Senior Gameplay Animator (Game Development)

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; hybrid or onsite, with hybrid attendance required 3 days per week in studio. Studios are also located in Troy, New York.

Salary: CAD 85,000–120,000 per year for the Senior range; CAD 110,000–150,000 per year for the Specialist range.

Company

hirify.global creates games focused on craft, expressive gameplay, experimentation, and memorable player experiences.

What you will do

• Define and drive the game’s animation style through expressive body mechanics and responsive gameplay animation.
• Own the gameplay animation process from rough prototypes to polished, production-quality performances.
• Develop animation in-engine using animation systems, state machines, and procedural animation techniques.
• Collaborate with designers, engineers, and technical artists to explore ideas and solve gameplay challenges.
• Document tools and workflows, mentor animators, and champion animation quality across the studio.
• Serve as a project lead when assigned, supporting scope, planning, tools, features, hiring, and team development.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional game animation experience focused on gameplay.
• A strong demo reel demonstrating body mechanics, timing, personality, and gameplay-context captures.
• Expertise in Maya or equivalent 3D animation software.
• Hands-on in-engine experience, including general state machine structures.
• Ability to communicate technical needs and issues effectively with Engineering, Tech Art, and Design.
• Proactive, self-directed, curious, and passionate about responsive, character-focused animation.

Nice to have

• Experience leading small animation teams or driving animation direction.
• Familiarity with motion matching, procedural animation, or other modern runtime techniques.
• Generalist skills in modeling, rigging, motion capture, or related areas.
• Basic scripting or tool-building experience with Python, MEL, or similar tools.
• Strong understanding of game design and animation’s role in feedback, pacing, and readability.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative work with artists, engineers, designers, and interdisciplinary project leads.
• Inclusive workplace committed to diversity, equal opportunity, and freedom from discrimination and harassment.
• Health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• Retirement savings plan, paid holidays, and flexible time-off benefits.
• Potential annual bonuses, which are not guaranteed.