Lead Gameplay Animator

1 Month ago • 2 Years + • Animation

Job Summary

Job Description

Lead a growing team of animators focusing on gameplay animations for NPCs in a collaborative project with Disney. Responsibilities include mentoring animators, working with art leads and outsource managers, ensuring asset quality, communicating feedback to external partners, creating character animations using Unreal Engine and Control Rig, and improving animation pipelines. The role requires strong communication, leadership, and animation skills (key-framed character and creature animation), familiarity with Maya and Unreal Engine 5, and experience with mocap data. Previous experience leading a team is essential.
Must have:
  • 2+ years lead animator experience
  • Strong communication & leadership
  • Unreal Engine & Maya experience
  • Mocap data experience
  • Stylized key-framed animation
  • Shipped at least one title
Good to have:
  • Proficiency in animation blueprints
  • Modeling, skinning, rigging skills
Perks:
  • 100% benefits coverage for employees and dependents
  • Supplemental medical, dental, vision
  • Robust mental well-being program
  • Retirement savings plan with employer match

Job Details

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

ART

What We Do

Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.

What You'll Do

The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games are collaborating on an all-new games and entertainment universe.

In addition to being a world-class games experience, this new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, and engage with content, characters, and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more.

Players, gamers, and fans of all kinds will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. Come join us in creating the future of interactive entertainment. 

Epic Games is searching for a Lead Gameplay Animator to join our team to work on our collaboration with Disney. A successful candidate should have leadership experience and a great understanding of the fundamentals of animation, how they relate to NPC animation in game, and the ability to implement animations in the Unreal Engine. Proficiency in animation blueprints is a plus. The ideal candidate would also be able to communicate with outsource partners, including documenting existing pipelines, collecting or creating quality bar and technical example assets, collecting photo reference, creating asset blockouts, creating simple blockout paint overs, and finally packaging all files to send off to the external artists.

In this role, you will

  • Lead a growing team of animators working on gameplay animations for NPC’s; mentor and provide technical and creative feedback to animators
  • Work closely with the individual Epic Art Leads, Outsource Manager(s), and other artists on the team to ensure assets have all the information they need before being sent out to outsourced partners; clearly communicate feedback to the outsource partner, and ensure those creative notes and goals are met
  • Maintain a healthy team by identifying team needs and addressing them by working with other team leads where necessary
  • Create character-specific gameplay and cinematic animations from initial concept through implementation in Unreal Engine using our Control Rig toolset
  • Help drive technical implementation workflows and find ways to improve the animation pipeline and efficiencies in Unreal
  • Drive collaboration across disciplines, including Production, Design, Technical Animation, and Technical Design to help drive the style and feel of animation at Epic

What we're looking for

  • 2+ years of experience in a lead animator role, with demonstrated ability to manage or lead a team effectively
  • You have an animation reel showing stylized key-framed character and creature animations and/or a reel showing work that you have supervised
  • Good instincts for realistic and stylized motions
  • Strong communication and leadership skills
  • Familiarity with Maya and Unreal Engine 5 animation workflows
  • Experience working with mocap data
  • Experience having shipped at least one title
  • Related skills, such as modeling, skinning, rigging are a plus

EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

We pay 100% for benefits for both employees and dependents and offer coverage for supplemental medical, dental, vision, critical illness, telemedicine, Life and AD&D, long term disability insurance as well as weekly indemnity (short term disability) and a retirement savings plan with a competitive employer match. In addition to the EAP (employee assistance program), we also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents.                   

ABOUT US

Epic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy .

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found .

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About The Company

Founded in 1991, Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Epic operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content. Epic has over 40 offices worldwide with headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.

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