Technical Animator

Studio Wildcard

Technical Animator creating sophisticated character and creature animations for the ARK franchise. Collaborating with a passionate team to bring dynamic gameplay experiences to life.

Posted 5/14/2026full-timeRemote • Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $50,000 - $70,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Unreal Engine

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Create sophisticated IK solutions (foot placement, terrain adaptation) in Unreal Engine Control Rig and Anim Blueprints
Rig human characters, dinosaurs, and fantasy creatures with precise attention to anatomy, understanding joint placement and muscle deformation
Design and implement advanced procedural and gameplay-driven animation systems using Animation Blueprints (AnimBPs) in Unreal Engine 5
Build responsive state machines, blend spaces, pose drivers, animation modifiers, notifies, and layered logic tightly coupled to gameplay and physics
Develop physics-based animation systems including active ragdoll blending
Leverage Houdini to procedurally modify, generate, or optimize meshes and skeletons
Solve complex technical animation challenges while collaborating with modeling, animation, design, and engineering teams
Perform quality checks, optimization (including LOD behavior), and seamless engine integration
Create clear technical documentation and help evolve the animation & rigging pipeline

Requirements

What you’ll need

3+ years of professional experience as a Technical Animator / Technical Artist in game development, with at least 1 shipped title
Strong expertise in Unreal Engine Animation Blueprints, procedural animation techniques, IK/FK systems, and real-time character/creature workflows
Practical experience with physics simulation in real-time engines (ragdoll, active physics blending, joint constraints, momentum-based animation)
Ability to quickly adapt to new pipelines, tools, and evolving engine features
Excellent problem-solving skills and strong communication
Maya rigging experience
Previous work on creature animation
Programming experience
Rigging pipelines from Maya → UE5
Motion capture experience
Familiarity with performance optimization
Houdini experience

Benefits

Comp & perks

We pay 100% of all premiums for the employee and discounted rates for dependent premiums.
Our coverage includes Medical (5 different plans to choose from), Dental, Vision, Short Term and Long Term Disability, Life Insurance, 401(k) option, 100% covered Parental Leave, PTO, Paid Holidays, Unlimited Sick Time, and FSA/ HSA options

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Unreal EngineAnimation BlueprintsIK systemsFK systemsprocedural animationphysics simulationriggingmotion captureperformance optimizationprogramming

Soft Skills

problem-solvingcommunicationcollaborationadaptability