Director of Animation
Description
Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about working on our new original IP? Certain Affinity is the largest independent developer in Texas, based out of Austin, and we have a growing presence in Toronto, Canada. Our culture reflects the values and the vibrant nature of the cities we call home. This includes a commitment to evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We are also excited to be the latest recipient of the Canadian Studio of the Year award. We're best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating compelling new games of our own. We're always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team.
The Director of Animation will provide leadership for the studios' animation and technical animation departments. It requires a proactive communicator who can work with the project leads to realize the vision, be a consistent source of direction and qualitative feedback for the projects and be the external voice of the animation team to partners. We'd like to hear from you if you thrive on new challenges and can define and communicate clear and compelling direction and feedback.
Responsibilities
- Provide department leadership by mentoring and guiding the animation and technical animation department, focusing on maintaining a creative culture, approach, and execution of ideas as well as career and department growth
- Encourage and excite the team to find their voice and help them apply it to shape unique new projects and fit in with established brands and IP
- Actively define and realize short and long-term goals for the department
- Consistently seeking out new pipelines/venders/tools and vet them to see if they can be incorporated into our workflows
- Participate in early communication with potential development partners and publishers to create strong relationships focusing on matching their needs with our team's skillsets and interests
- Work with project leads and directors to develop a strategy that provides strong animation and technical animation resources to cover the studio's diverse project needs
- Collaborate with production staff to create and maintain high-level project schedules and deliverables
- Actively involved with recruiting, hiring, and external outreach
- 10+ years of animation experience in the game industry with at least 4 years experience in AAA level projects
- 5+ years in an Animation Department leadership role
- Excellent understanding of animation/tech animation development pipelines in all phases of game development
- Experience working in both 1st person as well as 3rd person projects
- Expert-level understanding of the principles of motion as applied to characters, cameras, objects, and vehicles
- Experience in the setup, organization, and performance direction of a motion capture shoot
- Knowledge and application of both keyframe and performance capture animation in a real-time environment
- Experience in Unreal Engine 4 (Other proprietary editors are a plus)
- Experience managing and mentoring teams and or departments
- A desire to work and support a diverse and inclusive environment
- Strong foundational knowledge in traditional arts, including but not limited to life drawing, acting, and cinematography
- Experience working directly with a cinematics department
Certain Affinity or its partners or affiliates run background checks on candidates or employees with written authorization from the candidates or employees. These may be done for the purposes of offering employment or determining eligibility to work on a specific project. Multiple searches may be required.
Certain Affinity is authorized to do business in many, but not all, of the states in the US and the Canadian provinces. If you are not located in or able to work from a state where Certain Affinity is registered, you may not be eligible for employment as a fully remote employee. Please speak with your recruiter to learn more about where we are registered.