That’s No Moon Entertainment is an independent AAA game development studio established in 2021 by veterans of some of the most recognizable and critically acclaimed creative teams in the world, including Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, Santa Monica Studio, Bungie, PlayStation, and more. Based in Los Angeles and San Diego, That’s No Moon Entertainment is creating the next generation of narrative-driven, genre-defining experiences built upon a culture of creativity, collaboration, responsible production practices, and individual empowerment. We are assembling a diverse team of passionate developers of a wide range of experience levels and backgrounds to help shape the future of our studio and projects.

We are looking for a Lead Prop TD to combine their leadership skills, technical expertise, artistic eye, and passion for game and animation to help populate the game world with diverse variety of detailed assets. This is a role where you will supervise the props team and participate in a highly collaborative environment and work with hardworking artists and animators as well as external tech and service vendors to establish an efficient and scalable asset pipeline and innovate new techniques to deliver a compelling and visually spectacular game experience.

Responsibilities:

Lead all aspects of the prop and cloth pipeline, toolset, and workflow standards to support populating a diverse, dynamic, and interactive game world
Set up assets that require technical expertise, such as weapons, props, vehicles used for animation and gameplay that meet studio standards with consistency
Deliver assets that meet art and animation requirements while keeping mindful of production efficiency as well as engine performance budgets
Hands-on leadership and mentoring of junior tech artists
Determine and apply the appropriate techniques to set up rigid body physics, cloth and cable that are realistic and performant for real time
Determine and apply the appropriate techniques to set up destructible environmental elements
Set up offline physics/cloth simulation for in-game playback
Collaborate with modelers to ensure assets have proper topology and deformations in game that meet technical requirements, proactively take initiatives to address and resolve modeling issues as it relates to rigging on one’s own
Work closely with animators to ensure control interface is easy to use and deliver rigs that are thoroughly tested for performance and stability
Evaluate/maintain/create tools to streamline prop setup
Work with production to determine and execute team tasks and schedules
Communicate scope and risks effectively with art, tech, and production partners
Evaluate and provide specification to external art service vendors
Setup/Maintain prop asset library and set dressing palettes to facilitate reuse
Create/Maintain relevant usage documentation

Requirements & Skills:

(Required) 5+ years of professional rigging experience in game, film, vfx, or relevant industries
(Required) Experience in a lead or supervisory role
(Required) Knowledge in hard surface modeling, rigging/animation principles and standard methodologies
(Required) Maya Expertise in areas of modeling, rigging and animation
(Required) Physics and realistic cloth simulation setup
(Preferred) Strong Python experience in the areas of tools, UI (e.g., PyQt), and Maya Scripting
(Preferred) Experience creating rigs for Motion Capture
(Preferred) Degree in animation or related art and/or technical field
(Bonus) Maya API / Plugin Experience
(Bonus) knowledge of military firearms and equipment

Qualities:

Great verbal and written communication skills to clearly articulate technical requirements, production standards, issues, and risks
Collaborative, team-oriented, and open to feedback
Proven track record of being organized and balance multiple initiatives in a fast-paced development environment
Self-motivated and capable to find and propose solutions
Capable of switching tasks quickly to address emergent production issues in a professional manner
Have great patience and enjoy mentoring and explaining sophisticated concepts
Ability to learn and incorporate new features and techniques quickly into workflow
High desire/focus to help making artists' lives better and processes more efficient/scalable, constantly mindful of areas of workflow improvements
Great attention to details, and ability to deliver consistent results

That's No Moon is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ancestry, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, legally protected physical or mental disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.