Contract Technical Animator

Mob Entertainment is a startup multimedia studio that is best known for our hit indie horror game " Poppy Playtime" . This franchise is one of the hottest new properties in gaming, and our team is naturally expanding as our ambition expands. To give a taste of our brand's popularity, more than 100 billion YouTube views of Poppy Playtime related content have occurred since the game's launch 4 years ago. Mob Entertainment is a mid-sized game studio focused on crafting memorable, atmospheric, and emotionally impactful gameplay experiences. We specialize in immersive worlds where tension, storytelling, and player agency come together to create unforgettable moments. Our team develops primarily in Unreal Engine and collaborates using Jira and Confluence to ship high-quality games with production discipline and creative ambition. Role Overview We are looking for a Contract Technical Animator to bridge the gap between animation and engineering in video games. In this role, you will design and maintain animation systems, develop tools and pipelines, and work closely with animators, designers, and engineers to ensure high-quality character movement and performance in-game. You will help define animation workflows and technical standards while ensuring that animation assets integrate seamlessly into the game engine.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain animation systems, rigs, automated lip sync systems, and runtime solutions within the game engine.
• Build tools and pipelines that improve the efficiency of animation workflows.
• Collaborate with animators to ensure rigs, skeletons, and animation assets perform optimally in-game.
• Work with gameplay engineers to integrate animation features and systems.
• Optimize animation assets for performance, memory, and runtime stability.
• Troubleshoot and resolve animation and rigging issues across the pipeline.
• Support motion capture integration, retargeting, and procedural animation systems when needed.
• Establish and document best practices for animation pipelines and technical workflows.
• Mentor junior technical animators and support the broader animation team with technical challenges.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in technical animation and rigging within the video game industry.
• Strong experience with Unreal Engine game engine and using control rig and animation inside Unreal.
• Proficiency with Maya or similar DCC tools, including rigging and scripting workflows.
• Experience working with animation state machines, blend trees, and runtime animation systems.
• Understanding of character rigging, skinning, and deformation systems.
• Familiarity with Python, MEL, C++, or Blueprint scripting for tool and pipeline development.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex animation issues.
• Excellent communication skills and experience working cross-discipline with art, design, and engineering teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience with motion capture pipelines and retargeting systems.
• Knowledge of rigging with unreal tooling, procedural animation with control rig, physics-based animation, or IK systems.
• Experience optimizing animation for console or PC performance constraints.
• Animation Experience doing animations
• Shipped at least one AAA or mid-sized studio game title.
• Experience developing animation tools or plugins. The base salary range for this position is listed below. Final compensation within the applicable salary range will be determined based on factors such as the applicant’s experience, qualifications, and work location.

San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; & Seattle, WA Metropolitan Areas: $60 - $72 USD hourly 125-149 All Other U.S. Locations: $53 - $67 USD hourly Mob Entertainment offers the following benefits to all eligible U.S.-based full-time employees: profit sharing; medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) matching; FSA/HSA; paid time off; sick time; holidays; and parental leave. Mob Entertainment is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and complies with all federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, military service, or any other protected class under applicable state or local law. Mob Entertainment also considers all qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with Fair Chance laws as well as any other applicable state and local laws. Apply tot his job Apply To this Job