Senior Gameplay Animator

About the job

For over 30 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Our most recent game, The Last of Us Part II, has received over 300 Game of the Year awards and three of our games are among the top 10 highest scored games on the PlayStation 4. As a part of the Naughty Dog legacy, you’ll be continuing the development of extraordinary and enduring experiences for a broad, global range of audiences.Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their carefully crafted narratives and attention to detail. We have spent the last decade+ curating some of the top gameplay animators and technical minds in the industry. This group of individuals is what allows us to create characters with the fidelity and believability that we put into games including The Last of Us and Uncharted series.We are looking for experienced senior level gameplay animators to help us continue setting the standard of interactive animation for our latest project. If you are detail oriented and comfortable in the AAA game space and want to be part of groundbreaking visual quality and tech, you may just be the Dog we’re looking for!

‍Responsibilities

• Ability to create high quality animation content in Maya and implement them correctly in our Naughty Dog engine
• Concept, collaborate, and prototype ideas through mood boards and investigative animations.
• Craft gameplay animations for a broad range of creatures of varied types to a high standard of realism for the game.
• Help mentor and grow other animators’ abilities
• Serve as a positive role model for the team to follow in demeanor, ability, proactivity, communication, and productivity within the department
• Work with design and engineering to create new exciting, mind blowing systemic animations
• Be involved with directing motion capture shoots
• Learn and understand how Naughty Dog gameplay systems work
• Be able to work with any system using the most efficient practices
• Ability to use the engine debug tools to solve gameplay problems and work with designers and programmers to find a solution
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed
  
  
  

Requirements & Skills

• Minimum of 1 shipped AAA game as a Senior Gameplay Animator (or equivalent)
• Minimum of 5 years working in the video-games industry
• Produce very high-quality animation.
• Proficient command of weight, timing, and posing through both keyframing and the manipulation of motion capture data
• High comfort level with learning and utilizing animation systems and game engine pipelines
• Strong understanding of creature animation and mechanics.
• A strong grasp of physical motion, weight, balance, texture and form.
• Experience with prototype/quick iteration environments.
• Efficiency and organization in workflow
• Provide accurate and clear feedback for others
• Passion for opening up the boundaries of interactive character animation
• Ability to plan, setup, and direct motion capture shoots independently and efficiently
• Good general technical knowledge of how games work
• Must be comfortable using a script editor
• Excellent problem solver / fire fighter
• Highly motivated and proactive with a CAN DO attitude
• Inspire teamwork and collaboration across the department
• Proactive communicator within animation and other departments
• Take ownership of assignments and proactively identifies new tasks to tackle
• Finish tasks quickly. Is an expert at prioritization and letting others know when priorities must change
• Never finds themselves idle and is always proactively finding useful things to work on to progress the company and team
• Deep knowledge of Maya: layers, time/trax editor, mocap tools
• In engine animation layering knowledge
• Familiar with one of the modern animation systems: Unreal, Morpheme, Unity, etc.
  
  
  

Bonus Skills

• Python knowledge
• C, C#, or C++ knowledge
  
  
  

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an animation test.Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression, and gender reassignment), race (including color, nationality, ethnic, national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees, and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.In addition, this role may be eligible for bonus and SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products.Please note depending on employment type these benefits may vary.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.$125,700—$188,500 USD