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Technical Animator

Established in 2019, Sumo Leamington is led by a team of industry veterans with a wealth of experience in the games industry.

With three core specialisms: service-based games, free to play titles and mobile, the team at Sumo Leamington are focussed on creating games which players keep coming back to – day after day, year after year.

As winners of the TIGA Star Employment Award for 2021, recipients of the GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work Award and listed as one of the UK’s 100 Best Large Companies to Work for in 2021, Sumo Digital has enjoyed 18 years of stability and growth since its formation in 2003 and continues to strive for excellence across every single project.

The team at Sumo Leamington is growing, and we’re looking for the industry’s brightest stars to help bring a series of incredible projects to life.

In the role of Technical Animator, you are responsible for ensuring that all animation happens with ease. You’ll be solving technical challenges in creating animation for games. Where movements are too complex, for example, they can slow a game down. Or they can take so long to create, that the game becomes too expensive to make. You will be responsible for our motion pipeline from creating custom rigs, optimising workflows with scripts, writing custom tools to keyframe animation.

As a Technical Animator, you will be supporting the needs of the animators by ensuring they have the tools they need to do their jobs. As well as pushing the animation fidelity, you will be controlling the animation pipelines on our games to help us achieve stunning results, whilst keeping efficiency at its peak. The Technical Animator works with both in-house animators and external partners, as well as our engineers. Sharing knowledge, producing technical documents and guidelines is an important part of the role too. As an experienced animator, you will be creating the backbone of the games motion pipeline, by working closely with designers and art directors to previz and conceptualise the movements of the game to help sell the vision of the game to the team and our partners alike.

We're looking for someone who has a broad range of skills and a lot of industry experience, by understanding and executing animation (keyframes and mocap) you will spot potential animation problems, research new technologies, have conversations and find solutions.

We're looking for someone who has an open and approachable persona with excellent communication skills to help mentor and guide the rest of the art team through practical demonstration. Applicants should have a deep technical understanding of game engines and have previous experience allowing them to own the animation pipeline from source to engine (expertise in Unity is a must). Most of all, we're looking for someone with a positive, can-do attitude.

· Annual Bonus & Annual Salary Reviews

· Electric Car Scheme

· Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme

· Flexible Working

· 27 Days Holiday, including your birthday a duvet day and Christmas

· Holiday ‘buy and sell’ scheme

· 5 Paid Learning Days, including 1 volunteer day per year

· Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses, The Gnomen Workshop, GDC Vault and more

· Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay

· Free Life Assurance - 4x Salary

· Free Income Protection Scheme -up to 75%

· Free Dental Insurance

· Supportive Employee Assistance Programme with confidential 24/7/365 helpline & app

· Access remote GP, Mental Health, Physio appointments & medical second opinions

· Additional flexible benefits scheme

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Mental Health First Aiders

· Payroll Giving Scheme

· Game & Book Libraries

· Long service & project completion awards

· Wrap Parties

· Alternative Travel Prize Draw

· The Sumo GameJam

· Great family events

· Studio clubs, inc. running, board games, film…

· Life Drawing

· Yoga Classes

· Free fruit and drinks

· Employee Referral Bonus

· Career Development

· Relocation Support to the UK

· Visa Sponsorship

At Sumo, we want to enable everyone to bring their full, authentic selves to work every single day. We acknowledge that the games industry is far from perfect and a global organisation with people all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, we know it’s part of our duty to provide everyone at Sumo with a safe, accepting and affirming working environment.

We encourage and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Sumo Leamington is situated just outside of the town centre and was recently awarded the Games Industry BIZ Best Diversity Award – a testament to its ongoing commitment to creating a home for everyone. The Studio features many onsite facilities – everything needed for the team to create the world’s best games!

Ranked the happiest town to live in two official polls, Leamington Spa is a hidden gem nestled amongst the stunning countryside of Warwickshire and remains a hotspot for talented individuals and creative minds within the games industry. Those living in Leamington Spa can enjoy:

o Local attractions such as Jepson Gardens and the Royal Pump Rooms

o A rich and diverse culture

o An expansive history and stunning architecture

o Picturesque scenery, outstanding gardens and walking routes

o Beautiful museums and galleries

Sumo Digital is an award-winning international family of studios. Recent releases from Sumo Digital studios include: BAFTA-Award winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Control Ultimate Edition on Google Stadia, Apple Arcade Award-winning Little Orpheus, Hot Shot Racing, WST Snooker and Spyder.