Senior Technical Animator - Remote & Pipeline Architect

Placements24; Centurion; Hybrid; ZAR 1,157,000 - 1,819,000; Full time

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Senior Technical Animator to bridge artistic vision and tech execution from a remote home office. You will develop and optimize animation pipelines, rigs, and tools for characters, creatures, and props, collaborating with engineers and animators globally.

The role requires 6+ years in technical animation for games, expertise in Maya or MotionBuilder, and scripting in Python/C#/MEL, with strong rigging and knowledge of Unreal or Unity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation, Game Development, Computer Science, or related field; or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 6 years of technical animation experience in games or real-time apps.
• Expertise with Maya, MotionBuilder, or similar software.
• Scripting in Python, C#, or MEL.
• Strong rigging, skinning, and animation principles understanding.
• Experience with Unreal Engine or Unity.
• Knowledge of animation systems, state machines, blend trees, IK/FK setups.
• Excellent problem-solving and remote collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize animation systems, rigs, and tools for characters, creatures, and props.
• Collaborate with artists, riggers, and engineers to define pipelines and requirements.
• Integrate animations within game engines, ensuring performance and fidelity.
• Write scripts to automate tasks and create tools.
• Troubleshoot technical animation issues and provide team support.
• Research and apply cutting-edge animation technologies and techniques.
• Document best practices and standards for animation workflows.
• Profile and optimize animation performance within project constraints.
• Work effectively with a distributed team and maintain momentum.

Skills

Rigging

Skinning

Animation principles

Problem solving

Remote collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Animation or related field

Tools

Maya

MotionBuilder

MEL

Python

C#

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 seeks a Senior Technical Animator to bridge artistic vision and tech execution from a remote home office. You will develop and optimize animation pipelines, rigs, and tools for characters, creatures, and props, collaborating with engineers and animators globally.

The role requires 6+ years in technical animation for games, expertise in Maya or MotionBuilder, and scripting in Python/C#/MEL, with strong rigging and knowledge of Unreal or Unity.