Outsource Support Animator (Apex Legends)
About The Position
Respawn is seeking an Outsource Support Animator to bridge internal gameplay animation and external partner production for Apex Legends. This hybrid role combines hands-on gameplay animation with ownership of outsourced animation execution, feedback pipelines, and milestone alignment across a broad range of features. The role serves as both a creative contributor and external development coordinator, ensuring partner-produced animation meets Apex’s gameplay clarity, responsiveness, and performance standards within a live-service production cadence. The position includes blocking and prototyping gameplay animations; working with Animation Directors and Gameplay teams on motion-capture sessions; reviewing, refining, and integrating vendor-delivered animation; and coordinating vendors, briefs, feedback, deliverables, and approvals. It also supports animation asset export, ingestion, validation, documentation, estimates, and integration with Tech Animation and Engineering. The role is hybrid and is located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Los Angeles, California; or Madison, Wisconsin.
Requirements
- At least 2 years of professional game animation experience.
- Strong blocking, gameplay timing, and polish skills.
- Experience working directly with outsourced animation teams.
- Strong knowledge of Maya and motion-capture workflows.
- Familiarity with engine integration pipelines.
- Experience tracking work in Jira or similar tools.
- Experience writing animation briefs, asset estimates, and production documentation.
Nice To Haves
- Combat animation experience.
- First-person viewmodel animation experience.
- Live-service development experience.
Responsibilities
- Block and prototype gameplay animations to establish timing, weight, and design intent.
- Partner with Animation Directors and Gameplay teams to co-direct motion-capture sessions.
- Review, refine, and integrate vendor-delivered keyframe and motion-capture cleanup work.
- Ensure assets meet gameplay readability, responsiveness, and technical requirements.
- Manage day-to-day communication with external animation vendors.
- Provide clear, structured feedback aligned with internal animation direction.
- Partner with Animation Directors to define briefs and reference packages.
- Track sprint and milestone deliverables, revisions, and approval cycles.
- Identify quality or schedule risks and escalate proactively.
- Support vendor onboarding and documentation updates.
- Provide performance notes and help shape capture goals.
- Export, ingest, and validate animation assets in-engine.
- Maintain animation briefs, scope breakdowns, and feedback documentation.
- Support Statement of Work creation with detailed asset estimates.
- Ensure naming conventions, rig compatibility, and version-control standards.
- Coordinate with Tech Animation and Engineering to resolve integration issues.
Benefits
- United States benefits include paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours of sick time per year, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks of paid time off to bond with a baby, medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and a 401(k) for regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonuses and other incentive programs.
- Canada benefits include vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days of sick time per year, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when welcoming a new child (12 weeks for maternity and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, and a retirement plan for regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonuses and other incentive programs.
- EA benefits programs may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, and complimentary games.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
