Lead Technical Animator: AAA Games

Placements24; Vereeniging; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health and dental benefits

Performance-based bonus

Cutting-edge development tools

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Technical Animator in Vereeniging, Gauteng to drive animation quality for our upcoming AAA titles. You will lead a team of animators, build robust rigs and animation systems, and ensure seamless integration with Unreal Engine and Unity.

The role emphasizes collaboration with designers, programmers, and artists to align gameplay and visuals. The ideal candidate brings deep rigging expertise, strong leadership, and a passion for cutting-edge game animation.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Technical Animator or Lead Animator in games.
• Strong portfolio of rigging, animation, and technical art skills.
• Proficiency in Maya or Blender and Unreal or Unity.
• Deep understanding of character rigging, skinning, and animation state machines.
• Scripting experience (Python, MEL) for pipelines is desirable.
• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills.
• Strong leadership and communication abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of technical and character animators.
• Develop and maintain robust character rigs and animation systems for game development.
• Oversee the creation of high-quality character, creature, and environment animations.
• Collaborate with game designers, programmers, and artists to ensure animation meets gameplay and narrative requirements.
• Implement and optimize animations within the game engine (Unreal Engine, Unity).
• Establish and enforce animation pipelines, standards, and best practices.
• Troubleshoot complex animation and rigging issues.
• Conduct animation reviews, provide constructive feedback, and ensure animation quality.
• Stay abreast of latest technologies and techniques in game animation and rigging.
• Contribute to the technical and artistic direction of the animation department.

Skills

Leadership

Character rigging

Animation systems

Real-time optimization

Communication

Mentoring

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation or Game Design

Tools

Maya

Blender

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Technical Animator in Vereeniging, Gauteng to drive animation quality for our upcoming AAA titles. You will lead a team of animators, build robust rigs and animation systems, and ensure seamless integration with Unreal Engine and Unity.

The role emphasizes collaboration with designers, programmers, and artists to align gameplay and visuals. The ideal candidate brings deep rigging expertise, strong leadership, and a passion for cutting-edge game animation.