Senior Animator - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

10h•$135,700 - $188,700

About The Position

As a Senior Animator on an unpublished R&D product, you'll create the animation that defines the gameplay feel. You'll craft stylized, responsive gameplay animation that brings characters to life while supporting satisfying gameplay. Working closely with designers, technical artists, engineers, and character artists, you'll own animation from ideation through implementation. You'll create memorable animation, define the feel of player locomotion, bring personality to characters in-game, and implement your work directly in the game engine. As a senior member of the team, you'll help define the visual identity of gameplay animation, contribute to animation best practices, and maintain a high quality bar across the project. You will report to the Animation Manager.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience in game animation
3+ years of direct experience making hand-crafted gameplay animation
3+ years of experience working in game engines (i.e. Unreal, Unity, etc.)
Ability to seamlessly integrate into and build upon a well-established animation vision and team with diverse levelling
Ability to work autonomously and able to take initiative with little supervision
Strong problem-solving skills in both artistic and technical contexts
Strong understanding of animation principles, body mechanics, timing, weight, and appealing stylized motion

Nice To Haves

Professional experience shipping at least one AAA game title
Strong gameplay animation implementation experience
Experience improving pipelines or workflows

Responsibilities

Create high-quality, gameplay-driven animation assets that define a high bar for responsiveness, clarity, and visual polish that delivers satisfying gameplay
Collaborate with design, engineering, and technical art to ensure animations integrate effectively into the game
Identify and troubleshoot animation bugs, edge cases, and pipeline issues, contributing to solutions
Partner with designers to prototype and iterate on gameplay animation, using playtesting and feedback to improve responsiveness, readability, and feel.
Contribute to team animation quality through feedback, critiques, and collaboration
Support improvements to animation workflows, tools, and pipelines
Help establish animation standards and maintain a high quality bar across gameplay animation