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Kinetic Games is a new video game development studio based in Southampton. We are a passionate team of developers using Unity to continuously improve and expand the horror experience of Phasmophobia, currently available on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
About the Role:
We are seeking an experienced Senior Technical Animator to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for bringing characters, creatures, and environmental elements to life through high-quality, efficient animation systems. You will collaborate with artists, designers, and programmers to develop robust rigs, create fluid animation workflows, and implement animations directly into Unity. Your technical expertise will ensure our animations are visually appealing, responsive, and optimized across multiple platforms.
Responsibilities:
* Design, create, and maintain complex character, creature, camera, and object rigs that are efficient, flexible, and user-friendly.
* Implement and maintain animation systems and state machines within Unity to ensure smooth in-game animations.
* Develop tools to improve animation pipelines and workflows.
* Collaborate with artists and programmers to troubleshoot rigging, skinning, and implementation challenges.
* Work with the programming team to define and enhance the animation pipeline and runtime systems.
* Optimize animations for performance across PC, VR, PSVR2, and consoles.
* Ensure animations meet technical standards for gameplay responsiveness and visual fidelity.
Requirements:
* Professional experience as a Technical Animator or similar role on at least one shipped Unity title.
* Expertise in rigging, skinning, and creating animation control systems in 3D software (e.g., Blender, Maya).
* Strong experience with Unity animation systems, including Animator Controllers, State Machines, and Blend Trees.
* Proficiency in C# and tool development.
* Solid understanding of real-time animation principles, constraints, IK systems, and retargeting techniques.
* Strong problem-solving skills, especially balancing visual quality with performance.
* Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
* Ability to work independently and proactively in a fast-paced environment.
* Passion for horror games and familiarity with Phasmophobia.
* Eligibility to work in the UK.
Nice To Have:
* Experience with VR animation challenges (e.g., hand and body tracking).
* Knowledge of motion matching, procedural animation, or physics-based systems.
* Experience with Unity DOTS or animation optimization techniques.
* Familiarity with facial animation and lip-sync pipelines.
* Experience with version control systems such as Git, Perforce, and Plastic.
* Additional benefits include a 5% Employer Match Pension Scheme, Flexitime, opportunities to travel to industry events, relocation package, annual bonus, wellbeing allowances, referral schemes, sabbatical leave, health and life insurance, and 30 days holiday including birthday and wellbeing day.
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