Art | Senior Animator

For nearly 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. Currently, we’re busy at the kennel working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and we'd love to find talented individuals to join us!

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. This is not a rigging position. We are looking for an animator that is capable of being the bridge between art and technical teams by designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex runtime animation systems and character behaviors.

Create high quality animation content supporting the newly developed behaviors and systems and implement it in engine

Work with the animation leadership on defining and maintaining the style and quality bar of the in-game animation

Collaborate with the Animation, Design, and Engineering teams to analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve in-game animation implementation issues and animation-related technical challenges

Take ownership of challenging projects and provide innovative solutions, including mentoring team members and creating documentation

Facilitate the creation and implementation of tools and techniques that allow the building of complex and high-quality animation systems

Innovate and streamline animation pipeline processes and workflows

5+ years of industry experience in gameplay animation for games

Proven track record of creating visually stunning animations for diverse game genres

Full understanding of in-game animation tools like state machines, blend trees, IK solvers, etc.

Expertise with mocap and keyframe based digital content creation pipelines built on Maya or Motionbuilder

Proficiency in Python, C#, C++ or other programming languages is required

Proactively contributes to the progress of the team and the project

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an animation test.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

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