Lead Gameplay Animator (Gamedev)

TL;DR

Lead Gameplay Animator (Gamedev): Setting vision and mentoring artists for game movement and animation discipline growth, guiding combat feel and gameplay clarity. Focus on evolving pipelines, holding high quality bars for competitive multiplayer combat, and ensuring expressive, readable character animations.

Location: Hybrid role in Orange County, California, USA

Salary: $196,500–$247,133

Company

hirify.global is creating its first original IP, Arkheron, a fast-paced, competitive PVP game set in a surreal dark fantasy world.

What you will do

• Inspire and guide the animation discipline, setting creative vision and quality for characters and combat in a competitive multiplayer game.
• Lead and mentor a lean animation team, fostering autonomy, accountability, and growth through clear expectations and feedback.
• Contribute directly to gameplay animation while setting standards and pushing ideas forward independently.
• Partner with cross-discipline leads (design, engineering, art, production) to align animation with gameplay systems and player experience.
• Own combat feel and moment-to-moment gameplay expression, ensuring characters are readable, responsive, and impactful.
• Drive production clarity and execution, prioritizing animation goals, pipelines, and team focus.

Requirements

• Proven experience creating high-quality, in-game animations across multiple shipped titles.
• Energized by competitive multiplayer combat and understand animation's critical role in readability, feel, and fairness.
• Strong understanding of combat systems and how animation drives responsiveness and player satisfaction.
• Experience developing animation systems, ideally in new or evolving engines.
• Comfortable owning features end-to-end, from early exploration through final implementation.
• Highly skilled at conveying character through gameplay animation, not just cinematics.

Culture & Benefits

• Embrace bold challenges with creativity and courage, making tough calls to build a game the team is proud to play.
• Keep fun at the core, playing Arkheron daily to stay grounded as players and fix issues.
• Maintain true independence, with decisions driven by the team, not investors.
• Thrive in a culture of passion, trust, and shared ownership, valuing transparency and humility.
• Receive equity as part of compensation, plus a full benefits package and extra perks.
• Work in a studio that values trust, openness, humility, curiosity, and learning alongside others.