APEX Rigging Technical Consultant

Position Overview

We are seeking an exceptional individual to join our talented Technical Consulting Team, reporting to the Technical Consulting Manager. As a Houdini Technical Consultant, your main role is to develop workflows and create production- inspired solutions with Houdini that enable a broad community of artists to create content procedurally.

You are a Houdini advocate, communicating Houdini’s value and features to our customers. As an experienced industry professional with strong and well-rounded Houdini skills, you are comfortable with on-the-spot troubleshooting. You are an excellent listener who takes the time to understand what our users hope to achieve and helps them reach their goals. With strong communication skills, you love to share your knowledge with others and are comfortable presenting in a variety of media, both online and in person. We continue to expand rapidly into game, media, and entertainment studios worldwide and would like you to bring your expertise to the thousands of artists who use our technology.   

As part of the Technical Consulting Team, you will also work closely with R&D, Sales, Marketing, and Education. You can expect occasional travel, sometimes internationally, whether, for example, to visit customers or attend professional events.

What you will be working on

Primary Responsibilities

• Continue to expand your expertise with existing tools and workflows in Houdini.
• Communicate with customers both in person and online in meetings, webinars, live streams, and the like.
• Explore and prototype workflows and share the results with our R&D team.
• Provide R&D with ongoing feedback on features and frameworks under development.
• Identify, develop, test, document, and deploy solutions that solve real production problems for our customers.
• Support our Sales Team as needed by providing specialized knowledge to further relationships with both prospective and existing customers.
• Report on industry trends and relay customer feedback to internal teams as appropriate.
• Keep track of your interactions and make notes available to others at SideFX.
• Be a champion of our company and represent SideFX to the larger CG community.
• Participate as needed in public channels where Houdini tools are discussed.
• Occasionally create demo content to be shown at various trade shows and Houdini-related events.
• From time to time, conduct training for customers.
• Collaborate on materials to assist the Sales team in communicating with customers.
• Work closely with our Marketing, R&D, Finance, and Education departments.
• To build strong customer relationships, expect to travel about once per month, sometimes internationally, whether to visit customers or events such as conferences, trade shows, user groups, and the like.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Help plant seeds for business development and future growth among existing customers in the broader Media and Entertainment segment and other industries.
• Share insights into our customer needs with other SideFX departments and maintain our CRM in a timely fashion.
• Other duties as appropriately assigned.

What you need to be successful

• Minimum of 5 years experience as a technical and creative professional in the Media and Entertainment industry preferred.
• Experience in rigging, motion mixing, and editing.
• Practical knowledge of common 3D CG pipelines.
• Strong presentation skills. Must be able to create and present content in Houdini fluently.
• A demonstrated passion for procedural processes and tools and a drive to share that passion.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and analytically about business, product, and technical challenges.
• Excellent interaction skills and the ability to connect with others in person and online.
• Ability to work and operate remotely, sometimes with a high degree of autonomy.
• Able to articulate an understanding of the business side of development and the challenges faced by developers in an evolving landscape.
• Flexibility to work off hours and attend meetings in multiple time zones.

Not required but great to have

• Bachelor’s degree in a field relating to Computer Graphics, Animation, VFX, or equivalent experience/education.
• Experience rigging in APEX.
• Experience as a Technical Director at a VFX or animation studio.
• Experience creating learning materials or teaching production software.

Company Profile

For over thirty years, SideFX has been providing artists with procedural 3D animation and visual effects tools designed to produce the highest-quality cinematic results. We are passionate about what our customers do because our roots are in production, both as artists and as pioneering technical innovators.

SideFX has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Science multiple times - including with an Oscar® - for the development of our Houdini software and its breakthrough procedural-based technology.

Houdini is used by the world’s top film, TV, and game studios to create blockbuster movies such as Black Panther and Moana, captivating TV shows like  Spider-Man, The Lion King and Godzilla vs. Kong, TV shows like The Crown, Game of Thrones and S.W.A.T., and video games like Ghost Recon, Far Cry and Age of Empires. Our customers include Disney Feature Animation, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Imageworks, Weta Digital, Electronic Arts, Microsoft Game Studios, and many more.

What We Value Most:

• Decency: We treat everyone with honesty, kindness and empathy. We give generously of our time and knowledge.
• Relationships: We build collaborative bonds—with our co-workers and clients—based on trust and respect. Our diverse team gives us broader perspectives.
• Dedication: We take pride and ownership in our work, always trying to do our best. We are devoted to the well-being and success of each other and our clients.
• Excellence: We continually improve ourselves, our work and our company, striving towards excellence in all that we do.

Our Employees Receive:

• Hybrid Work option - Combining time spent collaborating in person at our offices with remote work for added flexibility.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation and floater days to relax and re-energize (starting at 4 weeks).
• Year-End Company Shutdown and Long Weekend Early departures to add to the excitement.
• Health insurance coverage: Robust Health insurance coverage for you and your dependents.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) because sometimes we need a bit of extra support.
• Retirement Plan with company matched contributions.
• Comprehensive Long Service Award program, providing both a monetary reward and additional days off.
• A highly competitive bonus structure.
• A generous sick time entitlement to care for yourself and your loved ones.

Why Join SideFX?

• Because you want to be part of a unique experience and winning team that has won an Oscar and an Emmy (Cool, right?)
• Because you want to grow with one of Canada's Best Managed Companies®
• Because you want to be part of an industry-leading company that is constantly mindfully growing.
• Because you want to work with some of the most talented people in the industry on a ground-breaking product.
• Because you want to work with people from all around the world.
• Because you want to be part of an exciting and fun industry.
• Because you want to join and add to a positive, supportive and respected company culture.
• Because you want your job to be GREAT!

Not the right role for you at this time? Take a look at all of our job postings on our Careers page or join our SideFX Talent Community for future career opportunities!  

Location 

The ideal candidate for this position is strongly preferred to be based at our Toronto office, though other locations within our company's possibilities may also be considered.

SideFX is committed to inclusion and diversity. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply. Accommodation will be provided to candidates with disabilities, upon request.