Lead Gameplay Animator Job at Giant Skull in Los Angeles

Giant Skull is an independent game studio on a mission to craft unforgettable single-player, gameplay-driven action-adventures in rich, immersive worlds. We are a hybrid studio with space in Encino, CA, designed for creativity as well as remote collaboration. We are highly collaborative and value empowering autonomy; each individual at Giant Skull has the opportunity to feel their impact across the game, studio, and team. If you’re ready to join a studio where every voice shapes the adventure, we’d love to create something extraordinary together. The Role: As the Lead Gameplay Animator , you will take ownership of player animation and help bring our characters to life with movement that feels expressive, responsive, and grounded in gameplay. You’ll lead a team and collaborate across disciplines to bring fluid movement, dynamic combat, and personality to our characters - creating moments that feel incredible in the player’s hands. This is an opportunity to help shape the vision for animation, define quality standards, mentor a team to bring out the best in them, and contribute to the strategic roadmap for animation while laying the foundation for an exciting new game. Impact and Ownership You will own the player animation experience, ensuring the feel of movement reflects both gameplay responsiveness and animation fidelity You will contribute to the animation and gameplay vision, helping define quality standards while inspiring and guiding a team towards excellence in their craft You will help shape and maintain animation pipelines, tools, and best practices that support iteration and high-quality results, including rig testing and building animation libraries You will work hands-on to create high-quality gameplay and combat animations using a combination of mocap and keyframe techniques You will partner with production and discipline leads to scope work, track progress, and support milestone planning and delivery for the animation team You will collaborate closely with design and engineering to integrate animation into gameplay systems using Unreal Engine You will manage and coach a small team of animators, helping them grow in craft, autonomy, and collaboration You will contribute to hiring practices as the team grows You will cultivate a healthy, inclusive team culture where creativity, accountability, and open communication thrive You will proactively identify challenges, cross-discipline dependencies, and workflow needs, offering solutions early and helping the team stay unblocked and efficient Your impact will be felt not just in the game but across our creative processes, best practices, and collaborative culture Qualifications You have 7+ years of experience in gameplay animation for games, with at least one shipped title and prior experience leading or managing other animators You have strong keyframe skills and an expert understanding of body mechanics, timing, and weight You have a deep understanding of gameplay principles such as timing, responsiveness, and feel, with experience creating expressive combat and other gameplay animations that help define the player experience You have shipped animations in a real-time engine (such as Unreal) and are familiar with animation systems You are confident in planning and prioritizing team deliverables, scoping work, and helping ensure milestone goals are met You are proactive in identifying and solving workflow or pipeline challenges, and you communicate risks or needs clearly to collaborators You’ve successfully mentored animators - providing clear goals, actionable feedback, supporting growth, and fostering healthy, inclusive team dynamics You value proactive communication and creative ownership, and thrive in a highly collaborative, iterative environment You lead by example while embodying values, contributing to a positive studio culture, and exhibiting integrity and accountability Why Join Giant Skull You will collaborate with a passionate team of AAA veterans from studios like Epic, Respawn, Rocksteady, Riot, and more on exciting and ambitious gaming projects You will enjoy a development process that balances collaborative teamwork with a high degree of individual autonomy You will benefit from competitive compensation, access to cutting-edge technology and resources to support your work, as well as opportunities for career growth, personal and professional development You will be shown trust and flexibility through remote or hybrid options, open PTO, and support for balancing work and personal life Your ultimate impact will be unconstrained by your focus areas. You will have the opportunity to shape not only the game we are making but the foundation of our studio and development cultures, best practices, team collaboration, and beyond You will add to a deeply inclusive workplace where every team member is valued and respected For this position, our target base salary range is 160k to 220k. Ranges may expand based on experience and location. Salary is just one aspect of our overall compensation package - we also offer opportunities for bonuses, retirement plan matching, and comprehensive benefits. We’re excited to share more about how we invest in our team during the interview process. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all qualified candidates. #J-18808-Ljbffr In Summary: As the Lead Gameplay Animator, you will take ownership of player animation and help bring our characters to life with movement that feels expressive, responsive, and grounded in gameplay . This is an opportunity to help shape the vision for animation, define quality standards, mentor a team to bring out the best in them, and contribute to the strategic roadmap for animation . En Español: Giant Skull es un estudio de videojuegos independiente con la misión de crear aventuras inolvidables para jugadores únicos, basadas en el juego en mundos ricos e inmersivos. Somos un estudio híbrido con espacio en Encino, CA, diseñado tanto para creatividad como colaboración remota. somos altamente colaborativos y valoramos autonomía; cada individuo en Giant skull tiene la oportunidad de sentir su impacto a través del juego, estudio y equipo. Si estás listo para unirte a un estudio donde todas las voces dan forma a la aventura, nos encantará crear algo extraordinario juntos. Esta es una oportunidad para ayudar a dar forma a la visión de la animación, definir estándares de calidad, guiar un equipo para sacar lo mejor en su oficio Usted contribuirá a formar y mantener las líneas de ruta estratégicas de laanimación al tiempo que coloca los cimientos para un nuevo juego emocionante. Impacto y Propiedad Usted poseerá la experiencia de animación del jugador, asegurando que la sensación de movimiento refleja tanto la capacidad de respuesta del juego como la fidelidad de la animation Contribuirá a la visión de la inspiración y el juego, ayudando a definir normas de calidad mientras inspiran y guían a un equipo ayudando la excelencia en su artesanía Ayudarás a moldear y mantener la línea de ruta de responsabilidad, herramientas y mejores prácticas que apoyan la iteración y resultados de alta calidad, incluidos los desafíos de pruebas rigidez y construcción de tiempo de animaciones Trabajarás mano a mano para crear juegos de caricatura de gran calidad y animación utilizando una combinación de técnicas de entrega gráfica y cuadro clave Te sentirás familiarizado con el tiempo de trabajo de los jugadores, así como tener conocimiento cercano a los procesos de diseño e ingeniería de equipos, desarrollar habilidades y creatividad de desarrollo de sistemas de diseños y proyectos de animacionistas, pero si eres capaz de integrar sus propias capacidades, te ayudarás a construir soluciones más eficaces y mejorar tus propios sistemas de juego, sino que tú mismo no se convierte en un buen entrenador; Tú serás capaz de hacer frente a otras necesidades de manejo de un equipo sin esfuerzo de gestión de tu propio, puedes trabajar con un poco menos de manera eficaz, entender a través de los objetivos de los cuales son: Usted tendrá la oportunidad de dar forma no sólo al juego que estamos haciendo, sino también a los cimientos de nuestras culturas de estudio y desarrollo, mejores prácticas, colaboración en equipo, y más allá. Se sumará a un lugar de trabajo profundamente inclusivo donde cada miembro del equipo es valorado y respetado Para este puesto, nuestro rango salarial objetivo base es de 160k a 220k. Los rangos pueden expandirse según la experiencia y la ubicación. El salario es solo uno de los aspectos de nuestro paquete general de compensación - También ofrecemos oportunidades para bonos, plan de jubilación coincidente y beneficios integrales. Estamos encantados de compartir más sobre cómo invertimos en nuestro equipo durante el proceso de entrevista. Somos un empleador de igualdad de oportunidades y bienvenimos las solicitudes de todos los candidatos calificados. #J-18808-Ljbffr