Facial Rigger: Senior

Note: At this time this is a remote work from home project based contract opportunity. Open to any location, however, must be able to work EST. Open to freelancers and contractors.

About

Barnstorm is an Emmy and VES-nominated visual effects studio based in Los Angeles and operations in Vancouver, Montreal, NYC, Atlanta, London, and Hyderabad. We provide photo-realistic visual effects for a variety of episodic and select sequences in feature films. We pride ourselves in our artists’ talent and dedication to producing world-class visual effects.

Who You Are

Barnstorm is seeking a Freelance Senior Facial Rigger for a short-term 2-week project with potential to extend. This role is ideal for an experienced rigger who can independently design and implement high-quality, expressive facial rigs for realistic or stylized characters under tight turnaround timelines.

You’ll collaborate with the Creature and Animation teams to build a flexible, production-ready facial system capable of nuanced, believable motion. This is a hands-on, technical freelance role requiring strong problem-solving skills and a solid understanding of deformation workflows.

What You’ll Do

• Design and implement a high-quality facial rig in Maya for a human or humanoid character.
• Develop blendshape, joint-based, and hybrid deformation systems for realistic performance.
• Integrate FACS-based control systems, correctives, and pose libraries.
• Collaborate with modeling and animation leads to align on facial range, topology, and performance goals.
• Ensure clean deformation, efficient playback, and proper organization for handoff.
• Deliver finalized rig files suitable for testing and integration within Barnstorm’s pipeline.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in facial rigging in VFX, feature animation, or cinematics. Preferred, VFX episodic experience
• Expert-level proficiency in Maya rigging, including blendshape sculpting and joint-based systems.
• Strong understanding of facial anatomy, topology, and deformation.
• Experience implementing FACS-based systems or similar performance-driven rigs.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to deliver clean, stable results under tight timelines.
• Familiarity with mGear, Python scripting, Alembic, and USD pipelines a plus.
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented attitude — comfortable working independently in a fast turnaround setting.

About This Role

Note: At this time we are accepting applications from any location.

Barnstorm VFX is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive team that provides a meaningful work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. Indigenous people, people of color, people of all genders or non-genders, and people with disabilities of all types are encouraged to apply. We thank everyone for their interest and application, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.