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Senior Animator

Crystal Dynamics, a part of the Square Enix family, is constantly on the hunt for top-tier gaming talent worldwide. We pride ourselves on attracting and developing the best talent available to concept, create, and contribute to the most exciting projects in gaming today. 25+ years of history creating fun and exciting titles for the world to enjoy as well as our studio’s 1000+ years of combined game industry experience provides a rich tapestry of tested and new ideas to draw from as has established us as one of the best studios in the world to work for.

Position Summary:

Crystal Dynamics is looking for an outstanding and experienced Lead Animator with a jaw dropping reel to fill a major role for our team. In this position, you will demonstrate a thorough understanding of a variety of animation systems, ensuring an exciting immersive experience with our community in a multiplayer environment. Crystal Dynamics seeks team players who are passionate about playing and creating world class games.

Position Responsibilities:

• Oversee overall game animation in a multiplayer setting
• Provide day-to-day task management, creative direction and inspiration to the animation team to achieve the Game Director's vision
• Collaborate on schedules, commit to deliverables and manage animation team to achieve goals
• Ensure an open communication flow between animation team and excellent cross-departmental communication and effective problem solving
• Continually refine processes and pipelines for performant animations
• Stay current on industry trends in animation, rigging, modeling, texturing
• Lead prototyping and proof of concept efforts in a hands-on capacity
• Assist recruitment in expanding animation team through all development cycles

Competencies, Skills & Knowledge:

• Able to document art process and track tasks throughout game development cycle
• Good communication skills and ability to manage stressful situations
• Ability to work with strict deadlines and to accurately quantify volumes of work
• Strong team player with a positive attitude and the ability to collaborate across disciplines, working towards common goals
• Knowledge of systemic gameplay animation supporting snappy combat and responsive controls

Position Requirements:

• 7+ years gameplay-based character animation, preferably in a multiplayer environment
• 2+ years as a Lead or a Senior with leadership responsibilities
• Strong understanding of the fundamentals of traditional animation
• Personal or professional proficiency in Maya

Pluses :

• Working knowledge of character creation (mesh, texturing, skinning, IK) a plus
• Blueprints, or Unity3d Animation graphs is a huge plus
• Knowledge of MEL scripting a plus
• Experience with motion capture is a plus

Special note:

Though this is an animation position, this team values well-rounded artists. A portfolio that shows strong character drawing, meshing and texturing skills, along with knock-out animation is a major plus.

**All candidates must have prior animation experience, so a working reel is required to showcase ability to create high quality animation.**

Crystal Dynamics is an EOE and M/F/D/V Employer.