We build ground-breaking games and content for some of the world’s biggest publishers including Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Sega. Sumo Newcastle joined the Sumo Digital family in January of 2018. As a former CCP Games studio, we have a solid history of cutting-edge development, and now with Sumo, a spectacular future of ‘AAA’ game development for some of the biggest and best publishers in the world.
It’s an exciting time to be part of Sumo, winners of the Develop: Star Awards 2019 Best Studio and GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work; big things are on the horizon and we want you to be part of our continued journey. Join us!
The role @ Sumo
Sumo Newcastle is looking for a Lead Animator, capable of leading a team as well as creating dynamic and compelling animations for gameplay systems using both keyframe and motion capture data. You will be well versed in the principles of animation and videogame production pipelines and how Animation as a discipline fits within that process.
With our new IP Hood: Outlaws and Legends and other unannounced games in development, Sumo Newcastle are undertaking some very ambitious projects, so as the Lead of a small and growing animation team it’s an ideal time to join and make your mark on something big!
As the Lead Animator, you will hold the vision for animation within the studio and ensure that the Animation team can work creatively and effectively. You will be expected to own complex gameplay features from start to finish, working collaboratively with other disciplines to plan, prototype, create and polish those systems to a high quality, as well as scheduling and reviewing work from your team.
The ideal candidate will enjoy being involved in a friendly, hard working environment and be able to communicate well across all development disciplines. If you are looking for a role that provides a huge amount of creative input, ownership, and responsibility for important features within the game, this is the job for you!
Experience:
- Industry experience: 8+ years of video game animation experience
- Shipped at least 1 title as Lead Animator
- High degree of proficiency with Maya and/or Motionbuilder
- Experience planning, scheduling, and delegating work to team members
- Proven experience planning and directing motion capture shoots
- Experience working with animation graphs and systems, including the prototyping of new gameplay features
- Unreal Engine experience is highly desirable
Skills and Responsibilities:
- Production of high quality keyframe and motion capture animation
- Contribute to the design and execution of complex gameplay systems
- Implement animations into engine with full ownership of your work
- Oversee the Animation team; regularly reviewing work, delegating, and planning workloads for team members, ensuring that work is completed to a high standard
- Planning and directing motion capture sessions
- Lead responsibilities such as mentoring, 1-to-1s, and R&D into new approaches
- Provide detailed input about the character creation process, from concept and design, through to modelling, rigging and final animation
- Be heavily involved in the continued development of tools and pipeline processes, maintaining an understanding of industry best practices
- Serve as an active participant in team discussions, critiques, and reviews
- Meet production schedules and deadlines
- Communicate effectively with peers and direct reports
- Be a strong team player with a desire to push the quality of animation in the game
What We Offer:
- Annual Bonus & Annual Salary Reviews
- Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme
- Flexible Working
- 27 Days Holiday, including your birthday a duvet day and Christmas
- Holiday ‘buy and sell’ scheme
- 5 Paid Learning Days, including 1 volunteer day per year
- Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses, The Gnomen Workshop, GDC Vault and more
- Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay
- Free Life Assurance - 4x Salary
- Free Income Protection Scheme -up to 75%
- Free Dental Insurance
- Supportive Employee Assistance Programme with confidential 24/7/365 helpline & app
- Access remote GP, Mental Health, Physio appointments & medical second opinions
- Additional flexible benefits scheme
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Payroll Giving Scheme
- Game & Book Libraries
- Long service & project completion awards
- Wrap Parties
- Alternative Travel Prize Draw
- The Sumo GameJam
- Great family events
- Studio clubs, inc. running, board games, film…
- Life Drawing
- Yoga Classes
- Free fruit and drinks
- Employee Referral Bonus
- Career Development
- Relocation Support to the UK
- Visa Sponsorship
Where do we stand on diversity?
At Sumo Digital, we know that diversity and inclusivity will make our teams (and the amazing work that they do) better! We encourage and welcome ALL applications.
More About The Sumo Newcastle Studio:
Sumo Digital is one of the UK's most prolific game developers, enjoying over fifteen years of stability and growth. We have UK studios in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leamington Spa, The Chinese Room in Brighton and Red Kite Games in Leeds, along with Sumo Video Games in Pune, India.
We offer a superb benefits package including generous holidays and flexi-time. We care about our people, with an emphasis on the work/life balance and out of office events such as our legendary annual Sumo ‘Big Day Out’, plus epic Christmas parties and much more! Our regular studio Game Jams are a highlight - winning concepts can go on to commercial release, so far including Snake Pass and Spyder for Apple Arcade.
We are proud to be in the North-East of England, in our new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities in Riga. Newcastle was voted the number one place that travellers should visit in 2018 by Rough Guide and has everything that a major European city has to offer; culture, heritage, lively bars and fantastic retail. It is an exciting cosmopolitan city while also boasting plenty of beautiful outdoor space including several beaches less than an hour’s drive away.
Our environment is relaxed, friendly and built on every team member having the opportunity to shine and have real, meaningful input into the games that we create. We pride ourselves on our positive atmosphere and sociable team who regularly partake in shared interest groups, lunchtime and after-work clubs, and charity fundraising events.
