Summary
We are seeking a skilled Animation Engineer to join our team and help develop the systems and technology that bring characters to life in a new IP AAA open world game. As an Animation Engineer at Absurd Ventures, you will work closely with Animators, Gameplay Engineers, Designers, and Technical Artists to build and support responsive, performant, high-quality character animation systems in Unreal Engine.
You will contribute to runtime animation systems, tools, and workflows that enable the team to create believable characters while meeting the technical and performance demands of a large-scale game. This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who enjoys solving problems at the intersection of animation, gameplay, and technology.
Core Responsibilities
- Develop, maintain, and improve runtime animation systems for player characters, NPCs, creatures and enemy characters.
- Work closely with Animators, Designers, and Gameplay and AI Engineers to implement responsive, high-quality character behaviors and animation-driven gameplay.
- Build and support animation systems for locomotion, traversal, interactions, combat, crowds and other gameplay scenarios.
- Develop tools and workflows that improve the efficiency and iteration speed of the Animation team.
- Implement and support animation functionality using C++, Blueprints, Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, montages, and other Unreal Engine animation technologies.
- Collaborate with Technical Animation and Technical Art to integrate character rigs, animation assets, and procedural systems into the game.
- Profile and optimize animation systems for runtime performance, memory, and scalability.
- Work within existing engineering architecture and contribute clean, maintainable, well-documented code.
- Participate in code reviews and technical discussions and contribute to engineering standards and best practices.
- Proactively identify animation technology risks and communicate technical challenges and potential solutions to the appropriate disciplines.
Core Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional experience as a Gameplay Engineer or similar role in the video game industry, including work on animation systems.
- Strong C++ programming skills and experience developing real-time game systems.
- Professional experience working with Unreal Engine.
- Strong understanding of real-time character animation concepts, including animation blending, state machines, locomotion, inverse kinematics, and animation-driven gameplay.
- Experience working with Unreal Engine animation systems such as Animation Blueprints, Blend Spaces, Montages, and skeletal animation.
- Strong debugging and problem-solving skills with the ability to investigate issues spanning code and animation content.
- Experience collaborating directly with Animators, Designers, Technical Artists, and other Engineers.
- Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
Plus if...
- Experience with AAA, open-world, or large-scale 3D games.
- Experience developing Unreal Engine editor tools or animation pipeline tools.
- Experience with gameplay animation techniques such as motion matching, motion warping, procedural animation or physical animation.
- Familiarity with motion capture pipelines and animation data processing.
- Experience profiling and optimizing animation systems on console hardware.
Description
- Full-time job with benefits.
- Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.
- Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.
The base pay range for this position is $120,000 to $150,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
Skills Required
- 3+ years of professional experience as an Animation Engineer, Gameplay Engineer, or similar video game industry role
- Strong C++ programming skills
- Experience developing real-time game systems
- Professional experience working with Unreal Engine
- Strong understanding of real-time character animation, including animation blending, state machines, locomotion, inverse kinematics, and animation-driven gameplay
- Experience with Unreal Engine animation systems such as Animation Blueprints, Blend Spaces, Montages, and skeletal animation
- Strong debugging and problem-solving skills across code and animation content
- Experience collaborating with Animators, Designers, Technical Artists, and Engineers
- Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset
- Experience developing animation systems for AAA, open-world, or large-scale 3D games
- Experience with Unreal Engine 5 technologies such as Control Rig, Motion Warping, Pose Search, or Motion Matching
- Experience with procedural animation, inverse kinematics, runtime rigging, or physical animation
- Experience developing Unreal Engine editor tools or animation pipeline tools
- Familiarity with motion capture pipelines and animation data processing
- Experience profiling and optimizing animation systems on console hardware
- Experience with traversal, combat, locomotion, or contextual character interaction animation systems
- Familiarity with Python or other scripting languages used in animation or content pipelines
What We Do
Absurd Ventures is an entertainment company creating new IP across all mediums including video games, live-action and animated TV, film, fiction podcasts, books, comic books and more. Absurd Ventures’ original properties include the sci-fi thriller universe “A Better Paradise”, the crime fiction universe “American Caper,” and the comedy satire universe “Absurdaverse”. The company has already launched a chart-topping audio fiction series set in the “A Better Paradise” universe and will be debuting an American Caper comics series and Absurdaverse animation projects in 2025. Founded by Dan Houser, Absurd Ventures is headquartered in Santa Monica, with additional studio offices in Marin, CA. Storytelling. Philanthropy. Ultraviolence.
