Technical Designer in Animation

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?
At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

ART
What We Do
Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.

What You'll Do
Epic Games is looking for a Technical Designer in Animation (TDiA) to join our team working across various animation systems. As a TDiA, you will use your animation sense and technical understanding of character animation to design and create gameplay animation systems that facilitate entertaining, high-quality characters. You will be a primary point of contact for animation implementation, any animation-related technical challenges, and will work closely with Animation, Design, and Programming colleagues to ensure the animation pipeline operates smoothly and efficiently. You will also help identify potential issues and deploy correct solutions, using your technical knowledge to help bridge and facilitate communication between the animation team and other departments.

In this role, you will

Build animation behavior tools, techniques, and frameworks that enable complex systems and entertaining characters

Design and implement animation state machines, behaviors, and runtime solutions

Partner with animation leadership to translate creative vision into technical reality, protecting style consistency and pushing the quality bar

Collaborate with Design and Programming to troubleshoot and resolve in-game animation issues and technical challenges

Identify opportunities to improve the animation pipeline and workflow, and provide technical solutions for the animation team

Create documentation and deliver training to level up the animation team's technical fluency

Collaborate with Technical Designers in Animation (TDiA) across Epic Games to share solutions, align workflows where appropriate and identify opportunities to leverage existing tools and systems rather than duplicating effort

What we're looking for

A strong animation sense with a clear understanding of realistic and stylized character motion and how to achieve them with state-of-the-art animation methods

An understanding of generative AI tools and capabilities as it relates to character animation

Expertise with animation pipelines, including source content creation tools such as Maya, MotionBuilder, and the Unreal Engine using our Control Rig toolset

Exceptional problem-solving ability with strong written communication and teamwork skills

Strong familiarity with gameplay animation tools and concepts, such as blend trees, state machines, and Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints

Experience with AAA game development, preferably on a large team using an established game engine (internal or commercial); experience with Unreal Engine is a plus

Self-motivation, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work independently

Experience with C++ is not required

This role is open to multiple locations in North America (including CA & WA).

Pay Transparency Information
The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs (subject to the terms of those plans or programs).

California Base Pay Range $129,273—$189,600 USD

Washington Base Pay Range $117,521—$172,365 USD

ABOUT US
Epic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!
Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.

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