Side ยท 2 months ago
Lead Animator (Contract) - North America
United States
Contract
Remote
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
5+ years expSide is a global video game development and services provider, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and studios around the world. As a Lead Animator, you will drive animation quality and direction across high-end game projects while leading a team of animators to deliver expressive and technically sound animations.
Computer Games
Responsibilities
Lead the creation of high-quality keyframe and motion capture animations for characters, creatures, and gameplay systems
Define and maintain the animation vision, quality bar, and technical consistency across projects
Collaborate with Design, Tech Art, Rigging, and Engineering to integrate animation smoothly into gameplay and narrative systems
Review internal and outsourced animation work, providing clear, constructive feedback to maintain AAA quality benchmarks
Troubleshoot animation, rigging, and implementation issues, and partner with Tech Art to drive continuous pipeline improvements
Mentor and guide a team of animators, supporting their development and onboarding
Partner with production to accurately scope animation deliverables, identify dependencies, and mitigate risks
Maintain project documentation, style guides, and communication with client-side animation leads or directors
Attend internal and external meetings, occasionally outside standard business hours, as needed to support project and business goals
Qualification
Required
5+ years of professional animation experience in game development, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior role
Proven experience delivering AAA-quality gameplay and cinematic animation
Advanced proficiency in Maya or MotionBuilder, with a strong grasp of animation principles, body mechanics, timing, and weight
Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine (4/5) and/or Unity, including animation blueprints, state machines, and real-time implementation
Experience with both keyframe and mocap cleanup and retargeting workflows
Strong collaboration skills working with Tech Art, Rigging, and Design teams
Excellent communication and leadership skills in English, with experience mentoring and directing distributed teams
Preferred
Prior experience with outsourcing or co-development projects preferred
Benefits
This role is contract to start with the potential to convert to full time with benefits.
Company
Side
Side (formerly PTW) is a global video game development and services partner, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and publishers around the world.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Side has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2024 (4)
2022 (5)
2021 (3)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageCompany data provided by crunchbase