Sr Pipeline Technical Director

The youngest of all of the ILM studios, the Mumbai studio leverages the expertise and technological know-how developed over 40 years at Industrial Light & Magic combined with the top artists and technicians in the region. Knowledge and culture flow freely between the company’s five studios and the global team shares tools and workflow allowing for seamless partnership on all shared projects.

As we grow ILM Mumbai, we are seeking a Senior Pipeline Technical Director to join as one of the first members of the team and be a part of building the studio and its technology infrastructure.

The Senior Pipeline TD will be tasked with developing and maintaining software tools, providing front-line assistance to artists, and general troubleshooting of the CG pipeline in a fast-paced, feature film visual effects production environment. The primary focus is ensuring artist efficiency.

What You’ll Do

• Develop pipeline and asset management tools to meet immediate, show-directed production demands, ensuring facility-wide consistency as directed by show and technical supervisors. Help maintain a wide array of existing workflows and scripts.

• Provide front-line production support across a wide range of disciplines, troubleshoot assets and shots, and help artists with general problem-solving. Monitor email requests, package up problems and redirect to appropriate engineering team.

• Test and validate tools and techniques in production. Work closely with engineering teams in testing and releasing new and modified software systems.

• Act as an on-call resource for show production staff.

• Work effectively with artists, production supervisors, and technical staff across ILM studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, Singapore, and London.

• When not crewed to shows, serve on software teams working on projects that improve the efficiency of asset setup, caching, and shot-data handoff between artists across the entire pipeline.

• Drive pipeline priorities in conjunction with show supervisors.

• Work on tools of greatest complexity and sophistication, requiring the broadest knowledge of the larger pipeline and facility needs.

• Assist other Pipeline TDs in providing front-line assistance for the most complex of end-user problems; guide engineering teams in debugging technical issues and eliminating root causes of problems.

• Develop comprehensive knowledge of software and systems; drive the development and evolution of standards and conventions used in production.

• Update documentation for the pipeline and tools to reflect any changes that are made.

What We’re Looking For

• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining tools for use in a computer graphics environment.

• At least 8 years production experience in visual effects for film, commercials or television.

• Required Skills/Competencies

• Proficiency in Linux

• Advanced Python scripting required

• Proficient in one or more of Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Mari, Katana, RenderMan or similar

• Ability to communicate cross-discipline and provide innovative solutions to pipeline issues

• Detail oriented and strong self-sufficient trouble shooter

• Comprehensive knowledge of the entire visual effects process, from shooting to modeling and texturing, animation, rendering and compositing

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science or a related technical field

• Preferred Skills/Competencies

  • Experience with production database systems

  • Experience with C, C++

  • Experience with Windows development and applications such as 3ds max a plus

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