Virtuos is hiring: Technical Animator in New York

Technical Animator

To be a part of Virtuos means to be a creator. At Virtuos, we harness the latest technologies to make games better and more immersive than ever before. Virtuosi is a team of experts – people who have come together to share their mutual passion for making and playing games. People with the same enthusiasm for exploring new ideas and the constant drive to excel in their field. People who believe in earning success through dedication.
At Virtuos, we are at the forefront of gaming, creating exciting new experiences daily. Join us to Play, Grow and Win – together.
Responsibilities

Design and maintain scalable, real-time animation systems that integrate with AI behaviors and procedural motion.
Collaborate closely with AI engineers and gameplay developers to create adaptive, systemic character performances.
Support rigging workflows, including the design and review of skeletal structures, facial systems, and deformation strategies.
Build tools (in Python or MEL) that support animation retargeting, pose libraries, motion blending, or state-driven animation logic.
Prototype and implement motion matching, IK solvers, and procedural animation techniques that support gameplay responsiveness and realism.
Ensure clean integration and optimization of animation assets in engine (preferably Unreal).
Help define and enforce animation quality and performance standards across the pipeline.
Qualifications

Need to Have:
Experience in technical animation on at least one shipped AAA title (or equivalent complex real-time project).
Expert-level skills in Maya (required) for animation, rig review, and technical workflows.
Solid scripting experience in Python for automation and tool creation.
Deep understanding of rigging systems, character setup, and skinning best practices.
Strong knowledge of animation systems and runtime behaviors (blend trees, IK, state machines, Control Rig, etc.).
Comfortable in discussions with rigging and animation teams and aligning rigging outputs with gameplay and AI needs.
Nice to Have:
Experience with MotionBuilder for mocap processing (not required).
Familiarity with Unreal Engine Control Rig and Sequencer.
Exposure to motion matching, neural animation systems (e.g., DeepMimic, Phase-Functioned Neural Networks), or procedural animation.
Background or interest in machine learning, behavior systems, or character AI.
About Us

Founded in 2004, Virtuos is one of the largest independent video game development companies. We are headquartered in Singapore with offices in Asia, Europe, and North America. Specializing in full-cycle game development and art production, we have delivered high-quality content for more than 1,500 console, PC, and mobile games. Our clients include 23 of the top 25 gaming companies worldwide. About Our Team Black Shamrock was founded in 2016 and acquired by the Virtuos Group in 2017. The studio is Ireland's largest PC and console game development studio and provides unique opportunities to work on multiple AAA titles. Our people are as diverse, exciting, creative, and dynamic as the projects that we work on. Black Shamrock is a place for talent to flourish and lifelong industry connections to begin. Our in-house and full-service capabilities include narrative, game, sound and level design, animation, art, rigging, engineering, and graphics, to name a few areas our skilled team members work on. At Black Shamrock, we take pride in helping put Dublin on the world map as the birthplace of award-winning AAA games.