Senior Animation Engineer

That's No Moon is an independent studio of storytellers and game-makers who believe in the power of narrative-driven experiences. With a diverse team of talented developers, from some of the top game studios in the world (Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, Bungie), our shared vision is to create the future of AAA experiences with a culture of creativity, collaboration, and responsible production practices. Our passionate team of developers help shape our studio, our projects, and our future.

We are looking for a Senior Animation Engineer ready to make ground-breaking innovations for a AAA title.  The Senior Animation Engineer will focus on Narrative Realization working with animators, writers, engineers and designers to deliver extraordinary experiences.  Grounded, believable animations are pivotal to our game, and in this role, you will help build cutting edge technology empowering us to deliver a moving, impactful narrative, and fostering players’ emotional connections with our characters. Narrative Realization is the craft of expressing the story in all its modes in a high quality, seamless integration with an interactive gameplay experience. 

Responsibilities:  

• Architect, implement, and maintain the selection, integration, and manipulation of AAA quality gameplay and AI animations that reflect the narrative design goals, integrate narrative seamlessly into gameplay, and enhance the emotional impact of that narrative 
• Ensure that narrative realization animation solutions leverage high quality character assets to their fullest potential 
• Ensure that AI systems can deliver high quality animation performances that express narrative needs 
• Break down features, building plans and assessing dependencies 
• Work with the production team, narrative realization leadership and engineering leadership to schedule those plans 
• Collaborate with animators, writers, designers, and engineers to provide holistic solutions. 
• Own features and systems, driving them to meet the needs of those holistic solutions 
• Write production quality C/C++ for systems, features, tools, and workflows 
• Analyze different approaches to solving problems and the tradeoffs between them 
• Write and maintain documentation related to features, tools, and workflows 

Requirements & Skills:  

• Experience working in Unreal Engine
• Strong understanding of 3Cs to expertly craft systems that attain the design goals of the game, maximize player comfort, and match player intuition 
• Strong understanding of Cinematic & Narrative Presentation tools & workflows, in particular how tools and systems can be applied in differing contexts. 
• Proven skill at shepherding animation from DCC to final pixels, retaining artistic quality and narrative and emotional intent 
• Solid knowledge of C++ 
• Strong math skills 
• An appreciation of the role of narrative in an interactive experience 
• An understanding of the principles of impactful and comprehensible narrative presentation to players 
• (Bonus) Shipped at least one AAA game as a Narrative Realization specialist 
• (Bonus) Comprehensive understanding of Unreal Engine Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, Montages, Anim Graphs, and Event Graphs 

Qualities:  

• Facility in communicating in written and verbal modalities in a remote environment 
• Ability to resolve conflicts peer-to-peer 
• Flexibility in switching tasks to accommodate production priorities  
• Ability to appreciate other departments’ perspectives  
• Maintains integrity and confidence while working in a fast-paced environment 
• Approachable and respected member of the team 
• Leads by example, collaboration, and mentorship 
• Works at the highest level, technically and aesthetically 
• Insatiable desire to push quality 

TNM considers a number of factors when determining each role's base pay range, including industry benchmarks, location, experience, and other job specific skills. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for other incentive compensation including equity and profit share. The estimated base pay range for this role is U.S. only and not applicable for locations outside of the U.S.

The estimated base pay range for this role is: $155k-$190k

Please note that we are only considering candidates in North America at this time.

TNM offers competitive and comprehensive benefits that include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, flexible PTO, supplemental life and disability, and more. Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary based on country of residence and/or part-time or temporary employment status.

That's No Moon is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ancestry, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, legally protected physical or mental disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. 

To those interested in submitting for roles at That's No Moon, we have a few reminders to ensure a safe application process.

1. If one of our recruiters reaches out to you, it will be with a "@thatsnomoon.com" email address. We do not email via personal email addresses either.
2. We do not conduct interviews via Discord or WhatsApp.
3. We will not ask you to provide sensitive personal information.
4. We will never request that you buy equipment specifically for your interview/test.

We are saddened that people are being taken advantage of and ask that, if you ever have any doubts about whether you are speaking to an official member of the That's No Moon team, to reach out to our official social handles directly.

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