CDI Lead Animation Developer

Position Duties

$Management

• Coordinate closely with Technical Directors to align on project progress and objectives.
  
• Establish strategy, milestones, and staffing plans for Animation Developers across assigned projects.
  
• Manage, mentor, and support Animation Developers throughout their assignments.
  
• Monitor Animation Developers' deliveries and ensure results meet expected quality and timelines.
  
• Assess related upcoming risks and anticipate mitigations for production safety.
  
• Help your team develop their full potential through training and personal growth initiatives.
  
• Act as a role model in management, demonstrating strong leadership, empathy, clear communication, and accountability.
  
• Foster a positive and inclusive team culture built on trust, collaboration, and respect.
  

$Development

• Continuously assess our animation workforce against actual and future opportunities and make recommendations.
  
• Collaborate with stakeholders in the design of comprehensive and coherent technical strategies for in-game rig setup and animation graphs to serve project deliveries and imperatives.
  
• Drive the implementation of tools and engine features for systems like animation blending, state machines, motion matching, IK, and runtime retargeting.
  
• Ensure smooth integration between gameplay and physics feedback and the animation systems.
  
• Collaborate with other teams (gameplay, art, design, production) to ensure high-quality integration and responsiveness.
  
• Provide technical support to Tech Animators and Artists, including debugging, review, and optimization assistance.
  
• When necessary, write documentation explaining the studied or developed systems.
  
• Be proactive in the elaboration of recommendations to improve how we are doing things.
  
• Lead animation project strategies (conventions, unification, sharing, performance) to maintain a coherent technical vision across projects.
  

Candidate Profile

$Must have qualifications

• 5+ years in a Lead position (mandatory).
  
• 3+ years in runtime animation development for gameplay or equivalent.
  
• Strong programming knowledge, especially in C++ and OOP logic.
  
• Good understanding of the code impact on performance and memory utilization.
  
• Familiar with modern game engine architectures.
  
• Experienced in managing and delivering features in an Agile environment, leveraging and supporting team self-organization, promoting lean processes, and cross-functional collaboration.
  
• Familiar with Unreal Engine and its animation features.
  
• Autonomous, efficient, and proactive attitude.
  
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
  
• Fluent in French and English, both written and spoken.
  

$Nice to have qualifications

• Familiar with Unreal Engine 5 and Control Rig.
  
• Previous work on Gen9 AAA projects.
  
• Credited on at least one released game.
  
• Software Engineering background.
  
• Comfortable in optimization field.
  
• Passion for animation systems and the future of character fidelity.
  

Additional Information

Permanent contract located at Lyon, France. Partial work from home is possible.

Provide

Resume, cover letter, references, web site (if relevant)

To: HR Generalist