We are looking for an enthusiastic Animation Programmer to join our highly passionate, Montreal-based team of creative developers and industry veterans, in order to work on a brand-new and original IP for next-gen consoles and PC.

As part of this full-time position, you will be responsible for coding and implementing all animation features of our new and ambitious Action-RPG title, within a mid-sized team using Unreal Engine. Your mandate will be to contribute to the player’s total immersion in this third-person video game universe, and to bring its characters to life by creating state-of-the-art animation tools and pipelines.

You will be working under the Technical Director’s supervision, in close collaboration with other programmers, team leads, animators, designers and members of various departments, in order to directly influence the end product’s quality and success.

Rogue Factor Offers

Competitive salary and employee benefits package, including group insurance, unlimited sick days, RRSP with the employer's contribution and gym membership.
Flexible work hours and a hybrid remote / on-site work formula.
Advantageous development budgets and appropriate production timelines on medium size and truly unique projects - created by and for gamers.
A dynamic, inclusive, challenging, and engaging work environment.
Continued training and career development opportunities.

Responsibilities

Take charge of the complete animation systems which will sustain and support features developed by the designers and animators, ensuring their full integration within the game engine and compatibility with other technical pillars (gameplay, AI, audio, VFX, etc.).
Develop, implement and iterate on various animation features, tools and systems in C++ within Unreal Engine, in order to fulfill design needs and intentions.
Collaborate with different stakeholders to research, prototype and develop state-of-the-art processes and techniques capable of improving the product’s animation features, in order to ensure its qualitative distinction and superiority in comparison to other competing titles.
Develop, test, profile and optimize well-engineered code (structured, reliable, maintainable, and bug-free, in consistency with coding standards).
Actively work with the Technical Director, department leads and management, in order to facilitate the information flow necessary to track the project’s progression, efficiently plan the workload, identify risks and provide relevant solutions to complex problems.
Push back the limits of the project’s animation capabilities by proactively contributing to brainstorming and R&D sessions, in order to propose new ideas and solutions capable of improving and accelerating the current pipelines, as well as to provide advice on the best practices to drive their implementation.
Write and maintain exhaustive, clear and frequently updated technical documentation, in order to provide a complete technical guide to all animation systems stakeholders.
Take part in additional duties, which may include assisting with content creation, code reviews, quality control and any other activities necessary to the project’s delivery and success.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree/diploma in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Information Technology or equivalent.
3+ years of experience with C++, including experience in multithreaded and memory constrained environments.
Experience working one or more commercial gaming projects from preproduction to release, with direct involvement on multiple areas of game code.
Experience with (or interest for) Action-RPG-specific gameplay pillars and systems (AI, player and NPC character behaviours, cameras, environments, inventory, equipment, looting, crafting, progression, quests, dialogues, combat, skills, etc.), with a strong emphasis on animation.
Experience in the development of production tools and asset pipelines.
A desire to push the technical boundaries and limits of modern video game animation.
The ideal candidate will be autonomous, exhibit a positive attitude and possess strong communication skills (in both French and English), displaying a capacity for analysis, problem solving and judgment, as well as an eagerness for learning and self-improvement.

Bonus Points

Experience with Unreal Engine.
Experience in 2D/3D animation.
Experience in profiling and optimization.
Strong conceptual and technical skills in object-oriented programming.
Strong knowledge of scripting languages (C#, Lua, Python, Perl).
Experience in shipping 1+ successful AA/AAA titles for consoles and PC, while occupying an Animation Programmer role.
Experience in following technical roadmaps with project management tools like Jira.
Experience working with current generation consoles (PS4, Xbox One & PC), including dealing with TRC/XR compliance issues.
Understanding the links between animation, art, visual storytelling and other video game pillars such as gameplay, narrative design, level design, visual effects and audio, as well as their capacity to synergize in order to generate emotions, immersion and engagement.

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Candidates must be authorized to work in Canada.

Rogue Factor is an equal opportunity employer.

Although we wish to sincerely thank all applicants, only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted.

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ABOUT ROGUE FACTOR

Design Distinctions Create Desire

At Rogue Factor, we truly believe that the most important aspect of any creation is the strength of its design distinctions.

A powerful idea is one that has a voice of its own, born from an audacious vision to generate new meaning and leave no one indifferent. In order for a game to be truly memorable, for it to jolt people’s hearts and minds, its distinctive elements should be mystifying when first witnessed. They should challenge the audience’s pre-defined perspectives and expectations, forcing people to stop in their tracks, take notice, process, and dissect the information.

When this effect is achieved, when a product’s distinctions completely capture the onlooker’s imagination, it generates fascination and desire. A desire to know more, a desire to understand, to be a part of and possess.

The New Rogue Factor - Montreal’s Premier Boutique Studio

With “Design Distinctions Create Desire” as our new guiding philosophy, we are hard at work planning and gearing up for our studio’s next 10 years and beyond, as we aim to become what we affectionately dub Montreal’s first Boutique Studio.

While our hometown is known the world over for its vibrant game industry, comprising both renowned AAA giants and a myriad of small indies, we believe that a space exists right in the middle for something radically different. A space for the emergence of a bold and original new model - a middleweight developer with the capacity to produce ambitious and world-class titles that are intricate, deep, personal and captivating.

Rogues Wanted

We want to create video games that are not afraid of being just that - games - utterly interactive and mechanically engrossing. In order to achieve this, our roadmap foresees the expansion of our current team to a total of 80-100 members, working with enviable development budgets and appropriate production timelines on large-scale-yet-intimate and truly unique projects, created by and for gamers.

Our goal is to offer breathtaking original tales that will unfold as you, the player, get to live and breathe them for yourself like never before. By fully embracing this ideal and striving to achieve its very embodiment, our ambition is nothing less than to write tomorrow’s gaming History.