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Senior Animator

A leader in creating deep and engaging experiences on PC and mobile, Jagex was founded in 2001 and is today one of the UK’s biggest and most respected video game developers and publishers.

Famed for its flagship MMOs RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, Jagex has welcomed more than 260million player accounts to its world and created a $1bn lifetime franchise revenue. Today the RuneScape franchise exists beyond running games in live operations; our titles are living games that connect and inspire millions of players, with content and experiences both inside and outside of inexhaustible game worlds.

Both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, on PC and mobile, offer ever-evolving, highly-active worlds and our community-focussed development ethos empowers players to have a real say in how each game is shaped.

Jagex is expanding and extending its portfolio with fresh franchise titles, new IP and, in 2018 launched Jagex Partners, delivering third-party publishing and operational services exclusively for the living games of the future.

Jagex employs more than 400 people at its Cambridge headquarters and is on the hunt for talented people to work across the business to help the company to achieve yet another year of record growth and player satisfaction.

Senior animators are responsible for delivering animations that support gameplay mechanics and narrative sequences in a game. They breathe life into characters and creatures covering all actions and behaviours the game requires. They are problem solvers, creative thinkers who iterate rapidly, exploring ideas and approaches always understanding that animation services gameplay. They work carefully within rule-sets to ensure the animations meet the design requirements and technical requirements, whilst also delivering actions and performances that entertain and delight players.

A senior will be expected to create and implement benchmark quality 3D animation of product, meeting the animation direction criteria and following technical restrictions. They benchmark the animation quality bar and provide artistic and technical guidance / mentor-ship to achieve it. Seniors have experience of successfully defining and documenting efficient animation and technical workflows for others to follow. Seniors collaborate with key stakeholders throughout development to ensure the highest quality in game animation is being achieved. They rely on experience to predict production / pipeline challenges and offer techniques and approaches to help navigate the best course forward.

Seniors must demonstrate an all-round ability to reliably and autonomously solve problems with great organizational, scheduling, and mentor-ship skills. They must show an ability to look more broadly at product development and strategize accordingly within their discipline. Overall, they are expected to take on a higher level of responsibility for the quality and timely delivery of complex tasks on their project.

Key Duties:

• Responsible for the delivery of benchmark quality in-game animation, using motion capture data or creating hand key animation
• Provide support to the Lead Animator in supervising animation production / quality standards and provide feedback and critique to juniors
• Collaborate with Tech Art and Code to ensure animation pipelines and tools are effective, optimal and capable of delivery
• Work independently prototyping, problem solving and animation R&D
• Show flexibility and resourcefulness when creating or designing animation assets
• Plan for working smart creating opportunity for reuse and shared animations where appropriate
• Assist the Lead Animator in planning and helping on motion capture sessions
• Support, promote and build good team and studio morale in an open, creative environment
• Together with Lead Animator contribute toward the animation recruitment process
• Assist the Lead Animator with delivering feedback / correspondence to outsource partners or freelancers as required

Essential Skills:

• Passion for animation in games
• Player / product focussed animation thinking
• Excellent understanding of animation principles fundamentals
• Good technical understanding of current / future animation trends
• Experience with unreal engine
• At least one shipped title in similar role
• Ability to pitch ideas and give feedback to other members of the team
• Ability to breakdown animation problems if something isn’t working and then present solutions to those problems
• Good communication skills, effective at working with different disciplines
• Can deliver high-quality animations on time, and within scope
• Highly organized and process driven, independent problem solver

Bonus Skills:

• Experience with the Open World Survival Craft genre
• Experience with Unreal 5

- Flexible Working

- Bonus Scheme

- Private Health Care

- Gym Membership

- Generous Pension Contributions

- Life Insurance

- Free Cycle Repair

- Income Protection

- Dental Plan

- Free Fruit and Drinks

- Subsidised Canteen

Feel like you fit this role, but don’t meet all the requirements? We strive for fresh perspectives, so as long as you can demonstrate how your attitude and other abilities might make up for any gaps we would welcome your application!

Jagex are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.