Animator; mid-Level

We’re looking for a Real‑Time Animator to help deliver high‑quality character performance across our products. You’ll work closely with our Senior Animator and technical team to create, implement and polish animation for real‑time experiences, balancing strong artistry with practical runtime constraints.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who enjoys solving problems end‑to‑end: from clean, expressive keyframing, through mocap/data cleanup, to in‑engine implementation and iteration.

• Create and polish character animation for real‑time applications (VR/mobile/console/broadcast visualisation as relevant).
• Deliver strong keyframed animation across core locomotion, gameplay actions, and bespoke moments/cinema tics.
• Clean up, edit and enhance mocap and other performance data (timing, arcs, contact, foot locking, spacing, etc.).
• Work with the Senior Animator to maintain animation quality and consistency across rigs, characters and features.
• Implement and iterate animation in‑engine (Unity and/or Unreal), collaborating with engineering/technical art on integration.
• Help maintain efficient runtime animation setups (state machines, blend trees, animation blueprints, transitions).
• Troubleshoot animation issues in a production environment (retargeting, rig/skin issues, import settings, compression, performance).
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with design, engineering, technical art and product teams to deliver shippable features.
• Contribute to animation pipelines and documentation to improve consistency, speed and quality.

• Proven experience animating for real‑time applications (games, VR, simulation, broadcast graphics, etc.).
• Proficiency in Maya (animation workflow, graph editor, constraints, export discipline, scene hygiene).
• Working experience in Unity and/or Unreal implementing animation content (iteration inside engine is key).
• Strong keyframing fundamentals: weight, timing, spacing, silhouette, arcs, appeal, and performance clarity.
• Confident cleaning, editing and enhancing mocap/performance data to a high standard.
• Comfortable collaborating with technical teams and adapting animation to runtime constraints (performance budgets, compression, state logic).
• A high‑quality portfolio/showreel demonstrating real‑time character animation and/or mocap cleanup.

• Experience with retargeting workflows and varied skeleton/rig setups.
• Familiarity with runtime animation systems (IK/FK blending, additive layers, procedural assists).
• VR animation considerations (presence, scale, first‑person/third‑person readability).
• Exposure to motion capture pipelines (shoot planning, data organisation, solver familiarity).
• Scripting/technical familiarity (basic Python/MEL, Unity/Unreal tooling awareness) to improve iteration speed.
• Experience working on shipped titles or live products.

• Collaborative and pragmatic—able to take feedback, iterate quickly, and solve problems without sacrificing quality.
• Organised and dependable—clean files, clear naming/versioning, and consistent delivery.
• Comfortable balancing creative intention with real‑world constraints and deadlines.

• Share options (so you can share in the upside as we grow)
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• We close over Christmas, with 3 company days taken during that period
• Hybrid and flexible working (Manchester‑based, with a London office opening soon)