Principal Animation Artist (Gamedev)

TL;DR

Principal Animation Artist (Unreal Engine/Maya): Designing and directing player-facing animation systems for an unpublished R&D product with an accent on responsiveness, clarity, and cohesion. Focus on evolving animation pipelines, mentoring the team, and solving systemic challenges to ensure high-quality character performance.

Company

Riot Games is a player-focused game developer best known for creating League of Legends, one of the most played video games globally.

What you will do

• Drive the quality and direction of gameplay animation to ensure high responsiveness and clarity.
• Own and evolve player-facing animation systems for scalability and consistency across features.
• Define animation best practices, workflows, and quality standards for the production team.
• Partner with design and engineering to shape animation systems and gameplay integration.
• Mentor and guide animators to elevate the overall craft quality of the team.
• Identify and implement improvements for tools, pipelines, and broader production strategies.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in game or entertainment animation.
• Expert proficiency in Maya and extensive experience working with Unreal Engine.
• Deep understanding of animation systems, state machines, and runtime behaviors.
• Experience owning and delivering complex animation systems across a project lifecycle.
• Fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
• Familiarity with the League of Legends IP and art style.

Nice to have

• Proficiency in English.
• Background in both gameplay and cinematic animation workflows.
• Experience collaborating on complex system design with engineering and design.
• Strong understanding of performance considerations in real-time animation.

Culture & Benefits

• Player-centric environment focusing on the delight and experience of the community.
• Culture that embraces experimentation and a disregard for traditional constraints.
• Collaborative atmosphere valuing humble yet ambitious professionals.