Senior Character Technical Artist - Harebrained Schemes Studios (Seattle area)

Harebrained Schemes is looking for a Senior Character Technical Artist for an unannounced horror game featuring turn-based combat with both human and non-human characters.You will work with character modelers, animators, designers, engineers, and producers and be responsible for developing and maintaining animation control systems, rigging, weighting, and retargeting pipelines and processes used by the animation team.

The ideal candidate has shipped multiple Unity-based titles as a character technical artist, who enjoys cross-discipline collaboration across art, engineering and design, and a firm grasp of character art production pipelines based on Maya. In addition, candidates should be familiar with procedural animation techniques such as dynamic IK, ragdoll, cloth, hair, spring bones, etc.

This is a full-time, on-site position at Harebrained Schemes’ offices in Kirkland, Washington.
(Please note that we are currently working from home due to Covid-19. We will return to the office in stages when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, all interviews will be done virtually.)

[Apply Here]

What You’ll Do

  • Design, implement, and maintain efficient character animation and rigging pipelines that meet and augment the creative goals of our projects.
  • Supervise integration of animation assets into the game engine.
  • Create and modify state machine logic and other animation control systems.
  • Integrate appropriate real-time solutions such as dynamic bone chains, cloth, hair, IK, ragdoll, etc
  • Troubleshoot and solve technical art production issues related to rigging and animation.
  • Work with our engineering team to develop tools, scripts, and plugins as needed to streamline art workflows, and to source off-the shelf solutions when appropriate.
  • Collaborate with and train artists on character pipeline tools.
  • Strive to maximize the character art and animation team’s production performance and predictability through your work.

What You’ll Bring

  • You have professional experience in the game industry with shipped 3D titles using Unity
  • You have strong practical understanding of animation logic: node graphs, animation trees and similar engine editors and technology
  • You know how to budget and design for performant animation systems without sacrificing overall visual quality.
  • You’re comfortable implementing a full animation pipeline from end to end.
  • You’re comfortable with scripting in Unity and Maya.
  • You can give clear, actionable verbal and written art feedback that adds real value.

Nice to Haves

  • Experience animating melee and armed combat.
  • Experience organizing and running mocap shoots.
  • Experience with facial rigging and animation.
  • Motion Matching and physics-based animation systems.
  • Experience with both keyframe and motion-capture animation.
  • C# and Python coding experience.
  • Experience with MotionBuilder
  • Experience working with modular character creation systems.

Employment Eligibility Requirement
Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident and not require Visa sponsorship to be eligible.

What to Expect at HBS

All HBS employees

  • Contribute respectfully with empathy, emotional intelligence and self-awareness
  • Can work collaboratively in a team as well as independently
  • Are able to be self-directed in their work and learning
  • Bring a growth mindset to the work they do

Working at HBS Means

  • Work-life balance: a work family that doesn’t replace your family-family
  • Flexible workday hours and work-from-home opportunities
  • Time off when you need it: a wellness-first and family-first mindset
  • High transparency and easy access to studio leadership

HBS Benefits

  • Generous medical, dental, vision, EAP, FSA, and both short & long-term disability
  • Paid vacation time
  • Paid sick time
  • Paid holidays including the week between Christmas and New Years Day
  • Matching 401(k) program
  • Annual profit-sharing from Paradox Interactive
  • Easy access off I-405 and free parking
  • Skilled, passionate, and fun co-workers
  • Pet-friendly office

You should apply to work at HBS if you want to

Make amazing game experiences with co-workers who are just as passionate about their craft as you are

Be part of a project small enough (30-45 members) for everyone to have a significant impact

Join a warm, inclusive and diverse team, with a respectful and collaborative culture

Evolve and learn with us in a growth-mindset environment

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