Lead Animator – Central Art Team (Unreal Engine 5/Blender)

Location: Remote within Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming; Los Angeles area preferred.

Salary: $100,000–$150,000 annually.

Company

Snail Games USA develops and publishes online games and digital entertainment.

What you will do

• Lead animation quality and execution across multiple fantasy and science-fiction game projects.
• Create polished keyframe animations for human, creature, and alien characters using Blender and Unreal Engine 5.
• Define animation standards, style guides, review criteria, and best practices with the Senior Technical Animator.
• Lead animation reviews and provide written feedback, video critiques, and demonstrations to internal teams and overseas partners.
• Mentor animators in performance, body mechanics, timing, and animation polish.
• Collaborate with production, art, design, and technical teams to scope work, manage risks, and integrate animation into gameplay systems.

Requirements

• Strong portfolio demonstrating animation fundamentals, including weight, timing, body mechanics, expression, and appeal.
• Professional video game animation experience, including leading animation work, mentoring artists, or owning animation quality for a team or project.
• Proficiency in Blender and Unreal Engine 5 for keyframe animation, iteration, and polish.
• Ability to create compelling performances for humanoid characters and creatures with varied anatomy.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to guide remote teams and external partners.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice to have

• Experience shipping games in a lead or senior animation role.
• Experience directing external animation partners or distributed teams.
• Understanding of motion capture planning, workflows, and cleanup.
• Knowledge of UE5 Control Rig, retargeting, Animation Blueprints, or animation state machines.
• Experience developing animation pipelines with technical animators or familiarity with Chinese cultural and cultivation themes.

Culture & Benefits

• Focus on work-life balance.
• Paid company holidays, vacation, and separate sick leave.
• Medical, dental, vision, and life/LTD insurance.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Work includes mature, violent, sexual, graphic, or otherwise sensitive creative content in a professional game-development context.