About the role
Company Mission
To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers.
Job Overview
Role: Senior Technical Animator
Project: The Witcher 4
Contract Type: 6-month fixed-term employment contract (temporary position covering the absence of an existing team member)
Location: Warsaw (Office-First or Remote-First within +/- 3 hours of Warsaw time zone)
Responsibilities
- Implement, refactor, and stabilize character animation systems within Unreal Engine 5's Unreal Animation Framework (UAF/AnimNext), utilizing editor-based graph and node workflows.
- Manage core architecture, locomotion state machines, animation overlays, and physics-driven animation.
- Take ownership of existing and partially implemented systems to improve reliability, performance, and reusability across NPCs, humanoid enemies, and monsters.
- Develop and maintain animation features including hit reactions, procedural look-at, inverse kinematics (IK), and ragdoll physics.
- Investigate and resolve complex animation bugs, crashes, visual artifacts, and performance issues in collaboration with Animation Programmers and other Technical Animators.
- Support Animators and Designers with animation implementation, content setup, debugging, and tuning.
- Collaborate with other disciplines to integrate animation systems into gameplay and address production requirements.
- Document animation systems and workflows to enable team members to independently maintain solutions.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in Technical Animation, preferably on AAA or large-scale/complex game projects.
- Extensive hands-on experience with Unreal Engine 5 animation systems (Animation Blueprints, state machines, Control Rig, and procedural animation).
- Thorough understanding of character animation, including locomotion, animation layering, inverse kinematics, and physics-driven animation.
- Excellent debugging and problem-solving skills, specifically regarding runtime issues, animation artifacts, and performance bottlenecks.
- Proven ability to quickly understand and take ownership of unfamiliar technical systems.
- Solid understanding of animation principles, body mechanics, and technical requirements of in-game character animation.
- Working knowledge of Blueprints and ability to read/navigate C++ code.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical topics to diverse stakeholders.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience with Unreal Engine's AnimNext / Unreal Animation Framework (UAF), particularly modular animation graphs and UAF nodes.
- Experience implementing animation systems for humanoid enemies, creatures, or monsters.
- Experience with Unreal Engine's StateTrees, Physics Assets, Physics Control, and Motion Matching.
- Experience migrating or refactoring existing animation systems to new frameworks.
- Experience working effectively in agile, cross-disciplinary game development teams.
Working Conditions
- Office-First: Minimum of 10 days per month in the Warsaw office.
- Remote-First: Possible from within +/- 3 hours away from Warsaw time zone.
- Environment: Truly international; dog-friendly; no dress code; sustainable campus with green zones, bicycle facilities, and electric car charging.
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary: 23 700 – 40 700 PLN gross monthly.
- Incentives: Eligible for a long-term incentive program (option to purchase CDPR stock after vesting).
- Health: Private medical healthcare (partner/relative access), dental care, unlimited rehabilitation, annual cancer prevention screenings, and psychological/psychiatrist support.
- Insurance: Life insurance and comprehensive pension plans.
- Well-being: Sports card, menstrual leave, and various well-being initiatives.
- Family Support: RED Parents Network, childcare benefits, and the RED Summer Camp for Kids.
- Professional Growth: Trainings, lectures, courses, knowledge-sharing, and online tutorials.
- Perks: Welcome pack, cafeteria platform for subscription benefits/vouchers, and newborn gifts.
- Social/Facilities: Regular social events, on-site gym (with climbing wall, yoga, and boxing), and canteens.