As a Lead Animator on World of Warcraft, you will guide, support, inspire, and manage Animators as they animate the characters and creatures of WoW. You will help to uphold our creative vision and quality bar for exciting animations, and offer insightful and creative guidance. Set an example for our team with your lively animations, mastery of tools, and understanding of art pipeline and production processes. You are an organized time manager, problem solver, originator of process, partner to other leads, team morale booster, a patient and empathetic communicator and listener, and an out-of-the-box thinker.
This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Boston, MA.
What you bring to the table
Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:
Be the voice for the Boston Animation team to the wider Boston and Irvine teams
Work with the Art Directors and other Art Leads to shape and uphold direction and vision for WoW's animations, communicate it to the team, and set the tone for animation with sophisticated technique
Mentor, motivate, collaborate with, and guide animators; amplify their strengths, review their work on technical and aesthetic bases, and stay aware of their workloads
Provide guidance in animation processes and instruct the team regarding new processes and software to match project needs
Create prototype animations and other benchmark assets
Be a driving force in creating a welcoming and respectful atmosphere for collaboration, communication, and creativity, with an emphasis on the values of diversity and inclusion
Assist in running the day-to-day workflow and create and maintain process documentation for animation-related processes
Contribute to management of creative feedback loop for animation
Effectively collaborate with production, design, engineering, and other art departments
Establish clear and consistent schedules in conjunction with Producers, and identify potential problems in the art pipeline and work with other project leads to prevent them
Interview, hire, and train new team members in collaboration with the Recruitment team
Minimum Requirements
Extensive experience animating for video games or film with some leadership or mentorship experience
Extensive experience animating a variety of characters and creatures in an innovative, appealing style; displays a strong sense of anatomy and animation principles
In-depth experience with Maya and equivalent visual effects packages, proficient working with joints and locators, keyframing, and rigid/soft body simulations
In-depth experience with technology, terminology, and techniques of game art development, including an awareness of design and programming considerations
Positively influences team morale and empowers team members, able to clearly communicate expectations and rally team around an objective
Leads with empathy, strong ethics, flexibility, confidence, self-awareness, and the ability to see all sides of complex situations
Able to communicate artistic issues to non-artists; strong presentation skills
Brings creativity and initiative to both preproduction and production concept tasks and adapts swiftly to new themes and directions
Ability to provide oversight to multiple timelines, self-manage and meet deadlines, able to work unsupervised for long periods and able to supervise others
Send us
Resume/CV
Cover Letter
Link to your portfolio
Extra Points
Rigging and/or 3D Modeling experience a bonus
Experience animating in both 2D and 3D a bonus
We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.
We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [email protected]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.
Our World
At Blizzard Entertainment, we pour our hearts and souls into everything we create. Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, we’ve been creating genre-defining games for millions of players around the world for more than 30 years. We’re on a quest: bring our dreams to life and craft the most epic entertainment experiences…ever. Hard work, iteration and polish go into the Blizzard “secret recipe,” but the most important ingredients come from talented people who share our vision. If that sounds like you, join us.
The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.
Rewards
We provide a comprehensive benefits package to promote health and wellness along with financial security. Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers benefits including:
Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance;
401(k) with Company match
Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
Wellness program, free and discounted games, and voluntary supplemental life;
If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.
Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting our benefits page.
In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $116,800.00 - $216,000.00 Annual. This base pay range is for the U.S. and is not applicable to locations outside of the U.S. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.
