Animation Production Manager

Catface•Austin, TX

4d•Onsite

About The Position

CatFace is seeking an experienced Animation Production Manager to lead the day-to-day operations of our Animation Department and oversee animated projects from pre-production through final delivery. Reporting to the Creative Producer, this role manages the animation team, departmental workflows, and resources while ensuring animation deliverables meet creative, technical, and quality expectations. The Animation Production Manager will work closely with the Production Operations Lead, who oversees the overall production schedule, to align animation milestones, capacity, and production needs with the broader production plan. We’re looking for a hands-on leader with a strong understanding of 3D animation production, excellent people management skills, and a director’s eye for visual storytelling. The ideal candidate is a solutions-oriented creative problem solver who can anticipate challenges, bring thoughtful solutions to the table, and guide the team creatively while balancing production realities. Please attach a resume highlighting your relevant experience and a link to your online portfolio or demo reel. This is an on-site position located in Austin, TX. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience in animation production for web series, television, feature animation, or comparable digital content.
2+ years of experience managing or supervising animation teams in a production environment.
Strong understanding of the full 3D animation pipeline, from pre-production and layout through animation, camera, QC, and post-production delivery.
Proven experience managing animation workflows, resources, priorities, and deliverables across multiple concurrent productions.
Strong leadership and people-management skills, with experience managing workloads and developing creative teams.
A strong director’s eye and visual storytelling instincts, with the ability to evaluate and guide performance, staging, composition, camera, pacing, and continuity.
A solutions-oriented mindset with strong creative problem-solving skills and the ability to make sound decisions as production needs change.
Ability to review animation and layout work and provide clear, constructive, actionable feedback.
Working knowledge of Autodesk Maya and Adobe Creative Suite, with familiarity with DaVinci Resolve or similar post-production tools.
Experience with production tracking, file management, and version control tools such as Monday, ShotGrid, Perforce, Dropbox, or similar platforms.
Excellent organizational and communication skills with the ability to work effectively across creative, technical, editorial, and production teams.
Bachelor’s degree in Animation, Computer Animation, Production, or a related field is preferred, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Minecraft animation tools such as Blockbuster is a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage the Animation Department, providing day-to-day direction, mentorship, feedback, and accountability.
Manage animation workflows from pre-production through post-production handoff, ensuring deliverables move efficiently through each stage of the pipeline.
Work closely with the Production Operations Lead to establish animation milestones within the overall production schedule and communicate capacity, dependencies, risks, and resource needs.
Translate production priorities into clear assignments and deadlines, balancing artist strengths, specialties, workloads, and available resources.
Work with the Creative Producer and Production Operations Lead to assess staffing needs and team capacity across multiple productions, ensuring the animation team has the appropriate expertise and support to meet creative goals, timelines, and budget considerations.
Guide the team with a strong visual storytelling perspective, providing actionable feedback on performance, staging, composition, camera, pacing, and continuity.
Oversee previsualization, layout, and scene preparation, including rough storyboards, camera and character blocking, scene setup, and preliminary editorial needs.
Maintain strong production and file-management practices, including naming conventions, version control, Monday board tracking, continuity, and clean departmental handoffs.
Oversee final camera and QC passes to ensure animation is creatively and technically ready for post-production.
Identify creative and production challenges early, develop solutions, and collaborate with the Creative Producer and Production Operations Lead to address risks and bottlenecks.
Facilitate communication between animation and other creative, technical, editorial, and production teams, providing regular updates on animation progress and departmental needs.
Develop and improve animation workflows, pipeline processes, best practices, and departmental standards.
Support recruitment, onboarding, training, and, when applicable, coordination of external animation vendors and contractors.
Manage the performance and development of animation team members, including setting expectations, providing ongoing feedback, conducting 1:1s, and addressing performance concerns.
Foster a collaborative, accountable team culture that encourages creative problem-solving and professional growth.