Animation Director (Game Development)

Location: San Mateo, California, United States. The role is based on-site at the San Mateo studio with a combination of in-studio and remote workdays.

Salary: $136,880–$253,260 annual base pay in the U.S., plus potential incentive compensation.

Company

hirify.global is a video game studio known for developing AAA titles in the Call of Duty franchise and is part of Activision, wholly owned by Microsoft.

What you will do

• Define and champion the animation vision, quality standards, creative direction, strategy, and production goals.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Animation Leads, Principal Animators, and the wider animation team.
• Collaborate with Art, Design, Narrative, Engineering, Production, and studio leadership to support gameplay, storytelling, and player immersion.
• Direct the creation of character, gameplay, cinematic, and AI animation experiences for AAA titles.
• Oversee animation content, systems, pipelines, workflows, and tools, including proprietary and industry-standard game development technology.
• Guide performance capture and motion capture strategies, review animation quality, and coordinate with outsourcing and co-development partners.

Requirements

• 12+ years of professional animation experience in game development, including significant leadership experience.
• Experience leading animation teams through the development and delivery of AAA titles.
• Deep knowledge of animation principles, character performance, gameplay animation, cinematics, and motion capture pipelines.
• Strong expertise with Maya, game engines, animation systems, state machines, blending, and technical animation pipelines.
• Experience building, mentoring, and growing high-performing teams and establishing creative vision through direct and indirect leadership.
• Strong communication, collaboration, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Nice to have

• Experience shipping multiple AAA first-person action titles.
• Experience with performance capture direction and cinematic animation pipelines.
• Experience working with globally distributed development teams and external partners.
• Understanding of player-centered design and animation’s role in gameplay feel and immersion.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaboration with studio teams in Canada, Australia, and the UK.
• Medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and healthcare spending benefits.
• 401(k) with company match, tuition reimbursement, and charitable donation matching.
• Paid holidays and vacation, sick time, floating holidays, parental leave, and bereavement leave.
• Mental health, wellbeing, and fitness programs, plus free and discounted games.
• Relocation assistance may be available if geographic relocation is required for the role.