Mob Entertainment is hiring: Contract Technical Animator in New York

Contract Technical Animator Mob Entertainment is a startup multimedia studio that is best known for our hit indie horror game "Poppy Playtime". This franchise is one of the hottest new properties in gaming, and our team is naturally expanding as our ambition expands. To give a taste of our brand's popularity, more than 100 billion YouTube views of Poppy Playtime related content have occurred since the game's launch 4 years ago.
Mob Entertainment is a mid-sized game studio focused on crafting memorable, atmospheric, and emotionally impactful gameplay experiences. We specialize in immersive worlds where tension, storytelling, and player agency come together to create unforgettable moments. Our team develops primarily in Unreal Engine and collaborates using Jira and Confluence to ship high-quality games with production discipline and creative ambition.
Role Overview We are looking for a Contract Technical Animator to bridge the gap between animation and engineering in video games. In this role, you will design and maintain animation systems, develop tools and pipelines, and work closely with animators, designers, and engineers to ensure high-quality character movement and performance in-game. You will help define animation workflows and technical standards while ensuring that animation assets integrate seamlessly into the game engine.
Key Responsibilities Develop and maintain animation systems, rigs, automated lip sync systems, and runtime solutions within the game engine.
Build tools and pipelines that improve the efficiency of animation workflows.
Collaborate with animators to ensure rigs, skeletons, and animation assets perform optimally in-game.
Work with gameplay engineers to integrate animation features and systems.
Optimize animation assets for performance, memory, and runtime stability.
Troubleshoot and resolve animation and rigging issues across the pipeline.
Support motion capture integration, retargeting, and procedural animation systems when needed.
Establish and document best practices for animation pipelines and technical workflows.
Mentor junior technical animators and support the broader animation team with technical challenges.
Qualifications 3+ years of experience in technical animation and rigging within the video game industry.
Strong experience with Unreal Engine game engine and using control rig and animation inside Unreal.
Proficiency with Maya or similar DCC tools, including rigging and scripting workflows.
Experience working with animation state machines, blend trees, and runtime animation systems.
Understanding of character rigging, skinning, and deformation systems.
Familiarity with Python, MEL, C++, or Blueprint scripting for tool and pipeline development.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex animation issues.
Excellent communication skills and experience working cross-discipline with art, design, and engineering teams.
Nice to Have Experience with motion capture pipelines and retargeting systems.
Knowledge of rigging with unreal tooling, procedural animation with control rig, physics-based animation, or IK systems.
Experience optimizing animation for console or PC performance constraints.
Animation Experience doing animations
Shipped at least one AAA or mid-sized studio game title.
Experience developing animation tools or plugins.
Mob Entertainment is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and complies with all federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, military service, or any other protected class under applicable state or local law. Mob Entertainment also considers all qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with Fair Chance laws as well as any other applicable state and local laws.

In Summary: Mob Entertainment is a mid-sized game studio focused on crafting memorable, atmospheric, and emotionally impactful gameplay experiences . We are looking for a Contract Technical Animator to bridge the gap between animation and engineering in video games . You will help define animation workflows and technical standards while ensuring that animation assets integrate seamlessly into the game engine .

En Español: Contract Technical Animator Mob Entertainment es un estudio multimedia de inicio que es mejor conocido por nuestro exitoso juego de terror indie "Poppy Playtime". Esta franquicia es una de las nuevas propiedades más populares en los juegos, y nuestro equipo se está expandiendo naturalmente a medida que nuestra ambición se expande. Para dar una muestra de la popularidad de nuestra marca, desde el lanzamiento del juego hace 4 años se han producido más de 100 mil millones de visitas en YouTube de contenido relacionado con Poppy PlayTime. Usted ayudará a definir los flujos de trabajo de animación y estándares técnicos al tiempo que se aseguran de que los activos de la animación se integren perfectamente en el motor del juego. Responsabilidades clave Desarrollar y mantener sistemas deanimación, rigs, sistemas automatizados de sincronización labial, y soluciones para el tiempo de ejecución dentro del motor de juegos. Construir herramientas y tuberías que mejoran la eficiencia de los flujo de obra de animacionamiento. Colaborar con los animadores para garantizar un rendimiento óptimo de las plataformas, esqueletos y activos de animaciones en el juego. Trabajar con ingenieros de videojuego para integrar características y sistemas de animacin PC. Optimizar los recursos de la animación para el rendimiento, memoria y capacidad de ejecución. Solucionar problemas automáticos de sincronía y problemas de manipulación dentro del mecanismo de juego. Construye herramienta y canales que mejoren la eficacia de los procesos de producción de animaciones cuando sea necesario. Conocer una experiencia avanzada para desarrollar habilidades profesionales y equipos de diseño y desarrollo de piezas de ensamblajes y pantallas en línea abierta. Estamos comprometidos a proporcionar igualdad de oportunidades para los solicitantes y empleados sin tener en cuenta la raza, el color, origen nacional, religión, orientación sexual, género, edad, discapacidad, servicio militar o cualquier otra clase protegida bajo las leyes estatales u locales aplicables. Mob Entertainment también considera que todos los candidatos calificados con antecedentes penales compatibles con las leyas Fair Chance así como cualquier otra ley estatal y local aplicable..