Senior Facial Animator New IP

4A Games is seeking a Senior Facial Animator with a passion for storytelling and character performance. This role involves creating high-quality facial animations to bring characters to life and evoke emotional responses from players. The animator will be responsible for delivering expressive and believable facial performances for high-end characters, utilizing advanced proficiency in Maya and experience with game engines. The position requires a strong understanding of acting principles, lip-sync, and emotional nuance to craft captivating animations.

Must Have

• 5+ years of professional experience as a facial animator in games, film, or interactive media.
• Proven track record of delivering expressive, believable facial animation for high-end characters.
• Strong understanding of acting principles, lip-sync, timing, and emotional nuance.
• Advanced proficiency in Maya for keyframe and facial animation editing.
• Solid experience with game engines such as Unreal, Unity, etc.
• Familiarity with MetaHuman and/or custom facial rigs.
• Experience working with facial mocap data (ARKit, Faceware, Dynamixyz, etc.).
• Ability to retarget and refine mocap performance data onto stylized or realistic characters.
• Knowledge of blendshape systems and deformation logic.
• Understanding of real-time animation constraints (e.g. performance budgets, LODs).
• Ability to work within a cinematic or gameplay animation pipeline.
• Comfortable with asset integration, version control (e.g. Perforce), and team-based workflows.

Good to Have

• Experience with MotionBuilder for mocap cleanup.
• Scripting experience (Python, MEL) for automation or tool support.
• Familiarity with facial rig development or shape authoring tools (e.g. Ziva, FaceWare Retargeter).
• Experience animating non-human or stylized facial rigs.

Perks & Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package available

RESPONSIBILITIES

> We are looking for a Senior Facial Animator with a passion for storytelling and character performance to join our team. You will be responsible for creating high-quality facial animations that bring our characters to life and resonate emotionally with players.

REQUIREMENTS

• 5+ years of professional experience as a facial animator in games, film, or interactive media.
• Proven track record of delivering expressive, believable facial animation for high-end characters.
• Strong understanding of acting principles, lip-sync, timing, and emotional nuance.
• Advanced proficiency in Maya for keyframe and facial animation editing.
• Solid experience with game engines such as Unreal, Unity, etc.
• Familiarity with MetaHuman and/or custom facial rigs.
• Experience working with facial mocap data (ARKit, Faceware, Dynamixyz, etc.).
• Ability to retarget and refine mocap performance data onto stylized or realistic characters.
• Knowledge of blendshape systems and deformation logic.
• Understanding of real-time animation constraints (e.g. performance budgets, LODs).
• Ability to work within a cinematic or gameplay animation pipeline.
• Comfortable with asset integration, version control (e.g. Perforce), and team-based workflows.
• Strong eye for detail, realism, and expressive storytelling.
• Ability to give and receive feedback constructively.
• Organized, self-motivated, and capable of owning large animation tasks independently.
• Excellent communication skills – able to collaborate effectively with technical and creative departments.

Preferences

• Experience with MotionBuilder for mocap cleanup.
• Scripting experience (Python, MEL) for automation or tool support.
• Familiarity with facial rig development or shape authoring tools (e.g. Ziva, FaceWare Retargeter).
• Experience animating non-human or stylized facial rigs.

comprehensive benefits package available

Apply now