Technical Animator, Narrative (contract)

Company Description

To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers — this is our mission. Want to dive deeper into our company’s culture? Explore our social media and check out our YouTube channel and Beyond the Game Blog where we share behind-the-scenes insights and stories direct from our team members!

Job Description

We are looking for a Mid-Level Technical Animator to join our team for a 2 year fixed-term contract. In this role, you will be integrated into the narrative area, helping to accelerate the workflow for Cinematic Animators, Quest Designers, Open World Designers, and Cinematic Designers. You will work closely with Animators, Designers, and Engineers to implement and optimize the workflow of Unreal Engine 5’s SmartObjects, Sequencer setups, and our Story Tech toolset, ensuring that narrative-driven content is both performant and visually compelling.

At CD PROJEKT RED, story is king. You’ll have the chance to support our narrative storytelling by building tools and complex story-driven scenarios, validating assets, and troubleshooting technical hurdles that may arise while setting up cutscenes, scripted events, and world interactions. If you have a strong foundation in technical animation and want to focus on narrative integration within a large-scale open-world project like The Witcher 4, this is the role for you.

Daily responsibilities

• Support Designers by troubleshooting technical issues, removing pipeline blockers, and providing custom tools or scripts to streamline their workflow.
• Setting up and fine-tuning SmartObjects for narrative scenarios, ensuring props and interactive elements behave correctly in-engine.
• Build or extend Python/Maya/MotionBuilder scripts and tools to automate repetitive tasks, validate cinematic assets, and speed up iteration.
• Prototype narrative-driven scenarios in collaboration with designers in order to push the boundaries and complexity of our narrative content.
• Collaborate with Quest, Cinematic and Open World Designers to integrate animation requirements into our narrative technologies.
• Participate in Motion Capture sessions when needed, ensuring performance data meets narrative timing and technical requirements.
• Establish, document and maintain animation workflow, folders, naming conventions, and engine-related structures.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years of experience in Technical Animation, preferably on large-scale or open-world projects with a strong narrative focus.
• Deeper understanding and knowledge about Sequencer and its features in Unreal Engine 5.
• Familiarity with the concept of graph-based storytelling tools.
• Proficiency in Maya and MotionBuilder for animation cleanup, retargeting, and pipeline integration.
• Strong foundation of Unreal Engine 5 features including Motion Matching, Control Rig, StateTrees, and SmartObjects for narrative-driven animation workflows.
• Ability to create and maintain tools or scripts that automate asset validation, file conversions, or batch operations in the narrative pipeline.
• Solid understanding of animation principles, body mechanics, and cinematic timing to support high-quality cutscenes.
• Basic C++ or Blueprint knowledge to read and debug simple gameplay or cinematic-related code, collaborating with programmers when deeper fixes are required.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail when diagnosing technical animation issues in narrative contexts.
• Effective communication and collaboration skills; able to work cross-departmentally with Animators, Designers, and Engineers.
• Passion for cinematic storytelling and the ability to balance creative goals with technical constraints.

Additional Information

Working mode

• Office-First: Working primarily from the Warsaw Dev Office for a minimum of 10 days per month.
• Remote-First: Possibility of remote work from within Europe for select candidates.

Health & Well-Being

• Private medical healthcare — a selection of medical plans with dental care and unlimited rehabilitation to choose from, which are also accessible for your partner and relatives.
• Life insurance — comprehensive pension and insurance plans to protect you and your loved ones.
• Annual screenings for cancer prevention covered by the company.
• Psychological and psychiatrist care — free mental health support and various well-being initiatives.
• Sports card — gain access to a wide number of sporting and fitness facilities across the city.
• Menstrual leave — employees who menstruate can take one extra day off when experiencing period pain.
• RED Parents Network — support for working parents, including childcare benefits, and family-friendly events.
• RED Summer Camp for Kids — a fun summer program for children aged 5–12, majoritively paid by the company.

Perks & Professional Growth

• A welcome pack filled with goodies — to help you feel right at home once you join the team.
• Trainings, lectures, and courses — workshops and trainings for each employee, knowledge-sharing initiatives, online tutorials, and e-learning classes are all available. There’s always something to learn!
• REDs have access to the cafeteria platform through which they can receive subscription benefits, additional medical packages or vouchers and codes to shops, cinemas, and public transport reimbursement.
• Gifts for newborn rebels and regular chances to nab some cool swag!

Social Activities & Life in the Office

• Dog-friendly office — dog owner? Bring your pooch with you and look after them while working! There’s always a furry friend or two to meet at the studio.
• Social events — we host regular gatherings at the studio where we can all unwind, play games, and just have some fun together.
• Healthy selections — ​​canteens.
• Truly international working environment — a chance to meet and work with a diverse selection of people from all around the world.
• Sustainability is an ongoing commitment for us, and our campus has electric car charging points, green zones, and much more. Read all about it on our Beyond the Game Blog.
• A designated space for your bicycle, as well as bicycle repair equipment and showers available whenever you need them.
• An onsite, well-equipped gym with a climbing wall, daily Gym Assistant support, and yoga and boxing classes.
• No dress-code — we like to keep it casual.

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