Contract Advanced Animator
Certain Affinity, Inc., Austin, TX, United States
Advanced Animator - 3 Month Contract
As a Contract Advanced Animator at Certain Affinity, you will operate as a high-impact contributor responsible not only for delivering exceptional animation content, but for defining, elevating, and enforcing animation standards across a large-scale live service title. You will partner closely with leadership and cross-disciplinary teams to ensure animation quality scales with the needs of a global player base, while driving consistency across both first- and third-person experiences.
This role requires deep expertise in facial animation systems, including FACS-based workflows, and a proven ability to influence pipelines, mentor senior talent, and guide visual direction at a systemic level.
Responsibilities
Partner with the Art Leads, Design, Engineering, and Technical Animation to define and uphold animation standards, style guides, and best practices across the project
Act as a quality bar setter, ensuring animation fidelity, consistency, and responsiveness meet the demands of a live service environment
Create high-quality animation content, including complex gameplay, cinematic, and FACS-driven facial animation systems
Own and evolve facial animation pipelines, ensuring scalability, reusability, and performance across a large content footprint
Collaborate with technical teams to drive improvements in tools, runtime systems, and workflows, with a focus on efficiency and long-term maintainability
Provide advanced mentorship and critique, elevating both senior and mid-level animators through structured feedback and hands-on guidance
Review and guide implementation to ensure animation integrates cleanly within gameplay systems and adheres to performance constraints
Support cross-team alignment by translating creative goals into actionable animation direction, particularly in ambiguous or evolving areas
Contribute to feature-level animation direction, helping shape how animation supports gameplay readability, feel, and player engagement
Requirements
6+ years of experience in game development focused on character animation
Shipped multiple titles, including at least one live service or large-scale multiplayer game
Demonstrated experience operating at a senior-plus level, influencing quality and workflows beyond individual asset contribution
Strong expertise in realistic animation, including mocap cleanup, polish, and high-end keyframe work
Deep experience with facial animation pipelines, including FACS-based systems and blendshape-driven performance
Expert understanding of animation principles across characters, cameras, and gameplay systems
Advanced experience with Unreal Engine (UE5 preferred) and real-time animation systems
Proven experience developing animation for both first-person and third-person gameplay
Strong understanding of performance constraints and optimization for console and PC
High proficiency in Maya and familiarity with MotionBuilder or equivalent tools
Demonstrated ability to define direction with minimal oversight and drive alignment across teams
Extensive experience mentoring and elevating other animators, including senior peers
Extra Credit
Experience leading or directing facial performance capture sessions, including actor direction with FACS in mind
Strong collaboration with Technical Animation on rigging, facial systems, and runtime solutions
Experience reviewing and coordinating work across multiple contributors or external partners
Background in acting, anatomy, or facial performance analysis
Familiarity with procedural animation systems, runtime blending, or live service content iteration workflows
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This role requires deep expertise in facial animation systems, including FACS-based workflows, and a proven ability to influence pipelines, mentor senior talent, and guide visual direction at a systemic level.
Responsibilities
Partner with the Art Leads, Design, Engineering, and Technical Animation to define and uphold animation standards, style guides, and best practices across the project
Act as a quality bar setter, ensuring animation fidelity, consistency, and responsiveness meet the demands of a live service environment
Create high-quality animation content, including complex gameplay, cinematic, and FACS-driven facial animation systems
Own and evolve facial animation pipelines, ensuring scalability, reusability, and performance across a large content footprint
Collaborate with technical teams to drive improvements in tools, runtime systems, and workflows, with a focus on efficiency and long-term maintainability
Provide advanced mentorship and critique, elevating both senior and mid-level animators through structured feedback and hands-on guidance
Review and guide implementation to ensure animation integrates cleanly within gameplay systems and adheres to performance constraints
Support cross-team alignment by translating creative goals into actionable animation direction, particularly in ambiguous or evolving areas
Contribute to feature-level animation direction, helping shape how animation supports gameplay readability, feel, and player engagement
Requirements
6+ years of experience in game development focused on character animation
Shipped multiple titles, including at least one live service or large-scale multiplayer game
Demonstrated experience operating at a senior-plus level, influencing quality and workflows beyond individual asset contribution
Strong expertise in realistic animation, including mocap cleanup, polish, and high-end keyframe work
Deep experience with facial animation pipelines, including FACS-based systems and blendshape-driven performance
Expert understanding of animation principles across characters, cameras, and gameplay systems
Advanced experience with Unreal Engine (UE5 preferred) and real-time animation systems
Proven experience developing animation for both first-person and third-person gameplay
Strong understanding of performance constraints and optimization for console and PC
High proficiency in Maya and familiarity with MotionBuilder or equivalent tools
Demonstrated ability to define direction with minimal oversight and drive alignment across teams
Extensive experience mentoring and elevating other animators, including senior peers
Extra Credit
Experience leading or directing facial performance capture sessions, including actor direction with FACS in mind
Strong collaboration with Technical Animation on rigging, facial systems, and runtime solutions
Experience reviewing and coordinating work across multiple contributors or external partners
Background in acting, anatomy, or facial performance analysis
Familiarity with procedural animation systems, runtime blending, or live service content iteration workflows
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