Senior Technical Designer in Animation

WHAT MAKES US EPIC? At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating. Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development. ART What We Do Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire. What You'll Do Epic Games is looking for a Senior Technical Designer in Animation (TDiA) to join our team working across various animation systems. As a TDiA, you will use your animation sense and technical understanding of character animation to design and create gameplay animation systems that facilitate appealing, high-quality character motion. You will be the primary point of contact for animation implementation issues and any animation-related technical challenges, and you will work closely with Animation, Design, and Engineering colleagues to ensure the animation pipeline operates smoothly and efficiently. You will also help identify potential issues and deploy correct solutions, using your technical knowledge to help bridge and facilitate communication between the animation team and other departments. In this role, you will • Create animation behavior tools/techniques/philosophies that allow the building of complex movement systems • Design and implement animation state machines/behaviors and runtime solutions • Work closely with the Animation, Design, and Engineering departments to analyze, troubleshoot, and solve in-game animation implementation issues and animation-related technical challenges • Closely collaborate with the animation leadership to maintain the style and quality bar for animations in the game • Look for opportunities to improve the animation pipeline/workflow and help provide solutions for technical animation problems, including performing training and creating documentation for the animation team What we're looking for • A strong animation sense with a clear understanding of realistic and stylized character motion and how to achieve them with modern animation methods • Expertise with animation pipelines, including source content creation tools such as Maya, MotionBuilder, and the Unreal Engine, using our Control Rig toolset • Exceptional problem-solving ability with strong written communication and teamwork skills • Familiarity with gameplay animation tools and concepts, such as blend trees and state machines; experience with Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints is a plus • Experience with AAA game development, preferably on a large team using an established game engine (internal or commercial); experience with Unreal Engine is a plus • Self-motivation, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work independently • Coding knowledge or experience with C++ is not required This role is open to multiple locations across the US (including CA, NYC, & WA). Pay Transparency Information The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs (subject to the terms of those plans