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Lead Animator
1 year ago
Proletariat, Inc. is seeking a Lead Animator to join us in our work on World of Warcraft. In this role, you will guide, support, inspire, and manage Animators as they animate the characters and creatures of WoW. You will help to uphold our creative vision and quality bar for exciting animations, and offer insightful and creative guidance. Set an example for our team with your lively animations, mastery of tools, and understanding of art pipeline and production processes. You are an organized time manager, problem solver, originator of process, partner to other leads, team morale booster, a patient and empathetic communicator and listener, and an out-of-the-box thinker.
Responsibilities:
- Be the voice for the Proletariat Animation team to the wider Proletariat and Blizzard teams.
- Work with the Art Directors and other Art Leads to shape and uphold direction and vision for WoW's animations, communicate it to the team, and set the tone for animation with sophisticated technique
- Mentor, motivate, collaborate with, and guide animators; amplify their strengths, review their work on technical and aesthetic bases, and stay aware of their workloads
- Provide guidance in animation processes and instruct the team regarding new processes and software to match project needs
- Create prototype animations and other benchmark assets
- Be a driving force in creating a welcoming and respectful atmosphere for collaboration, communication, and creativity, with an emphasis on the values of diversity and inclusion.
- Assist in running the day-to-day workflow and create and maintain process documentation for animation-related processes.
- Monitor and account for the needs of 3D modeling, rigging, and design to ensure clean handoff for assets
- Contribute to management of creative feedback loop for animation.
- Establish clear and consistent schedules in conjunction with Producers, and identify potential problems in the art pipeline and work with other project leads to prevent them.
- Interview, hire, and train new team members in collaboration with the Recruitment team.
Your Background:
- Extensive experience animating for video games or film with some leadership or mentorship experience
- Extensive experience animating a variety of characters and creatures in an innovative, appealing style; displays a strong sense of anatomy and animation principles
- In-depth understanding of Maya and equivalent visual effects packages, proficient working with joints and locators, keyframing, and rigid/soft body simulations
- In-depth knowledge of technology, terminology, and techniques of game art development, including an awareness of design and programming considerations
- Positively influences team morale and empowers team members, able to clearly communicate expectations and rally team around an objective.
- Leads with empathy, strong ethics, flexibility, confidence, self-awareness, and the ability to see all sides of complex situations.
- Able to communicate artistic issues to non-artists; strong presentation skills
- Brings creativity and initiative to both preproduction and production concept tasks and adapts swiftly to new themes and directions
- Ability to provide oversight to multiple timelines, self-manage and meet deadlines, able to work unsupervised for long periods and able to supervise others.
- Rigging and/or 3D Modeling experience a bonus.
- Experience animating in both 2D and 3D a bonus.
Send us
- Resume/CV
- Cover Letter
- Link to your portfolio
What we offer
- Healthcare, dental, and vision, most of which are 100% sponsored by Proletariat to cover you and your family.
- Flexible PTO Policy with a focus on minimum time away, rather than maximum.
- 401K plan with generous matching contributions.
- Wellness reimbursements and discounts
- Flexible working hours.
- Our office is currently still remote , but we look forward to moving to an optional hybrid model in the future. If you’re based outside of the Boston-area and you’re not looking to relocate, we understand! Just let us know your situation during your phone screen conversation, and we’ll see if we can accommodate making a remote hire!
EEO Statement
Proletariat values a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
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