Principal Character Technical Artist (Unreal Engine 5)

TL;DR

Principal Character Technical Artist (Unreal Engine 5): Use mastery of DCC tools, rigging, and UE5 to expand creative possibilities for playable characters in a free-to-play AAA multiplayer action game with an accent on technical animation, dynamic presentation, and complex pipelines. Focus on prototyping cutting-edge solutions, optimizing performance for live-service environments, and building procedural tooling for cross-studio efficiency.

Location: San Mateo, California, United States (#LI-Remote #LI-Onsite #LI-Hybrid)

Salary: $163,400–$241,880 per year

Company

Diverse team of game developers building free-to-play AAA multiplayer action games with a culture of inclusivity, growth, and innovation.

What you will do

• Partner with pillar teams to shape feature development, identify risks, and propose innovative solutions for core mechanics.
• Establish technical standards for character rigging, technical animation, cloth, hair, and physics in UE5; prototype state-of-the-art solutions.
• Maintain and extend character pipelines from DCC to Unreal Engine; develop procedural tooling for content efficiency across US and Valencia studios.
• Set performance budgets and benchmarks; optimize visual fidelity and runtime performance for multiplayer across platforms.
• Mentor and lead a team of character technical artists, fostering creative problem-solving.

Requirements

• 8+ years game development experience, including 3+ years as Senior/Principal Technical Artist on shipped AAA title.
• Deep expertise in Unreal Engine 5 (Blueprints, Control Rig, Niagara, physics/cloth simulation).
• Expert proficiency in DCC tools (Maya, Blender, Houdini) and scripting (Python, C++, VEX) for tools/pipelines.
• Exceptional knowledge of human anatomy, facial/skeletal rigging, weight painting, procedural animation.

Nice to have

• Experience on live-service, free-to-play, or multiplayer action games.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance; 14 paid holidays; 15-25 paid vacation days or discretionary time off; up to 10 sick days.
• Paid parental/compassionate leave; mental health/wellness programs; family planning support; commuter/fitness reimbursements.
• Bonus/equity awards; 401(K) plan; Employee Stock Purchase Program.