Lead Animator

3 Months ago • All levels • Animation

Job Summary

Job Description

The Lead Animator will be the primary creative force behind delivering captivating animations for characters, creatures, and environments. They will lead a team of animators, set artistic direction, and ensure high-quality content. Responsibilities include overseeing the animation pipeline, collaborating with other departments, animating characters and environments, utilizing motion capture and keyframe techniques, and providing feedback. The role requires strong leadership, artistic skills, and a passion for gaming.
Must have:
  • Proven experience as a Senior Animator in the games industry.
  • Experience in leading and managing an animation team.
  • Proficiency in animation software and tools.
  • Strong understanding of animation principles.
Good to have:
  • Strong interest in cinematography and cutscene creation.
  • Experience with Unreal Engine and Animation Blueprints.
  • Understanding of 3D modeling best practices.
  • Experience animating high-fidelity characters.
Perks:
  • Private healthcare.
  • Additional time off over the Christmas period.
  • Bonus scheme.
  • Team outings and events.
  • Summer BBQ + Festive party.

Job Details

UK Remote or West Midlands Based – Birmingham/Worcestershire Area 

Please Note: We welcome applicants that prefer to work from home, so please get in touch!


Role and Purpose:

We are seeking a Lead Animator who will be the main creative force behind delivering captivating animations for characters, creatures, and environments. This individual will be able to support, inspire and motivate a diverse team of animators whilst also ensuring the content is performant and achieves our high quality benchmark.


Responsibilities:

  • Provide leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the animation team, fostering a collaborative and creative work environment.
  • Set the artistic direction and animation standards for the team, ensuring consistency and quality across projects.
  • Oversee the entire animation pipeline, from concept and storyboarding to final implementation in the game engine.
  • Collaborate with other departments to ensure smooth integration of animations into the gameplay experience.
  • Create and oversee the animation of characters, creatures, and other assets, infusing them with personality and emotion.
  • Develop believable and fluid animations that enhance the player’s immersion in the game world.
  • Create animations for environmental elements, objects, and interactive elements, adding life and realism to the game world.
  • Collaborate with level designers and artists to ensure seamless integration of animations into the environments.
  • Utilize both motion capture and keyframe animation techniques to achieve realistic and expressive character movements.
  • Lead MoCap sessions and direct actors to capture performances that align with the game’s artistic vision.
  • Stay up-to-date with animation tools and technology, advocating for the adoption of new tools to improve workflow and efficiency.
  • Work closely with technical artists and programmers to implement animation systems in the game engine.
  • Provide and receive feedback from internal and external sources to improve animations iteratively.
  • Collaborate with game designers to ensure animations enhance gameplay mechanics and communicate game feedback to players.


Requirements:

  • Proven experience as a Senior Animator in the games industry, with a strong portfolio showcasing high-quality character and environmental animations.
  • Experience in leading and managing a team of animators, providing creative direction, feedback, and mentorship.
  • Proficiency in industry-standard animation software (e.g., Maya, 3ds Max, Blender) and animation tools used in game development.
  • Strong understanding of animation principles, including timing, spacing, weight, and motion dynamics.
  • Familiarity with motion capture techniques and data cleanup processes is a plus.
  • Knowledge of game engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine) and animation integration workflows.
  • Excellent artistic and storytelling skills, with the ability to breathe life and emotion into animated characters and scenes.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
  • Passion for gaming and a deep appreciation for the role of animation in creating immersive and memorable gaming experiences.


Desirable Skills:

  • Strong interest in cinematography, storytelling and cutscene creation.
  • Experience with Unreal Engine, including using Animation Blueprints.
  • Understanding of 3D modelling best practices when applying deformation to a mesh.
  • Experience animating high-fidelity characters for third and first person adventure games.

Portfolio

Please send through your portfolio and cover letter. If your examples are from previous works with another studio, please make sure samples are cleared for release by copyright owners. Links to an online portfolio are preferable, otherwise we accept showreels via Dropbox or other secure sharing platforms.

Send your application to – careers@flixinteractive.com

What We Offer

Based just outside Birmingham, Flix offers a friendly, nurturing work environment with the opportunity to build games as part of an extremely talented, ambitious studio. The team is made up of welcoming, passionate, active gamers that support one another in all aspects of development.

We also offer the following:

  • Private healthcare.
  • Additional time off over the Christmas period on top of standard holidays.
  • Bonus scheme.
  • Team outings and events.
  • Summer BBQ + Festive party.

If you have the drive and skills for making games and think you have what it takes to work within our team then we’d love to hear from you.

For more information visit our site – Flix Interactive

Alternatively, call our recruitment team on – 01527 958 177

GDPR COMPLIANCE – WHEN APPLYING FOR THIS JOB YOU’RE AUTHORISING FLIX INTERACTIVE TO STORE YOUR APPLICATION INFORMATION AND DISTRIBUTE IT TO THE APPROPRIATE EMAIL INBOXES OF SENIOR TEAM MEMBERS IN ORDER TO REVIEW YOUR ROLE ELIGIBILITY.
YOUR APPLICATION WILL BE STORED ON A PRIVATE CLOUD BASED ONLINE SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING. IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO UPDATE, DELETE OR REFINE YOUR APPLICATION PLEASE EMAIL INFO@FLIXINTERACTIVE.COM. YOUR REQUEST WILL BE APPENDED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIVING YOUR EMAIL.
PLEASE NOTE – IN COMPLIANCE WITH GDPR LAW YOUR DATA WILL BE USED FOR RECRUITMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

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About The Company

Flix started in 2012 with a few developers in a house near the small town of Barnt Green. We are now 100+ developers based just outside of Birmingham and full-time working from home! Thanks to the great team we have here at Flix the studio has developed a culture of supportive growth that reflects the passion and determination to create incredible games.

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom (Remote)

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom (Remote)

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