Houdini Pipeline Technical Director (Mid-Senior)

Note: At this time we are only accepting applications from those residing in BC or Quebec and are legally entitled to work in Canada. eg Citizen | PR | Open Work Permit.

Please only apply once to the best suited job by your current residency location.

About Barnstorm

Barnstorm is an Emmy and VES-nominated visual effects studio based in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, and Montreal providing photo-realistic visual effects for a variety of television and online streaming projects. We pride ourselves in our artists’ talent and dedication to producing world-class visual effects.   

Who You Are
You are a highly skilled Houdini Technical Director with extensive experience in creating and maintaining pipelines using Houdini and understand integration with Maya and similar VFX pipelines. You excel at troubleshooting, identifying and implementing areas of improvement to optimizing workflows and integrating efficient tools for VFX production. You have excellent customer service skills in supporting individual team members and artists with tool creation and development. Your knowledge of VEX and USD are superior. This position reports directly to the Head of Pipeline.

What You’ll Do

• Develop and maintain 3D workflows using Houdini, ensuring seamless integration with other software tools and APIs such as USD.
• Collaborate with stakeholders at all levels (including owners, supervisors, and artists) to ensure that everyone is kept up-to-date on ongoing projects and issues.
• Design and develop custom tools for Houdini using VEX/Python (C++ is a plus).
• Optimize pipeline performance and stability, addressing any performance, security, or scalability issues that may arise.
• Maintain and troubleshoot pipeline tools, renders and workflows, providing support and guidance to artists.
• Stay updated with the latest industry trends and emerging technologies to propose and implement improvements to the pipeline.

What You Bring

• 2 to 5+ years of experience in VFX as pipeline developer/technical director.
• Deep understanding of Python, and frameworks such as Pytest, PyQt.
• Must be familiar with writing unit tests/pytests and design patterns and software development principles.
• Intermediate to Expert  in Houdini, with a strong understanding of their capabilities and integration.
• Experience with software APIs such as Nuke, Arnold, RedShift, Deadline, and Shotgrid/Flow..
• Understanding of software development best practices, such as agile methodologies, code optimization, and code refactoring.
• Familiarity in cloud rendering pipelines for VFX is a plus.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and a strong understanding of 3D and 2D VFX production workflows.
• Experience with remote work and collaboration tools, such as Slack, and GitLab
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team environment and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and projects in a fast-paced production environment.

About This Role

This is a remote based role. Project and staff positions available with extended health benefits and opportunity to participate in RRSP programs. Note: At this time we are only accepting applications from those artists legally eligible to work in Canada. (Eg. Canadian or PR)

The posted pay range is aligned with what we believe is fair pay at the time of posting this role. An applicant’s relevant education, experience, skills and qualifications, location and currency may all be considered when deciding pay position within the range. Pay ranges may change.Benefit plans are dependent on the local plan offering and employment status but all US and Canada plans include a comprehensive health insurance plan, retirement savings, and paid time off.Barnstorm VFX is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive team that provides a meaningful work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. Indigenous people, people of color, people of all genders or non-genders, and people with disabilities of all types are encouraged to apply. We thank everyone for their interest and application, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.