Senior Technical Animator

Senior Technical Animator, Defcon Zero | TriArts Games | Remote Join the team building Defcon Zero , a high-fidelity RTS powered by Unreal Engine 5. We are looking for a Senior Technical Animator to own the technical animation pipeline, from production-ready rigs and animation tools to runtime systems inside Unreal Engine 5. You will help define how soldiers, vehicles, mechanical units, and creatures move, fight, and behave, while ensuring every system remains responsive and performant at RTS scale. You will have direct ownership, work closely with both artists and developers, and see your work reflected throughout the final game. What you'll own Runtime animation systems: Animation Blueprints, state machines, montages, notifies, blending, IK, retargeting, and procedural animation Character and unit rigs: Production-ready rigs for humanoids, creatures, vehicles, weapons, and mechanical gameplay assets Gameplay integration: Locomotion, combat animations, hit reactions, unit states, transitions, and animation-driven gameplay events Animation pipeline: Reliable workflows between Maya and Unreal Engine 5, including importing, validation, retargeting, and automation Tools development: Custom tools and scripts that improve iteration speed for animators, artists, and designers Performance and optimisation: Profiling and optimising animation systems for large numbers of simultaneously active RTS units Technical problem-solving: Diagnosing rigging, deformation, animation, export, and runtime issues across the production pipeline Standards and documentation: Establishing scalable technical standards that keep animation production consistent across the project Requirements 5+ years of professional experience in technical animation, character rigging, or runtime animation for games Strong professional experience with Unreal Engine 5 animation systems Advanced knowledge of Animation Blueprints, Control Rig, IK Rig, IK Retargeter, state machines, montages, and animation notifies