Technical Animation Director

Job Description

Ubisoft's 19,000 team members, working across more than 30 countries around the world, are bound by a common mission to enrich players' lives with original and memorable gaming experiences. Their commitment and talent have brought to life many acclaimed franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Just Dance, Rainbow Six, and many more to come. Ubisoft is an equal opportunity employer that believes diverse backgrounds and perspectives are key to creating worlds where both players and teams can thrive and express themselves. If you are excited about solving game-changing challenges, cutting edge technologies and pushing the boundaries of entertainment, we invite you to join our journey and help us create the unknown.

Job Description

With a high-level understanding of the capabilities of our technology combined with your visibility on the project as a whole, as a technical animation director at Ubi MTL, you provide expert insight, tools, and support to steer a game – and its creators – towards success.

Unafraid to innovate, you establish an actionable plan to bridge the gap between coming up with ideas and putting them into practice. Though every day of development brings a mix of expected and unforeseen challenges, you never lose sight of the big picture. As a strategic thinker and tactical planner, you balance short-term priorities with long-term goals while consistently considering the future impacts of your choices.

What you'll do
• Collaborate with other core team members to develop the overall vision & determine technical feasibility;
• Review game design concepts + identify and analyze risks (engine, memory, frame rate, etc.);
• Work closely with programmers to assess existing animation and rigging tools + occasionally design custom ones to improve pipelines;
• Support animators, game designers, and riggers with their technical needs + informatively and constructively explain the root causes of risks, blockers, etc.
• Train team members on tools and techniques + raise awareness of new processes;
• Resolve complex, escalated issues & make technical validations;
• Prepare post-mortems + recommend cost- and time-efficient solutions to evolve our animation content & tech;
• Anticipate technological advancements and stay up to date on market trends to define our best practices + share them with our studios and the industry;
• Participate in recruitment to build the animation team & foster their professional development.

Qualifications

What you bring
• Around 7 years of animation, rigging, or programming experience (or related experience) + 3 years of leadership;
• In-depth knowledge of game engines (e.g. Unity or Unreal) & 3D software (3DS Max, Maya, and MotionBuilder) + an understanding of scripting languages (e.g. C#, Python, JavaScript, MaxScript), motion capture, and state machines;
• A degree in 3D Animation, Computer Science, or Computer Engineering (or related training);
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, mentorship, time management, organizational, and presentation skills;
• A highly innovative, collaborative, attentive, and solution-oriented spirit;
• Critical thinking, curiosity, resourcefulness, and plenty of flexibility;
• Familiarity with bug tracking software (e.g. Jira) and version management systems (e.g. Perforce);
• A passion for sharing your knowledge and helping others learn and grow.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gm0n12-3-128-202-133-42 in your application.