Animation Outsource Manager

Responsibilities: As the Outsourcing Animation Manager, you will be pivotal in managing and overseeing the creation of animation assets through our network of external partners. As the essential link between our internal animation teams and external vendors, you will ensure that animation assets meet our quality standards and project timelines. Your asset management and tracking expertise will be vital for coordinating, monitoring, and delivering high-quality animation assets that enhance our gaming experiences. This role requires a keen eye for animation, technical knowledge, versatility, and superior organizational and communication skills. Own all animation outsource tasks, implement best practices in managing external animation and vendor relationships, kick off tasks, and ensure clear, consistent communication and alignment with our goals and schedule. As a crucial part of our process, your role in communicating with the animation team to create briefs and package assets for our external outsourcing partners is highly valued and integral to our success. Collaborating with our internal team, generate detailed Jira task information, such as frame ranges, props info, reference info, technical notes, playblasts, etc., to ensure we have clear direction and information to support the external vendors. Based on our clean-up guideline, review and provide constructive feedback on animation assets, ensuring they align with the project’s vision and technical standards. Forecast resource needs, manage outsource budgets, and work with the internal production team to approve contracts with outsourcing partners. Collaborating with our internal team, generating detailed documentation, visual references, and examples of asset production, procedures, and engine requirements to support the external vendors. Based on our clean-up guideline, please provide feedback on animation quality and technical notes to outsource. Swap the approved assets in the game engine and make any needed fixes to keep assets consistent and game-ready. Communicate animation deliveries to downstream dependencies such as the Design and QA departments. Collaborate with the Animation and Production Team to evaluate and improve our outsource pipeline efficiency. Requirements: 7+ years of game production or outsource experience Well-versed in using Jira, Shotgun/ShotGrid, or other industry-standard tasking systems Ability to effectively work alongside a variety of different groups, including artistic and technical teams Detailed-oriented with strong verbal and written communication skills Familiarity with managing budgets and/or staff resource plans Demonstrated proficiency with building, growing, or improving existing development pipelines Capable of working independently and multitasking to cover various projects and pipelines as needed Ability to connect and communicate patiently and collaboratively with international partners A fundamental understanding of the game development pipeline Motivated self-starter willing to learn and adapt to the needs of production Versatile, able to assist in general production roles where necessary Pluses: Experience writing and evaluating contracts for outsource partnerships Maya, Motionbuilder, or similar animation software experience Animation experience Unreal Engine experience Mocap experience Location State(s) California The base pay range for this position in the state(s) above is $ to $ per year. Actual pay is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units may be provided as part of the compensation package, as well as other medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the specific position offered. LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS is a leading global game developer, with teams across China, United States, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates. LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS has created over 50 games across multiple platforms and genres for more than 4 billion registered users. It is the co-developer of worldwide hit PUBG MOBILE(co-developed with KRAFTON, Inc.). LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS is made up of passionate players who advance the art & science of game development through great stories, great gameplay, and advanced technology. We are focused on bringing next generation experiences to gamers who want to enjoy them anywhere, anytime, across multiple genres and devices.