Senior Character TD: Rigs, Pipelines & Realistic Animation

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

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work in Soweto

Professional development & training

Cutting-edge technology access

Creative work environment

Job summary

Placements24 in Soweto, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Character Technical Director to lead rigging and animation systems for our game projects. You will develop advanced character rigs, optimize pipelines, and write tools to streamline workflows for the team.

You will collaborate with animators and programmers to ensure high-quality performance, maintain technical standards, mentor junior artists, and push the boundaries of character realism in interactive entertainment.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 6 years in technical art or technical animation for video games with a focus on character TD work.
• Expert proficiency in Maya with advanced rigging, character setup, and scripting (Python preferred).
• Strong understanding of anatomy, form, and animation principles.
• Experience with Unreal Engine or Unity and their character animation systems.
• Knowledge of skinning techniques and tools for realistic deformation.
• Experience with character pipeline development and optimization.
• Familiarity with performance profiling and optimization for character assets.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation, Fine Arts, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain advanced character rigs and skinning solutions using Maya and relevant tools.
• Create and optimize character pipelines for efficient asset creation and integration into game engines (Unreal/Unity).
• Write scripts and tools (Python) to automate tasks and improve workflow efficiency for the character team.
• Collaborate with animators to ensure rigs meet their needs and enable high-quality animation performance.
• Work closely with programmers to integrate character systems into the game engine and troubleshoot issues.
• Ensure character assets meet performance, memory, and platform requirements.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex rigging, skinning, and animation-related issues.
• Stay current with advancements in character rigging, animation, and game engine tech.
• Mentor junior technical artists and TDs with guidance and support.

Skills

Character rigging

Python scripting

Pipeline development

Animation systems

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation or related field

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 in Soweto, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Character Technical Director to lead rigging and animation systems for our game projects. You will develop advanced character rigs, optimize pipelines, and write tools to streamline workflows for the team.

You will collaborate with animators and programmers to ensure high-quality performance, maintain technical standards, mentor junior artists, and push the boundaries of character realism in interactive entertainment.