Animation Lead

About Star Stable Entertainment

Star Stable Entertainment was founded in 2011, sparked by a desire for a game that could make a difference. Although half of gamers are girls and women, they were under-represented in the gaming industry, both as characters and creators. We dreamed of an epic online world where tween and teen girls could share an amazing experience. And we wanted to challenge how things were done in a male-dominated industry.

The result was Star Stable Online, which has gone on to become the world’s number one horse game with over 21 million registered users across 180 countries. We’re thrilled to welcome fun-loving players to the island of Jorvik, with its breathtaking scenery, beautiful horses, and magical quests. And we’re proud to see each player's special bond with their four-legged friends and the passionate community of Star Stable players.

We continue to champion diverse characters and narratives, encouraging our audience to be their true selves. It’s wonderful to see our dream resonate with so many players around the world, and we can’t wait to share more stories and experiences with them!

The Position

Have you always dreamed of working on an MMO? Are you an animator with several years of experience and want to combine animation deliveries with people management? Then this is the role for you!

We are now on the lookout for an Animation Lead. The Animation Lead at Star Stable is an extension of the Art Director. Where the Art Director is responsible for the overall visual of art and animation, you as an Animation Lead support the team technically and artistically to carry out the vision of the Art Director. You will be the people manager of the animation team, handling 1:1s, salary setting and work with the team on their personal development.

We put a lot of care into our horse animations and the pipeline is very focused on keyframed animations. We are currently not using mocap or AI in any part of the animation process. The animation style is mostly realistic when it comes to the horses with a bit more expressive and loose when it comes to the characters and pets. We animate in Maya and have a proprietary game engine for implementation, which is also part of every artist's every day work.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Art Director, overseeing animation, driving the style forward and collaborating to set long-term animation goals.
• Provide animation direction to the team to ensure that the quality of their work is in line with the Art Directors vision.
• Effectively collaborate with production, design and engineering, ensuring schedules and plans meet business needs.
• Lead and coach the animation team through 1:1 meetings and be the competence lead for the animation craft.
• Help shape and foster closer collaboration between animation, art and design.
• Recruit, onboard and offboard new team members.
• Research new ways to work and improve our pipelines and workflows.
• Spend around 50% of your position doing hands-on animation work.

We believe that you:

• Have several years of experience as an animator in game development.
• Have strong animation skills, demonstrating a thorough understanding of principles of weight and movement.
• Are experienced animating quadrupeds, preferably horses.
• Have strong leadership skills with the ambition to coach and mentor others.
• Are a great communicator, able to work with a range of stakeholders.
• Understand animation pipelines and the technical limitations of working with a proprietary game engine.

Sounds like the role for you? Apply!

At Star Stable Entertainment, you will be a part of a diverse culture with a prioritised work-life balance, and a workforce eager to test and try new things! We are on an adventure to scale our unique impact in the world so if you are excited about making a difference and being part of an exciting journey then we would love to hear from you!