Senior Animation Engineer

Job Description

31st Union is seeking a Senior Animation Engineer to contribute to the development of animation systems for Project ETHOS, a new free-to-play, 3rd person rogue-like hero shooter. The Senior Animation Engineer will work closely with designers, artists, and engineers to create innovative and high-performance animation systems that bring characters and worlds to life. 31st Union focuses on diversity and inclusion and is looking for teammates to raise the bar and make the company better.

The Senior Animation Engineer's responsibilities include:

• Designing, developing, and optimizing animation systems for a AAA game.
• Collaborating with animation, art, and gameplay teams to develop innovative techniques for character movement, procedural animation, and animation blending.
• Integrating animation systems with other gameplay systems (e.g., AI, player control, physics) to ensure smooth and realistic interactions.
• Continuously refining and optimizing animation performance, particularly for large-scale multiplayer environments and complex gameplay scenarios.
• Leading the creation of tools and workflows to streamline the animation process.

Requirements:

• Strong proficiency in C++ and experience with game engine internals, particularly in the context of animation systems.
• Expertise in animation systems, including blend trees, procedural animation, inverse kinematics (IK), and animation state machines.
• Experience optimizing and refining animation performance to meet high standards on both PC and console platforms.
• Solid understanding of 3D math, physics, and how they apply to animation systems, including transformations, rotations, and vector math.
• Proven ability to collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams.
• Experience working with Unreal Engine 4/5, including Unreal’s animation tools (e.g., Animation Blueprint, Sequencer, and Control Rig)
• Experience working with Unreal Engine’s Gameplay Ability System (GAS) and its integration with animation systems
• Proven track record of working on shipped AAA titles, with experience in character animation for both first-person and third-person perspectives
• Experience with character animation on current-gen consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X, etc.)
• Familiarity with animation middleware (e.g., Autodesk MotionBuilder) and workflows for game animation integration
• Experience with performance profiling and optimization tools for animation systems, ensuring smooth gameplay across all platforms

Role Offers:

• Bonus
• Equity awards
• Medical
• Financial benefits