Cinematic Director (Unannounced Game)

Location: Irvine, California, United States. Flexible hybrid work from the Irvine studio, with remote and on-site days; full-time on-site work is also available.

Salary: $119,280–$220,700 annual base pay in the U.S., with possible incentive compensation.

Company

hirify.global develops and publishes genre-defining video games and iconic interactive entertainment franchises.

What you will do

• Lead the creative development and delivery of cinematic work for an unannounced Blizzard game.
• Guide sequences from concepting and pitching through animatics, iteration, in-engine implementation, and final delivery.
• Author, block, and iterate cinematic sequences directly in real-time tools such as Unreal Sequencer.
• Set the quality bar for pacing, staging, camera language, performance, emotional clarity, and cinematic storytelling.
• Partner with creative, narrative, animation, audio, music, voice-over, art, design, engineering, and production teams.
• Manage the cinematics team, set priorities, coach team members, and improve workflows and review practices.

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in cinematics, game development, animation, film, television, or narrative visual media.
• 2+ years of direct people-management experience, including coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Hands-on ownership of cinematic sequences from previs through final in-engine implementation.
• Working knowledge of real-time cinematic pipelines, animation integration, lighting, layout, runtime constraints, and performance capture.
• Practical experience with Unreal Engine, Maya, MotionBuilder, and performance capture workflows.
• Strong cinematic storytelling, communication, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Nice to have

• Experience developing or shipping cinematic work for AAA games.
• Experience with multiple real-time cinematic pipelines or story-driven games.
• Experience collaborating with external vendors or outsource partners.
• Familiarity with Blizzard games and interactive narrative storytelling.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work arrangement with flexibility to work fully on-site.
• Medical, dental, vision, health savings, disability, and life insurance programs.
• 401(k) company match, tuition reimbursement, and charitable donation matching.
• Paid holidays, vacation, sick time, parental leave, and bereavement leave.
• Mental health, wellbeing, fitness, legal service, and other employee support programs.
• Relocation assistance may be available if the company requires a geographic move.

Hiring process

• Submit a resume and a portfolio or reel demonstrating high-quality cinematic, narrative, or visually driven storytelling work.