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Zynga (a Take-Two Interactive label) is seeking a Senior Technical Animator to join NaturalMotion's team in London, supporting an unannounced game project. You will work hybrid (2 days/week in office, 3 days remote) alongside the Animation Team to deliver character rigging and technical animation pipelines.
Key Responsibilities:
- Create and maintain rigging and technical animation pipelines for projects
- Implement characters as part of the Animation Team
- Report to the Lead Animator and Art Director
- Own pipeline documentation and communication
Required Expertise:
- Expert knowledge of skeletal pipeline from rigging through character export into game engines, with specialization in mobile limitations (bipedal and non-bipedal characters)
- Expert-level proficiency with Unreal Engine animation systems: debugging, modifying, and building systems from scratch
- Advanced knowledge of retargeting and shared skeleton pipelines (in-engine and external), including retargeting between non-matching skeletons
- Understanding of cloth simulation and dynamics setup in both game engines and 3D software, with knowledge of mobile requirements and constraints
- Proficiency in 3D scripting languages (MEL, Python, MaxScript, etc.)
- Foundational rigging knowledge: bones, IK, splines, blend shapes, skinning, node editing, and Unreal animation blueprints
- Advanced knowledge of industry-standard rigging systems (Advanced Skeleton, Rapid Rig, mGear, etc.)
- Experience building scalable animation systems for diverse mobile devices
Bonus Skills:
- Premium character presentation pipelines and high-value front-end animation systems
- Automated LOD optimization techniques
- Fast-paced seasonal character pipeline delivery
- Facial rigging and game-engine-compatible solutions
- Motion capture cleanup and character application
- Procedural animation systems
- Other technical art areas (shaders, lighting, VFX)
Company Context:
Zynga, founded in 2007 and headquartered in California, is a global leader in interactive entertainment with 6+ billion game downloads across 175+ countries. NaturalMotion (the UK studio) has been recognized as one of the UK's Best Places to Work in games for eight consecutive years.
