Associate Animation Director

Job Description

Electronic Arts Inc. is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. EA delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets.

Create Animation is one of EA's central teams, responsible for bringing characters and performances to life across all of EA's franchises. Led by veterans from film and game industries, we work on award-winning franchises in partnership with teams like Maxis (The Sims), BioWare (Mass Effect, Dragon Age), Respawn (Jedi: Fallen Order, Apex Legends), EA Sports (FIFA, Madden) and other high profile game teams! We work on a diverse catalog of games across many different animation styles, from realistic to stylized, from humans to creatures.

The Senior Animator we are looking for will need to have expert level keyframe animation skills. Additionally, you will need to be comfortable shooting their own video reference, design core poses that convey the story and polish the animation to expected high quality benchmarks set by the team.

• This is a 12-month temporary assignment

You will:

• Report to Development Director and work with the Animation Director, Leads & team to maintain high-quality animation and technical delivery expectations for the project.
• Collaborate with diverse teams including Design, Production, Engineering, Art, Modeling, VFX, and Audio, to achieve player goals and experience for a product.
• Execute key frame animation with heavy emphasis on full body character acting and performance.
• Shoot video reference, matching believable performance direction with creative vision and style.
• Collaborate with multiple departments including art, tech and production.
• Troubleshoot daily challenges and work with team members to find solutions.
• Contribute to the continued improvements of the techniques and best practices of the animation team and offer mentorship where applicable.
• Ensure all work is clean and organized with regards to assets within each file and file structure and storage.
• Accept feedback and critiques to tailor your work towards the expected game experience.

You have:

• Create feature film quality keyframe animation with heavy emphasis on full body character acting and performance.
• 5+ years of experience as a Senior/Lead Animator in film or AAA game titles.
• Expert keyframe animation ability combined with an excellent understanding of traditional animation principles and fundamentals.
• Mastery of high-end animation software packages like Maya.
• Understand or hands-on experience with animation state flows and blending trees in game engines such as Unity or Unreal.
• Animation background, degree in Fine Arts or Computer Animation.

Pluses:

• Knowledge of MEL, Python or other scripting languages.
• Experience with facial and body motion capture processes.
• Experience in Perforce and Shotgrid tools.
• Enjoy playing games.