About the role
Mission
Activision’s Central Animation Technology Group is seeking an Animation Engineer (Expert-Principal) to join a team focused on the future of animation in gaming. The goal is to make radical improvements to how characters move and behave, delivering believability and style across diverse situations and game modes.
Responsibilities
- Work with animators and other engineers to research, design, prototype, and implement new features to improve character fidelity and believability at scale and complexity.
- Develop and upgrade workflows to allow the efficient building, improvement, and debugging of animation behaviors by animators and engineers.
- Support and proactively collaborate with team members at Activision studios globally.
- Manage priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Take a leading role on projects and work on multiple tech threads with different teams.
Minimum Requirements
- 15+ years of professional programming experience with a focus on skeletal animation.
- Proficiency in C/C++ in multithreaded environments.
- Passion for advancing high-fidelity interactive animation in AAA games.
- Strong 3D math and linear algebra skills.
- Experience working directly on low-level game animation systems.
- Knowledge of animation topics including:
- Inverse kinematics
- Blend trees
- Ragdolls
- State machines
- Secondary motion techniques
- Ability to work on multiple tech threads with different teams.
Extra Points
- Credited on 3 or more AAA game titles for PC or consoles.
- Familiarity with content creation tools such as Maya.
Location and Work Environment
- Flexibility to be based in U.S. or European studios.
- Remote work eligibility included.
- Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.
Compensation and Benefits
- Standard U.S. base pay range: $171,100.00 - $316,576.00 Annual.
- Incentive compensation may be available (not guaranteed).
- New hire compensation is negotiable.
- Relocation assistance may be provided if a geographic move is required.
- Comprehensive benefits:
- Medical, dental, vision, health savings account (HSA), health reimbursement account (HRA).
- Healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts.
- Life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance.
- 401(k) with Company match.
- Tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching.
- Paid holidays, vacation, sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave.
- Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games.
- Voluntary benefit programs: supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance.
Company Information
- Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a global leader in interactive entertainment with franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Candy Crush, and Bubble Witch.
- Committed to creating an inclusive, diverse work environment.
- Equal opportunity employer; does not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
- Accommodations provided for individuals with physical and mental disabilities.