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Animation Director

Job Description

When you’re an Animation Director at Ubi MTL at the Helix team, you define how characters, environments, and objects will move within a world that’s stylistically believable and consistent.

You shape a cinematic's overall animation vision and rally your team of animators behind it. You give them the guidance and context they need to grasp the overall style you’re trying to achieve, and then allow them the freedom to experiment and iterate.

While your animators build a world from the ground up, you keep an eye on form and function from a player's perspective, ensuring that the look and feel of movement reach their intentions: to support the animation in cinematics, convey the narrative, create a connection, and make for an immersive, engaging, seamless experience.

What you’ll do

• Work closely with your fellow core team members to unify your visions for the production of the game's cinematics;
• Brainstorm and research to define the animation style;
• Connect riggers and animators to the animation vision by providing them with visual benchmarks, references, and training;
• Partner with technical directors to establish pipelines and workflows + select tools to achieve aesthetic quality and technical functionality;
• Cast actors + guide them during mocap sessions;
• Test the game (very often) to get a sense of the animations’ feedback and a feel for the game in general;
• Sync up with collaborative teams (especially game design, art, and narrative) to ensure a cohesive cinematic;
• Review and validate integrated work + provide mentorship and constructive feedback to develop a polished, harmonious, quality visual animation style;
• Participate in recruitment to build and grow your team + foster their professional development.

Qualifications

What you bring

• Animation-related experience + Leadership experience;
• Deep-rooted knowledge of animation software like Motion Builder, 3DS Max, and Maya;
• An understanding of game engines (e.g. Unity or Unreal) and technical constraints;
• A thorough grasp of interdependencies + consideration for how your choices impact other departments;
• A degree in 3D Animation, Computer Graphics, or related training ;
• Extensive video game culture + a keen eye for detail to take animation to the next level;
• Flexibility to adapt to and overcome any hurdles and curveballs that come your way;
• The ability to make a vision accessible and ensure that it is well understood by all;
• Solid communication, presentation, mentorship, and interpersonal skills
• A collaborative, creative, and innovative spirit.

Just a heads up: If you require a work permit, your eligibility may depend on your education and years of relevant work experience, as required by the government.

What to send our way

• Your CV, highlighting your experience, education, skills, and any games shipped

About us

Creating the unknown since 1997. At Ubisoft Montreal, we’re united by a common goal: to enrich players’ lives with original and memorable gaming experiences. We develop iconic franchises that engage millions around the world, like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, For Honor, Rainbow Six, Watch Dogs – and, well, we can’t disclose all our secrets just yet.

Our biggest strength is – and always will be – our people: the immensely talented team members surrounding, supporting, and producing the high-quality games that have made our studio what it is today.

When you join Ubi MTL, you’ll discover a workplace that sparks inspiration and connection: an environment with a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We offer a collaborative space that provides career advancement, a host of learning opportunities, and meaningful benefits centred on well-being. Here, our shared desire to dream big, take risks, and constantly improve contributes to the innovation and boundary-pushing that ultimately leads to our collective success.