Software Engineer, Animation

Absurd Ventures•Santa Monica, CA

3d•$120,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

Absurd Ventures is seeking an Animation Engineer to develop systems and technology that bring characters to life in a new IP AAA open-world game. The role works closely with Animators, Gameplay Engineers, Designers, and Technical Artists to build and support responsive, high-quality character animation systems in Unreal Engine. This hands-on engineering role contributes to runtime animation systems, tools, and workflows that help the team create believable characters while meeting the technical and performance demands of a large-scale game. The position is on-site in Santa Monica, California, near downtown Santa Monica, public transit, and freeways. It is full-time and offers benefits. The base pay range is $120,000 to $150,000 per year; actual compensation may vary based on market location and job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.

Requirements

At least 3 years of professional experience as an Animation Engineer, Gameplay Engineer, or in a similar role in the video game industry.
Strong C++ programming skills and experience developing real-time game systems.
Professional experience working with Unreal Engine.
Strong understanding of real-time character animation concepts, including animation blending, state machines, locomotion, inverse kinematics, and animation-driven gameplay.
Experience with Unreal Engine animation systems such as Animation Blueprints, Blend Spaces, Montages, and skeletal animation.
Strong debugging and problem-solving skills, including investigating issues spanning code and animation content.
Experience collaborating directly with Animators, Designers, Technical Artists, and other Engineers.
Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing animation systems for AAA, open-world, or large-scale 3D games.
Experience with Unreal Engine 5 animation technologies such as Control Rig, Motion Warping, Pose Search, or Motion Matching.
Experience with procedural animation, IK, runtime rigging, or physical animation.
Experience developing Unreal Engine editor tools or animation pipeline tools.
Familiarity with motion capture pipelines and animation data processing.
Experience profiling and optimizing animation systems on console hardware.
Experience with animation systems involving traversal, combat, locomotion, or contextual character interactions.
Familiarity with Python or other scripting languages used in animation or content pipelines.

Responsibilities

Develop, maintain, and improve runtime animation systems for player characters, NPCs, creatures, and enemy characters.
Work with Animators, Designers, and Gameplay Engineers to implement responsive, high-quality character behaviors and animation-driven gameplay.
Build and support animation systems for locomotion, traversal, interactions, combat, crowds, and other gameplay scenarios.
Develop tools and workflows that improve the Animation team's efficiency and iteration speed.
Implement and support animation functionality using C++, Blueprints, Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, montages, and other Unreal Engine animation technologies.
Collaborate with Technical Animation and Technical Art to integrate character rigs, animation assets, and procedural systems into the game.
Diagnose and resolve animation-related technical issues across code, animation content, and gameplay systems.
Profile and optimize animation systems for runtime performance, memory, and scalability.
Work within existing engineering architecture and contribute clean, maintainable, well-documented code.
Participate in code reviews and technical discussions and contribute to engineering standards and best practices.
Identify animation technology risks and communicate technical challenges and potential solutions to the appropriate disciplines.