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Animation Lead

Do you have a passion for breathing life, intention, force and weight into characters that span the realms of this and fantastical other worlds? Are you looking to elevate a project from its conception to its full potential? Do you have the drive and fortitude to define, establish and embody the best practices, workflows and pipelines for your animation team? Can you strategically and creatively inform gameplay and cinematic animation to achieve functional, immersive, satisfying and engaging performances?

Blackbird Interactive is looking for creative minds to help develop a disruptive new game. You will be responsible for driving the creation of exceptional previsualization, gameplay and cinematic animations.

Please include a link to your showreel/portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Explore signature motion motifs for a broad array of characters, creatures and animals
• Develop strongly-supported Creative, Feature and Technical proposals and pitch them effectively to ensure buy-in
• Define and execute full array of motion possibilities to satisfy gameplay criteria
• Identify best approach to author or acquire motion data
• Direct local and external staff with clear, concise and effective guidance and feedback
• Drive critical review process for your team in a positive, respectful and nurturing manner
• Collaborate with Art, Design, Audio, Technical and Creative Directors to achieve powerful play-experiences and an instantly recognizable brand aesthetic
• Partner directly with Sr. Character Artist and Rigging TA to ensure practical and effective solutions for all character types and variations
• Consider and balance technical limitations and opportunities with creative objectives
• Invest in growing your skills, knowledge and experience – step out of your comfort zone

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in an animation leadership role and a current demo reel
• Experience establishing animation projects from concept to launch
• Understanding of gameplay considerations, limitations and implications for animation
• Maya, MotionBuilder, Blender experience or equivalent authoring software
• Collaborative, solutions-oriented, self-directed and accountable

Pluses

• Experience with Unity, Unreal Engine or equivalent game engines
• A deep passion for, and familiarity with, games, their development and history
• Experience planning, directing and processing motion capture sessions and data

At Blackbird, we're all about being true to our roots. We started small in our CEO's garage, and even though we're expanding, our desire is to stick to that foundation of creativity, community, and collaboration. Our team has proved that great ideas can come from any position in any discipline, so it's important to us to make sure every voice is heard.

Work/life balance is extremely important to us, and we've demonstrated that over the years by severely limiting over-time requirements. We want people to be happy about coming to work every day, and to that end we offer lots of opportunities for growth and development; whether it's lunch and learns, team events, or our generous vacation days, paid holiday closure and flexible schedules. We also try to provide every opportunity possible for our employees to spearhead R&D initiatives through our BlackOps program. In short, don't expect to feel like a cog in a machine working for BBI.

Due to COVID-19, applicants must be eligible to work in Canada, or currently in Canada on a work permit/visa. With the exception of specifically on-site roles, all roles will commence as a work-from-home arrangement. This arrangement will be revisited as COVID-19 government regulations are eased.

If you are interested in the role, please apply even if your experience and skills don’t perfectly match our ideal credentials. We are committed to diversity and especially encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply. As an equal opportunity employer we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. BBI does not discriminate against applicants based on genders, races, national and ethnic origins, religions, ages, sexual orientation, marital and family status, and/or mental or physical disabilities.