Lead Animator, Future Project
Cryptic Studios is hiring a Lead Animator to take point on our animation efforts with our new IP. As our Lead Animator, you will have an opportunity to bring the game to life with exciting hand-animated stylized characters. We are a collaborative team, so you will work closely with the art director, artists, designers, and engineers to help realize the animation vision, while overseeing the animation team and refining our pipelines in Unreal Engine 5.
**Every Day You Could Be:**
* Helping to articulate and collaborate on the animation vision with project leaders, other artists, and non-artists in a cross-discipline environment to ensure that animations meet all gameplay needs.
* Using Maya to create different kinds of character animations including ideations, rough blocking, polish, and supplemental secondary.
* Integrating animations to the game while ensuring technical and gameplay constraints are met.
* Using your expertise on Unreal’s animation system to help refine pipelines.
* Balancing your workload while still supporting the animation team and fulfilling other management duties.
* Working with the animation team to understand requirements, break down work, and analyze the animation workload.
* Estimating how long tasks will require to hit a specific quality bar, and helping to chart out long term scheduling of animation tasks.
* Researching new techniques or software to advance the animation department.
**What We Need to See:**
* 5 years game industry experience working on projects in Unreal Engine 4 and/or Unreal Engine 5.
* The ability to quickly understand the animation requirements and workflow of a project, and the ability to help refine those requirements.
* The ability work independently while staying connected to a team in a remote-first working environment.
* Expert understanding of animation principles and anatomy: giving the character weight, personality, mood, and believability.
* Work of a consistently high quality, with a self-critical eye to reduce feedback rounds.
* Leadership qualities that help connect with and mentor other animators.
**What We’d Like to See:**
* 2 years of experience leading an animation team.
* At least two shipped projects.
* Ability to act as a key contributor to the asset production process.
* Experience with stylized motion in a cartoon art style, on both human and creature models.
* In depth knowledge of contemporary games and their animation techniques.
**What Cryptic Offers:**
* Remote work options – anywhere within The United States
* A fun tight-knit team
* Full-time role
* Paid holiday, sick time & paid time off
* Health insurance & perks
* Company social events
**Salary Information**
At Cryptic Studios, Inc. the standard base pay range for this role is $100,000 – $140,000 annually. This base pay range is for the U.S. and is not applicable to locations outside of the U.S. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.
Cryptic Studios is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and gender expression), religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), creed, marital status, age, national origin (including language use restrictions and possession of a driver’s license issued under California Vehicle Code section 12801.9), ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, military and veteran status, genetic information, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), sexual orientation, or any other protected class, characteristic, or consideration made unlawful under applicable federal, state, or local laws. It also prohibits unlawful discrimination based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.