Epic Games

Lead Technical Animator

Epic Games • $110K — $130K *
Cary, NC 27513In-Person
Consumer Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience rigging characters in Maya and/or Unreal Engine
  • Portfolio showcasing a diverse range of character rigging including bipeds and creatures
  • Detail-oriented with a focus on character deformation and physics
  • Familiarity with Unreal Engine 5 art pipeline
  • Strong written communication and teamwork abilities
  • Demonstrated problem-solving skills
  • Control Rig and Python programming experience is a plus

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with technical animators, Leads, Directors, and Outsource Managers to ensure successful asset setups
  • Drive alignment on technical animation strategies with gameplay teams
  • Schedule, prioritize, and delegate tasks for internal and vendor assets
  • Ensure a smooth development pipeline by closely working with animators, modelers, and designers
  • Assist in improving pipeline tools in collaboration with project leads
  • Mentor technical animators focused on rigging
  • Rig characters, weapons, creatures, and vehicles
  • Set up assets in Unreal Engine 5, including control rigs, cloth, and physics

Benefits

  • 100% premium coverage for medical, dental, and vision for employees and dependents
  • Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance plans
  • 401k plan with competitive matching contributions
  • Mental well-being program offering free therapy and coaching
  • Company-wide events and paid breaks throughout the year
  • Unlimited PTO and sick time
  • Paid sabbatical recognition after 7 years of employment
Full Job Description
ART
What We Do

Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.
What You'll Do

Epic Games is searching for a Lead Gameplay Technical Animator with a passion for expressive character movement to join our team. In this talented team of veteran and emerging artists, you'll collaborate across teams and contribute directly to Fortnite and other initiatives as part of our collaboration with Disney. Joining this team means you're motivated to seek solutions to problems and work with other disciplines to make positive changes to workflows, tools, and technologies that directly impact Gameplay.
In this role, you will
  • Work closely with technical animators, Leads, Directors, and Outsource Managers on the team to ensure assets are set up for success in the different stages of production
  • Communicate and drive alignment around strategy for technical animation and adjacent gameplay teams
  • Work with production to schedule, prioritize, and delegate assets for the team, both internal and vendor
  • Work closely with animators, modelers, and designers to ensure a smooth development pipeline that delivers high-quality assets
  • Assisting with pipeline tools and working with engine and project leads on the continuous improvement of those engine tools
  • Mentor rigging-focused technical animators
  • Rigging characters, weapons, creatures, and vehicles
  • Setting up assets in Unreal Engine 5; including control rigs, cloth, physics, and blueprints
  • Maintain detailed documentation, video reference, and examples of art asset production, procedures, and engine requirements to support internal and external artists
What we're looking for
  • Extensive experience rigging characters in Maya and/or Unreal Engine
  • A portfolio demonstrating rigging for a range of characters, bipeds, and creatures, both body and faces
  • Attention to aesthetic detail, especially with regard to character deformation and physics movement
  • Familiarity with the Unreal Engine 5 art pipeline
  • A positive individual with strong written communication and teamwork skills
  • Exceptional problem-solver
  • Control Rig experience a plus
  • Python programming is a plus
  • You're user-focused, passionate, solutions-focused, and innovative. These traits equal success at Epic and influence everything we do
EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.

About Epic Games

Epic Games is a video game development company that is best known for creating the popular game Fortnite. The company was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. Epic Games has developed a number of other successful games, including the Unreal series and Gears of War. The company is also known for its Unreal Engine, a game engine that is used by many other game developers. Epic Games is committed to advancing the state of the art in game development and creating innovative and engaging experiences for players.
Learn more about Epic Games
Size
2,700 employees
Industry
Founded
1991

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