Senior Character Animator - High-Impact Creature & NPC Motion

Placements24; Benoni; Hybrid; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and benefits

Health and retirement benefits

Growth opportunities

Studio in Benoni

Job summary

Placements24 in Benoni, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Character Animator to bring game characters to life with believable motion. You will lead high-quality animation for main characters, creatures, and NPCs, collaborating with art and design teams to match game mechanics and narrative.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in game animation, a strong reel, proficiency with Maya, and a solid understanding of timing, weight, and acting.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience as a Character Animator in the video game industry.
• Strong demo reel showcasing a wide range of high-quality character animation.
• Proficiency with industry-standard animation software such as Maya or equivalent.
• Solid understanding of animation principles: timing, spacing, weight, appeal, posing, and acting.
• Experience working with and troubleshooting character rigs.
• Familiarity with game engines (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity) and their animation systems (e.g., state machines, blend trees).
• Ability to interpret and translate directorial feedback into animation.
• Strong artistic eye and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
• Experience with motion capture cleanup is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Animate high-quality character performances for key game characters, creatures, and NPCs, focusing on realism, weight, and emotion.
• Work closely with animation directors, game designers, and other stakeholders to interpret character briefs and achieve desired performances.
• Develop and refine animation cycles, including run, walk, idle, combat, and facial animations.
• Incorporate feedback from reviews and implement revisions to achieve target quality.
• Ensure animations are optimized for performance within the game engine.
• Collaborate with riggers to ensure character rigs meet animation needs.
• Mentor junior animators, providing constructive feedback and guidance on animation principles and techniques.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of animation tools and pipelines.
• Stay current with industry trends and best practices in character animation for games.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical animation issues.

Skills

Character animation

Animation pipelines

Mentoring

Team collaboration

Motion capture cleanup

Anatomy/weight/acting

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 in Benoni, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Character Animator to bring game characters to life with believable motion. You will lead high-quality animation for main characters, creatures, and NPCs, collaborating with art and design teams to match game mechanics and narrative.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in game animation, a strong reel, proficiency with Maya, and a solid understanding of timing, weight, and acting.