Cinematic Technical Animator

Side • Los Angeles, CA

16h

About The Position

At Side, we partner with some of the world's leading developers and publishers to solve complex production challenges and help bring exceptional games to life. From concept through live operations, our co-development teams work as trusted extensions of our clients' studios, contributing expertise across design, engineering, art, audio, QA, and production. We're looking for a Cinematic Technical Animator to help bring dynamic, narrative-driven experiences to life through animation, scripting, and cinematic systems. This is a highly multidisciplinary role for someone who can move comfortably between animation, visual scripting, and storytelling while working hands-on in Unreal Engine every day. This is a 3-month 1099 contract supporting a narrative-driven first-person game project.

Requirements

• 2+ years of game development experience with recent hands-on implementation experience.
• Strong Unreal Engine 4 experience, particularly with Blueprints, visual scripting, animation systems, and cinematic workflows.
• A multidisciplinary background such as Technical Art/Technical Animation with strong animation experience, or Design with strong art/animation experience.
• Hands-on experience implementing animation in-engine, including Animation Blueprints, Montages, Level Sequences, and character animation integration.
• Strong understanding of narrative timing, pacing, and cinematic storytelling.
• Strong investigative, debugging, and problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose issues independently.
• Experience contributing to at least one shipped game, ideally one recognized for strong narrative or mission design.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple disciplines.
• Passion for narrative-driven first-person shooters.

Nice To Haves

• Experience developing cinematic or narrative pipelines and tools.
• Experience with runtime character control and complex animation systems.
• Experience optimizing cinematic systems for performance and long-term scalability.
• Strong understanding of how animation, audio, lighting, and narrative systems work together to create dramatic moments.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable pipelines, tools, and systems for cinematic and narrative content, enabling creative teams to work efficiently with minimal engineering support.
• Build and implement cinematic content using Level Sequences, Animation Montages, Animation Blueprints, and Blueprint scripting.
• Help establish workflows that support both gameplay and cinematic storytelling.
• Implement character animation directly in Unreal Engine, including runtime animation control and integration.
• Use visual scripting and animation systems to improve character performance, emotional fidelity, timing, and storytelling impact.
• Troubleshoot and debug animation and cinematic issues directly in-engine, identifying practical solutions without relying heavily on engineering.
• Partner closely with animation, narrative design, audio, lighting, and other creative teams to create cohesive cinematic experiences.
• Balance technical requirements with storytelling, pacing, and presentation goals.
• Optimize cinematic systems for performance, reliability, and scalability while supporting ongoing creative iteration.

Benefits

• Competitive Salary.
• Dynamic, multicultural and fun environment.
• We empower our people and offer regular progression opportunities to ensure our employees flourish.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed