5.

You will document technical decisions, train teammates, and own development from initial creation to production handoff, ensuring maintainable, extensible solutions for the team.