Senior Animator

At Pixaera, we’re a passionate team of builders who are dedicated to delivering solutions that empower people. Today, we’re leveraging Ai and gamification to build a vertical platform that is centered around improving the safety readiness of frontline workers in any high risk industry. If you are a doer who thrives in a dynamic, mission-focused environment, join us!

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Animator who can take ownership of our character animation pipeline end-to-end. Our characters are grounded in real-world human roles - primarily blue-collar and construction-industry workers - so animations must feel authentic, physical, weight-accurate, and believable.

You will work across Unreal Engine 5.6, Metahuman pipelines, lip-sync workflows, and retargeting systems to polish existing animation libraries and help generate new motion assets.

This is a hands-on leadership role with responsibility for quality control, animation polish, technical troubleshooting, and mentoring junior animators.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the full character animation pipeline inside Unreal Engine 5.6

• Polish and refine raw mocap and hand-keyed animations to meet production quality

• Retarget animations across rigs, body types, and Metahuman characters

• Implement lipsync workflows (using Metahuman Animator, UE toolchains, or 3rd-party solutions)

• Work closely with designers and directors to ensure animations match real-world worker behaviors, gestures, tools, and constraints

• Manage and maintain animation libraries, naming conventions, and documentation

• Review and mentor junior artists, providing technical and aesthetic feedback

• Collaborate with technical artists on rigging, retarget assets, IK setups, and physics-based motion

• Ensure performance-ready animation for real-time environments

• Identify workflow improvements, automation, and plug-ins to accelerate production
  

Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of professional character animation experience (games, real-time, VFX, or simulation)

• Strong working knowledge of Unreal Engine 5.6 animation tools (Sequencer, IK Retargeter, Control Rig, Metahuman Animator, Take Recorder)

• Proven ability to polish and finalize animation cycles - body mechanics, facial performance, weight & timing, emotional cues

• Experience retargeting mocap data across character types and rigs

• Hands-on experience working with Metahumans - import, setup, facial rigs, and grooming adjustments

• Demonstrated ability to achieve accurate lipsync performance using UE tools or external services

• Strong understanding of human biomechanics, especially physically demanding/body-weight-based actions

• Comfortable directing and critiquing the work of other animators

• Excellent communication, time-management, and cross-disciplinary collaboration skills

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• Experience animating construction workers, industrial labor, or realistic occupational motion

• Background working with motion capture (optical or inertial)

• Understanding of hard-hat gear, tool usage, ladders, lifts, safety equipment, etc.

• Knowledge of FBX workflows, Maya, Blender, MotionBuilder, Audio-to-Face tools, Live Link Face, etc.

• Experience shipping a real-time product (game, simulation, training app, VR, etc.)

Who You Are

You bring:

• An eye for believability over fantasy

• A taste for subtle human details

• Pride in clean pipelines and optimized workflows

• Excitement about representing real workers with respect and accuracy

How do we support and benefit our employees?

• 2x company-wide meetups per year to meet and bond with your colleagues.

• All the equipment you need to succeed provided by Pixaera.

• 25 days of company vacation allowance per year in addition to local public holidays. If there is a public holiday that you would rather work, let us know and you can swap it for another day in lieu.

• Competitive stock options.

At Pixaera, we’re committed to building a workplace where everyone feels respected, supported, and empowered to thrive. We believe that diverse perspectives fuel creativity and innovation, which is why we celebrate individuality and foster an environment of inclusion and belonging.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer — discrimination of any kind has no place here. No matter your background, identity, or lived experience, you’re welcome at Pixaera.