Viewmodel Gameplay Animator (Contract) - Sledgehammer Games (AAA Gaming)

Location: Remote within California / the United States. The position is a temporary fixed-term contract of up to one year.

Salary: $30.47–$56.35 per hour in the U.S.

Company

hirify.global develops and publishes interactive entertainment, with Sledgehammer Games focused on AAA first-person shooter experiences including the Call of Duty franchise.

What you will do

• Create polished first-person weapon animations for firing, reloads, handling, inspections, melee, equipment use, and other gameplay interactions.
• Apply animation fundamentals to create readable, physically convincing motion with strong posing, weight, timing, and responsiveness.
• Animate and refine first-person camera motion to support gameplay clarity, impact, and presentation.
• Implement, test, and debug animation in the game engine or proprietary tools.
• Collaborate with designers, engineers, technical artists, riggers, modelers, and animators to solve creative and technical problems.
• Improve animation workflows, standards, documentation, and reusable systems while communicating progress, risks, and technical issues.

Requirements

• 3+ years of professional animation experience, including at least 1 year in game animation.
• Experience creating or implementing first-person or gameplay animation.
• Advanced proficiency with Autodesk Maya.
• Experience with animation implementation tools and game engines.
• Strong fundamentals in human movement, weight, timing, posing, and physicality.
• Ability to collaborate across disciplines, respond to feedback, iterate quickly, and work within an established production pipeline.

Nice to have

• Experience working on a first-person shooter or a shipped game title.
• Experience with motion-capture cleanup, retargeting, or editing.
• Experience with proprietary engines or animation pipelines.
• Experience mentoring junior or associate animators.
• Experience with previs or mocap shoots and ownership of complex animation tasks.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative development environment working with studio teams across the United States, Toronto, the U.K., and Australia.
• Eligible employees may receive medical, dental, vision, health savings, disability, and life insurance benefits.
• Benefits may include 401(k) matching, tuition reimbursement, paid holidays, vacation, sick time, parental leave, and mental health programs.
• Temporary full-time employee benefit eligibility may vary.
• Relocation assistance may be available if the company requires a geographic move.