Technical Animator

AGBO • Raleigh, NC

8d • Onsite

About The Position

AGBO is seeking a Technical Animator to champion the technical development and real-time implementation of animation content in Unreal Engine 5. This role will be instrumental in establishing standards for character performance, animation systems, and rigging workflows across a project. You'll work closely with artists, engineers, and animators to bridge creative vision with performance-optimized systems, ensuring a smooth and scalable animation pipeline.
We’re looking for someone with strong UE5 proficiency, a deep understanding of skeletal and animation systems, and experience working with a wide range of characters—from bipedal to quadruped to serpentine forms.
This role is based in Raleigh, NC, and candidates located in or willing to relocate to the area are highly preferred, as close collaboration with our technical and creative teams is central to the position. The role is temporary to start, with the opportunity for future full-time employment consideration.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in a Technical Animation, Technical Art, or Rigging/Animation TD role in games or real-time media.
• Expert-level knowledge of Unreal Engine 5, with hands-on experience setting up and optimizing character animation systems.
• Familiarity with scripting or tool development in Python, MEL, or equivalent.
• Deep understanding of character setup including replication logic, character composition through Blueprint, and real-time performance constraints.
• Experience working with a range of character types (bipedal, quadruped, serpentine) and adapting pipelines for each.
• Familiarity with Metahuman authoring and modification, as well as hair grooming, facial animation, and procedural rigging techniques.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills, especially when translating technical setups to artists or designers.
• A collaborative, solution-oriented mindset with the ability to adapt to evolving creative needs.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with animation dynamics, runtime animation blending, or facial rigging workflows.
• Familiarity with Niagara, Sequencer, or Live Link.
• Prior work on narrative-driven, cinematic, or cross-medium storytelling projects.
• Experience defining technical standards or mentoring others in rigging and character animation.

Responsibilities

• Own the character and animation implementation pipeline in Unreal Engine 5, setting standards for performance, optimization, and development efficiency.
• Set up and manage UE5 character systems, including Skeletal Meshes, Animation Blueprints, Blend Spaces, Physics Assets, Montages, Layers, Morph Targets, and more.
• Collaborate with artists and animators to implement keyframe and motion-capture animation content.
• Establish scalable standards for character setup, including replication, customization systems, weapon attachments, and animation synchronization.
• Support advanced animation features such as animation sharing, retargeting, cloth physics, control rig, procedural animation, and Metahuman workflows.
• Provide guidance and documentation to the broader team to ensure consistency in rigging and animation practices.
• Troubleshoot performance and compatibility issues related to animation pipelines and assets.
• Collaborate with cross-functional departments including Art, Engineering, Virtual Production, and VFX to optimize pipelines and enhance real-time fidelity.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees