Principal Animation Engineer - Central Tech (AAA Games)

Location: Santa Monica; flexible location in studios across the United States or Europe with remote work eligibility.

Salary: $171,100–$316,576 annual base pay in the U.S.; incentive compensation may also apply.

Company

hirify.global develops and publishes interactive entertainment, including major AAA gaming franchises and advanced gameplay technologies.

What you will do

• Research, design, prototype, and implement animation features that improve character fidelity and believability.
• Develop and upgrade workflows for building, improving, and debugging animation behaviors.
• Work with animators and engineers on animation systems across varied game modes and levels of complexity.
• Support and collaborate with studio teams across the world.
• Lead projects and manage multiple technical workstreams with different teams.

Requirements

• 15+ years of professional programming experience focused on skeletal animation.
• Proficiency in C/C++ in multithreaded environments.
• Experience with low-level game animation systems and high-fidelity interactive animation in AAA games.
• Strong 3D mathematics and linear algebra skills.
• Knowledge of inverse kinematics, blend trees, ragdolls, state machines, and secondary motion techniques.
• Ability and willingness to take a leading role while multitasking across teams.

Nice to have

• Credits on three or more AAA PC or console game titles.
• Familiarity with content creation tools such as Maya.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings, insurance, and disability benefits subject to eligibility.
• 401(k) with company match, tuition reimbursement, and charitable donation matching.
• Paid holidays, vacation, sick time, parental leave, and other leave programs.
• Mental health, wellbeing, fitness, and employee game discount programs.
• Relocation assistance may be available when a company-required geographic move is necessary.