Rigging Artist (Maya + Python)

Lakshya, a Keywords Studios company, in India is headquartered in Gurgaon and has a team of over 700 employees spread across studio facilities in Gurgaon, Pune and Seattle, and sales offices in San Diego and Tokyo. Setup in 2004, Lakshya has, over the last 20 years, created a reputation in the game development industry for being a highly talented and dependable game art studio. During this time, Lakshya has created art for over a hundred game titles, including hugely successful global hits such as Bloodborne, Dark Souls II, Just Cause 3, WWE 2K16, Uncharted 2, Farmville and Cityville. Lakshya’s senior team, which comprises of top-notch International and Indian talent, has a huge amount of experience of creating art for different game platforms and genres. Lakshya blends artistic creativity with strong process orientation in order to deliver best in class services. Lakshya works closely with NASSCOM to help in the growth of the game development eco-system in India. For more info, please refer to Lakshya Digital, a Keywords Studio is looking for experienced TechAnim Artists to join our team and work on AAA game Titles. Role Overview We are looking for a highly skilled TechAnim Artist with strong expertise in character rigging, Python tool development, and Unreal Engine. The ideal candidate should have a solid technical foundation and be capable of developing custom rigging tools and automation pipelines while creating high-quality production-ready rigs for games. This role requires a balance of artistic understanding and technical problem-solving to support efficient content creation. Key Responsibilities Design, build, and maintain production-ready rigs for characters, creatures, props, and mechanical assets. Develop and maintain custom rigging and animation tools using Python (MEL is a plus) to improve artist workflows and pipeline efficiency. Create custom biped, quadruped, facial, and mechanical rigs with clean, scalable architectures. Perform manual rigging, skinning, deformation setup, and animation control creation for game-ready assets. Integrate and validate rigs within Unreal Engine, ensuring compatibility with gameplay and animation systems. Collaborate closely with Animators, Technical Artists, Character Artists, and Engineers to resolve rigging and pipeline challenges. Optimize rig performance while maintaining deformation quality for real-time applications. Troubleshoot technical issues related to rigging, skinning, and animation pipelines. Estimate tasks accurately, provide regular progress updates, and deliver work within project timelines. Follow established production pipelines, best practices, naming conventions, and quality standards. Review task specifications thoroughly, identify ambiguities, and proactively communicate risks or dependencies to Leads before implementation. Collect appropriate references and define the technical approach before starting assigned tasks. Deliver high-quality assets with minimal revisions while adhering to QC standards. Required Skills & Qualifications Graduate with 3+ years of professional experience in character rigging and technical animation. Strong expertise in manual rigging, skinning, deformation, and animation control setup. Hands-on experience developing production tools and workflow automation using Python. Strong proficiency in Autodesk Maya. Experience working with Unreal Engine animation systems and asset integration. Good knowledge of 3ds Max. Strong understanding of game art production pipelines and real-time asset workflows. Experience creating custom rigs for bipeds, quadrupeds, facial setups, creatures, and mechanical assets. Good understanding of anatomy, deformation, weight painting, and character movement. Working knowledge of MEL scripting is an added advantage. Strong debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within cross-functional teams. Excellent communication, organizational, and time management skills. Preferred Qualifications Experience building rigging frameworks or pipeline tools for animation teams. Knowledge of Unreal Control Rig, Animation Blueprints, or procedural animation workflows. Experience with DCC pipeline integration and asset automation. Exposure to modeling, animation, texturing, or technical art workflows. Passion for video games with a strong understanding of game development pipelines. What We're Looking For A technically strong rigging specialist who enjoys solving production challenges through automation. Someone who can balance manual character rigging with Python-based tool development. A proactive individual capable of improving artist workflows and contributing to the evolution of the animation pipeline. A collaborative team player with a quality-first mindset and strong ownership of deliverables. We offer the opportunity to work on some of the best-known game titles in the world. We offer competitive salaries and annual performance-based bonuses. We offer generous paid time off. You get 26 Annual leaves and additional paid time off at the year-end (from 25th December to 1st January). We cover Term Insurance and Personal accidental insurance for you. Benefit from our free Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental and emotional wellbeing. You can also avail our Special Education Assistance Scheme to further develop your career. … And a lot more! Lakshya Digital