Our Character Animation Research Team (known as the A-Team) is a small team based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
We are a cross-functional, applied R&D team, strategically positioned in EA to drive and disrupt the future of character animation technology. We are a self-motivated, collaborative team, empowered to constantly explore and leverage the latest innovations across the fields of animation, rigging, physics, and machine learning. Our technology has been used to create next-generation gameplay realism across EA titles such as FIFA, Madden, NHL, UFC, Battlefield, and many others.
We of course make sure to have tons of fun, with dedicated time each day to hang out and play the games that we love! Join us in helping shape the future of how games are made!
We are looking for a talented and experienced Senior Animator to join the A-Team. Our ideal candidate is, like us, passionate about making games in a collaborative environment with a team of veteran developers. You will be responsible for driving and owning the runtime initiative of our team. This includes crafting high quality prototypes to showcase the innovation of our projects and providing guidance on next-gen animation workflows and tools we are building.
Your Responsibilities
Become a master of EA’s proprietary Frostbite Animation System, as well as new cutting edge technologies developed by the team.
Collaborate with partner game teams to solve unique animation challenges.
Design and create high quality technical demos utilizing our team’s technology.
Work side-by-side with Engineers to provide technical animation guidance on R&D projects including procedural runtime systems, DCC, and Machine learning
Create, edit, and implement unique animations to push the limits of our new technologies.
Become a leader in the animation community at EA by working with partner game teams across the company, to teach how to use our new animation systems and tools, communicate feedback, and diagnose issues.
Design and guide the UX for the animation tools in service of the broader animation community.
Coordinate with QA to validate and maintain the high quality of our animation systems.
Create and maintain documentation and tutorials to educate others about our team’s unique technologies.
Showcase our work by creating demos and giving presentations to the EA Animation community.
Mentor junior animators within the A-team and in the larger EA Animation community.
Aim to improve cross studio communication and team culture especially within the animation community.
Report directly to the A-Team Animation Director to take advantage of any opportunities you find.
Your Qualifications
5+ years of experience of technical animation experience
A strong understanding of animation principles and anatomy.
A strong desire to push animation forward.
Experience integrating animation content into a game engine.
Experience troubleshooting and debugging runtime animation systems.
Experience with motion capture and retargeting.
Experience with creating animation pipelines and workflows.
Proficient in standard industry tools such as Autodesk Maya.
Experience working closely with other domains - especially Designers, Engineers and Artists
Proactive work ethics, being able to identify problems and resolve them.
Bonus Qualifications
Experience writing scripts/tools in Python is an asset.
Experience creating animation rigs for games is an asset.
MotionBuilder experience is an asset.
About EA
We exist to inspire the world to play. Through innovative technology and immersive storytelling, we deliver new ways of experiencing worlds of interactive entertainment for our millions of players worldwide. Our strength lies in the diversity of our people, combining creativity, innovation and passion. We fully champion inclusive culture, and provide opportunities for growing, learning, and leading that allows for the most impactful and rewarding work of our teams’ careers.
We put our people first, and we make sure they’re taken care of both in and out of the office. As we reflect on our learnings and successes from remote work, we aim to provide dynamic, collaborative and flexible work environments for our teams. Our employees connect through our Employee Resource Groups, which are actively involved in driving business decisions every step of the way. But our support doesn’t end at the workplace—we also encourage a balanced lifestyle with paid time off and new parent leave, free video games, fitness reimbursement and more.
Our goal is to provide a safe, respectful and inspiring workplace for all of our employees. Through our diversity, equity, inclusion and social responsibility programs, we’re doing the work to give everyone the space to be their full selves while giving back to our community. We’re looking for problem-solvers, game-changers, innovators, dreamers, doers—people that are ready to move the needle and build on our success. As our industry accelerates, we aren’t just keeping up—we’re staying ahead of the game.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Electronic Arts also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.
