Senior Technical Animator

Eleventh Hour Games is a fast growing studio, focused on a passion for top-down action RPGs. We value open communication, close-knit teamwork, and opportunity for ownership and growth! Our mission is to gather and empower the next generation of creators to forge extraordinary games. Extraordinary games build passionate communities, which create passionate people. Passionate people turn into next year's creators. With our breakout title Last Epoch, we are moving fast into the next round of adventure! THE OPPORTUNITY: As Senior Technical Animator, you will own the pipelines, rigs, tools, and runtime systems that enable high-quality character animation from DCC through engine. This is a deeply hands-on role focused on building scalable animation workflows, supporting efficient production, and ensuring animation systems are responsive, performant, and reliable in game. You will work closely with animation, engineering, design, and art to solve technical challenges, improve workflows, and raise the overall quality bar for character animation for our studio. RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design, build, and maintain animation pipelines and workflows from DCC tools through in engine implementation
• Develop tools and systems that improve animator efficiency, iteration speed, and consistency
• Create and maintain high quality character rigs, including deformation systems and control rigs
• Implement and own animation systems in engine, including state machines, blending systems, and runtime behaviors
• Build and support automation systems for NPC animation, including scalable and reusable solutions
• Collaborate with engineering to develop performant animation systems and tools
• Optimize animation systems for runtime performance, memory usage, and scalability across large numbers of characters
• Support motion capture pipelines, including ingestion, cleanup workflows, and integration into the game
• Research and implement modern animation techniques such as motion matching, procedural animation, and runtime IK systems
• Debug and troubleshoot animation issues across the pipeline, from rigging to runtime
• Define and enforce best practices for animation setup, naming conventions, data structures, and workflows
• Partner closely with animators, designers, and engineers to ensure animation systems meet gameplay and visual goals
• Identify risks in animation systems and pipelines, and proactively propose solutions
• Contribute to pushing the visual and technical boundaries of character animation within the project

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 5+ years of experience as a Technical Animator or similar role in game development
• Strong experience building and maintaining animation pipelines and tools
• Deep understanding of rigging, skinning, and deformation systems for characters
• Proven experience implementing animation systems in real time game engines
• Strong understanding of runtime animation systems such as state machines, blending, IK, and procedural techniques
• Experience optimizing animation for performance and scalability
• Proficiency in scripting or programming (Python or similar) for tool and pipeline development
• Experience working with motion capture pipelines and data integration
• Strong debugging and problem solving skills across both DCC tools and engine environments
• Ability to collaborate effectively with engineering, animation, and design teams
• Self driven with strong ownership over systems and long term pipeline health

PREFERRENCES:

• Experience with advanced animation techniques such as motion matching or machine learning-driven animation systems
• Experience building tools for large teams or live projects
• Familiarity with facial rigging and animation systems
• Experience supporting large numbers of NPCs or crowd systems
• Understanding of physics driven animation or simulation systems
• ARPG game development experience

Reasonable Accommodation KRAFTON Americas is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, the Company will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to apply for an open position, perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the HR Talent team at KRAFTON Americas, to begin the interactive process. EEOC statement KRAFTON Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Due to recent scams, our recruiters will only reach out to you via @eleventhhour.games, @sds.com, @krafton.com, @unknownworlds.com or @pubg.com. If you received an email and are unsure you can always email [email protected]. Apply To This Job