Senior Animation Programmer (Unreal Engine)

Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia; hybrid work model

Company

hirify.global Brisbane is a large video game studio developing cross-platform games, including Bluey’s Happy Snaps and other announced and unannounced projects.

What you will do

• Design, build, and maintain animation systems in Unreal Engine using Animation Blueprints, Control Rig, and the Animation Framework.
• Develop and optimize locomotion, state machines, blend spaces, IK solvers, root motion, and procedural animation systems.
• Collaborate with animators and technical artists on robust tools, rigs, and artist-friendly workflows.
• Integrate animation-driven systems with combat, traversal, physics, and gameplay features.
• Profile and optimize animation performance across consoles and PC, while debugging complex synchronization issues.
• Contribute to technical direction and mentor junior and mid-level programmers.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of professional games programming experience focused on animation systems.
• Shipped experience with Unreal Engine 4 and/or 5, including Animation Blueprints, Control Rig, and the Skeletal Mesh pipeline.
• Strong C++ skills and a solid understanding of Blueprint scripting.
• Deep knowledge of animation fundamentals, including blending, layering, additive animation, IK, root motion, and state machines.
• Experience optimizing animation performance and memory for real-time, multi-platform games.
• Strong 3D math, debugging, profiling, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with motion matching, procedural animation, or physics-based animation.
• Experience with networked animation, animation compression, custom runtime pipelines, or engine-level animation systems.
• Experience building animation tools or editor plugins and meeting console certification requirements.
• Previous experience mentoring or leading a small engineering team.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible hybrid work model supporting work-life balance.
• Private health insurance, fitness subsidies, mental health support, and paid parental leave.
• Additional paid leave, including birthday, volunteer, women’s health, and Christmas shutdown leave.
• Learning and development opportunities, mentorship, training programs, and industry events.
• Subsidized parking, childcare assistance, daily snacks and breakfast, and a relaxation space.
• Rooftop terrace, games room, social events, and employee referral bonuses.

Hiring process

• Recruitment qualification call.
• Interview with the Studio Technical Director and Lead Engineer.
• Third stage to be confirmed.