Senior Gameplay Animator (AAA Games)

Location: Hybrid/onsite at the studio in Santa Monica, California; candidates must be authorized to work in the United States

Salary: $69.52–$86.93 per hour

Company

hirify.global's Naughty Dog studio develops narrative-driven AAA games for PlayStation and PC.

What you will do

• Create high-quality gameplay animation in Maya and implement it in the game engine.
• Collaborate with Animation, Design, and Engineering on systemic animation features and gameplay systems.
• Plan, set up, direct, and participate in motion capture shoots.
• Use engine debugging tools to identify and resolve gameplay issues with designers and programmers.
• Define and maintain the quality bar for in-game animation while improving tools and workflows.
• Take ownership of challenging projects, mentor team members, and create documentation.

Requirements

• At least one shipped AAA game as a Senior Gameplay Animator or equivalent.
• At least five years of experience in the video game industry.
• Expertise in systemic gameplay animation, motion capture, and keyframe character animation.
• Technical knowledge of state machines, blend trees, motion matching, and script editors.
• Proficiency with Maya and MotionBuilder, including animation layers, the Time Editor/Trax Editor, and mocap tools.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, prioritization, collaboration, and ownership skills.

Nice to have

• Experience developing animation tools.
• Character rigging experience.
• Experience setting up in-game physics assets.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative work across animation, design, engineering, and leadership teams.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits are available.
• The role is a temporary engagement through staffing partner Yoh Enterprise Solutions.

Hiring process

• Provide a portfolio or animation demo reel.
• Complete an animation test if requested.
• Complete background checks at the offer stage.