Senior Animation Programmer

Company Description

To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers — this is our mission. Want to dive deeper into our company’s culture? Explore our social media and check out our  YouTube channel where we share behind-the-scenes insights and stories direct from our team members!

Job Description

CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Senior Animation Programmer to join our development efforts on Cyberpunk 2, the next mainline Cyberpunk 2077 game.

The Senior Animation Programmer is responsible for the implementation of CDPR-specific extensions and animation technology while working with the code for Unreal Engine's animation technology, tools, and pipelines. Through utilizing strong collaboration skills to align with cross-functional partners, you’ll collaborate closely with animators, designers, character artists, and gameplay engineers. This role is key to bringing the world and characters to life, directly enhancing the player experience. You will be instrumental in a variety of areas, including creating large animated crowds with intricate behaviors, implementing complex interaction mechanics that seamlessly integrate animations into the environment, and developing realistic character reactions for deep narrative sequences.

Daily Responsibilities:

• Developing bespoke animation systems and extensions for Unreal 5 animation systems to support character locomotion & lifelike behaviors, object & world interaction, large animated crowds, and more.
• Developing gameplay mechanics related to locomotion and animation.
• working daily in close collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues, including other engineers, designers, and animators.
• Writing readable, high quality, efficient C++ code.
• Maintaining, debugging, profiling, and bug fixing code to achieve the best quality and performance.
• Documenting code and work, creating debug tools for other developers, creating tests to cover existing functionality.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of practical expertise in designing and implementing modern game animation systems.
• Thorough understanding of how animations are integrated in complex animation blend trees and state graphs.
• Understanding of IK systems and their interaction with traditional FK solutions to ground characters in the environment.
• Knowledge of modern game animation systems architectures.
• Deep knowledge of C++.
• Advanced math & algorithmic skills required to implement bespoke animation algorithms and functionality.
• Advanced knowledge of multithreading practices and algorithms.
• Thorough understanding of the overall character animation & geometry deformation stack.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Nice to have

• Solid foundation in Unreal Engine 5, specifically, features and systems related to animation.
• Knowledge of motion-matching technology.
• Experience in creating a AAA title for game consoles, debugging and profiling these games in a console environment.
• Proven track record of addressing performance issues related to large numbers of animated NPCs.
• Experience developing systems accelerated by GPUs.

Additional Information

The application window for this position will close by 10/30/2026.

This job can be hybrid/in-office or fully remote.

Remote roles in the US are only available to candidates that reside in the following states:  California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin.

Health & Well-Being

• Company-paid medical healthcare (dental, vision, and mental).
• Free mental health support, including access to counseling, psychiatric care, and a variety of well-being webinars.
• Paid leave — 26 days of vacation, 10 sick days, & 12 calendar holidays per year.
• 401K with employer matching.
• Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) – $100 per month to use towards fitness, wellness, internet, home office equipment, learning, streaming services, and more.
• Menstrual leave — employees who menstruate can take one extra day off when experiencing period pain.
• RED Parents Network — support for working parents.
• Flexible working hours.

Perks & Professional Growth

• Trainings, lectures, and courses — internal workshops, knowledge-sharing initiatives, online tutorials, and e-learning classes are all available.
• A welcome pack filled with goodies — to help you feel right at home once you join the team.

Life in the Office

• Dog-friendly office — bring your pooch with you and look after them while working! There’s always a furry friend or two to meet.
• Truly international working environment — a chance to meet and work with a diverse selection of people from all around the world.
• No dress-code — we like to keep it casual.

This position is a new role.

Estimated pay range for this position:  $118,800 - $217,800 USD annually. 

At CD PROJEKT RED compensation for our roles in North America are determined based on competitive market data, geographic location, and individual factors tied to business needs. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. Final offers are dependent on job-related factors like experience, qualifications, and location.

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