What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Technical Animator position at absurdventures?
Summary
We are seeking a Senior Technical Animator to join our growing animation team. This role sits at the intersection of animation, rigging, and engineering, supporting the creation, integration, and optimization of high-quality character and creature animation systems. The ideal candidate is highly collaborative, technically minded, and comfortable solving complex animation challenges at scale.
Core Responsibilities
- Partner with animators, character artists, gameplay designers, and engineers to develop and maintain robust animation pipelines in Unreal Engine
- Implement, debug, and optimize animation systems including state machines, blend trees, IK, motion matching, and procedural animation solutions
- Create and maintain character and creature rigs, animation blueprints, and supporting tools
- Ensure animation systems are performant, scalable, and stable across a large open world
- Support animation integration for gameplay, cinematics, traversal, combat, and systemic behaviors
- Identify workflow inefficiencies and develop tools or processes to improve iteration speed and quality
- Troubleshoot animation-related issues and provide technical guidance to the animation team
- Maintain documentation and best practices for animation systems and pipelines
Core Qualifications
- Solid experience authoring traditional 3D animation for games
- Professional experience as a Technical Animator or similar role on shipped games or large-scale interactive projects
- Strong understanding of character rigging, skinning, and deformation techniques
- Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine animation systems, including Animation Blueprints and Control Rig
- Proficiency with DCC tools such as Maya or equivalent
- Solid scripting or technical experience (Blueprints, Python, or similar) to support tools and workflows
- Strong problem-solving skills and ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical team members
- Solid experience and strong understanding of fundamental 3D animation authoring for games
Plus If...
- Experience working on open-world or systems-driven games
- Familiarity with advanced animation techniques such as motion matching, procedural animation, or runtime IK solutions
- Experience collaborating closely with gameplay and AI teams
- Knowledge of performance optimization for console hardware
- Experience supporting both gameplay animation and in-engine cinematics
Description
- Full-time job with benefits.
- Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.
- Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.
The base pay range for this position is $140,000 to $160,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
Salary : $140,000 - $160,000