Principal Character Technical Animator

As a Principal Technical Animator at Cloud Chamber you’ll join a group of talented developers to expertly craft realistic, expressive character rigs and pipelines. In this role, you’ll use your extensive background in rigging and technical animation to collaborate with the animation and programming teams and push forward the creative vision and technical boundaries of the project. Your main objective in this role is to solve problems within our technical limitations and bring our characters to life in a richly imagined world.

• Engage with stakeholders to align objectives and develop scalable solutions that optimize content authoring workflows.
• Craft advanced character rigs and systems, while upholding high standards in character performance and optimization for Unreal Engine.
• Implement characters and features within Unreal Engine: physics, RBF driver set-ups, modular character set-ups, procedural rigging, and more.
• Create and oversee an industry-leading character rigging pipeline and toolset, continuously exploring and integrating next-generation technologies.
• Mentor team members on best practices for rigging and tooling by sharing your expert-level knowledge.

As a highly technical member of the Animation Team your specific blend of technical proficiency, anatomical knowledge, and artistic understanding will enable us to create functional, animatable control systems and bring our characters to life. Working with the animation and programming teams, together we will push the creative vision and technical boundaries of our project forward, working to problem solve technical limitations.

• 8 to 10+ years of professional experience in 3D rigging and character technology for games with increasing seniority over the course of your career. 
• Experience as either a Lead or Principal Rigger, Technical Animator, or Senior Rigger on at least one shipped AAA title.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Technical Art, 3D Animation, or in a related field, or equivalent industry experience and an exceptional portfolio.
• Demonstrable expertise in relevant scripting languages and tools like Unreal and Unreal Python API and/or C++.
• Mastery in deformations, FK/IK systems, set driven keys, and blend shape creation to achieve a wide range of character performances.
• Proficient with providing modeling and topology guidance related to skin deformations.
• Proficient in industry standard DCC tools and software with a keen understanding of their downstream implications.
• Solid knowledge of Maya Python API, including knowledge of the standard library, Qt toolkit (PySide, PyQt), and common 3rd Party Libraries and frameworks.
• Extensive experience supporting cross discipline teams with best-in-class rigging, tools, and documentation.
• Extensive experience working with and augmenting large established rigging pipelines.
• Deep understanding of human kinesiology and anatomy, including the underlying muscles, bone structure, and how they contribute to animation fundamentals.

Nice but not necessary:

• Experience with FACS driven rigs.
• Experience working with JALI, or other procedural driven facial systems.

• A reliable, positive force multiplier, actively seeking opportunities to integrate work across disciplines and contribute to a healthy, supportive team environment.
• A solid communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly, package information for diverse audiences, and deliver difficult feedback with empathy and professionalism.
• A persistent and self-motivated person with a proactive mindset.
• Able to maintain effectiveness and quality under pressure, ambiguity, and fast-changing priorities.
• An active listener able to build and maintain trust-based relationships across all levels of the organization, understand differing perspectives, and navigate organizational complexity with tact and emotional intelligence.
• Highly open to feedback and direction, possessing a desire to learn new skills, and capable of producing quick, quality revisions based on new insights or constraints.
• A strong owner of your tasks, who strives to drive their work forward autonomously while maintaining a critical eye for detail and organization, ensuring high standards of quality.
• Dedicated to upholding Cloud Chamber’s core values, contributing to a positive and respectful company culture while striving for excellence in all endeavors.

The pay range for this position in Novato, California at the start of employment is expected to be between $130,000 and $190,000 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program. Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses.

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