Remote Lead Technical Animator — Shape Lifelike Game Motion

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Comprehensive health benefits

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 partners with a highly respected game development studio in Pretoria to fill a Lead Technical Animator role for a fully remote position. You will guide a remote team, develop and optimize animation systems, rigs, and pipelines to deliver lifelike and stylistically consistent character motion across platforms.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in technical animation, leads teams, and is proficient with Unreal Engine or Unity, Maya, and scripting (Python/MEL/C#).

Qualifications

• 7+ years in technical animation for video games, with 2+ years in lead roles.
• Experience developing and optimizing animation systems and pipelines in major game engines (Unreal/Unity).
• Expertise in character rigging, skinning and animation principles.
• Proficiency in Maya and scripting languages Python, MEL, or C#.
• Strong collaboration across art and engineering teams.
• Portfolio demonstrating complex rigs, animation systems, and game examples.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of technical animators.
• Develop, implement, and maintain animation systems, tools, and pipelines.
• Collaborate with animation, art, and engineering teams for asset integration.
• Create and refine character rigs with performance and usability in mind.
• Develop locomotion, facial animation, and dynamic simulations.
• Troubleshoot technical animation issues and optimize for multiple platforms.
• Stay up-to-date with advancements in animation tech and workflows.
• Contribute to establishing best practices and workflows for the department.

Skills

Technical animation leadership

Unreal Engine

Unity

Maya

Python

MEL

C#

Rigging and skinning

Animation pipelines

Team mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation / Game Design / CS

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

Maya

Python

MEL

C#

Job description

Placements24 partners with a highly respected game development studio in Pretoria to fill a Lead Technical Animator role for a fully remote position. You will guide a remote team, develop and optimize animation systems, rigs, and pipelines to deliver lifelike and stylistically consistent character motion across platforms.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in technical animation, leads teams, and is proficient with Unreal Engine or Unity, Maya, and scripting (Python/MEL/C#).