Job Description The Lead Animator supervises a team of animators in creating and implementing top-tier animation for real time gameplay systems.

You will be responsible for managing the creation and delivery of exceptional NPC and player animations while providing clear direction, constructive feedback, and mentorship to your team.

You will ensure that production goals are met and that the animation production runs smoothly and efficiently depending on the needs of production.

The lead animator guides the animation team in creating expressive, polished, and gameplayready animations that elevate the player experience.

This role blends artistic leadership with technical expertise, ensuring that animation quality, style, and performance meet the standards of AAA production.

Help design, construct, document and uphold pipeline procedures to deliver competitive, cutting-edge assets.

Motivate, mentor and inspire the animation team.

Support animators in their career development, while guiding them through various stages of production with explicit direction.

Coordinate and update the production team on assignments for the animation team.

Sync and communicate with other leads and disciplines and help resolve production blockers.

Create, document and communicate guidelines, directories and procedures.

Help create gameplay animation content as required, working with mocap data, keyframed animations and facial animations, to set a quality bar for other animators to follow.

Create style guides, bestpractice documents, and clear communication channels for the team.

Le ou la d''quipe de lanimation supervise une quipe danimateurs et danimatrices dans la cration et lintgration danimations de haute qualit pour des usages gameplay en temps rel.

Vous serez responsable de grer la cration et la livraison danimations exceptionnelles pour les PNJ (NPC) et les personnages joueurs, tout en fournissant une direction claire, des commentaires constructifs et du mentorat votre quipe.

Vous veillerez au respect des chanciers de production et ce que la production danimation se droule de manire fluide et efficace, selon les besoins de la production.

Principales responsabilits: Diriger lquipe danimation dans la cration danimations expressives, raffines et prtes tre intgres au gameplay, afin denrichir lexprience des joueurs.

Assurer un leadership la fois artistique et technique pour garantir le respect des standards de qualit, de style et de performance propres aux productions AAA.

Contribuer la conception, la mise en place,



la documentation et lamlioration continue des pipelines danimation.

Mobiliser, encadrer et mentorer les membres de lquipe, en soutenant leur dveloppement professionnel et en les accompagnant toutes les tapes de production.

Planifier et communiquer les assignations de travail, en assurant un suivi rigoureux avec les quipes de production.

Collaborer troitement avec les responsables des autres disciplines afin didentifier et de rsoudre les enjeux de production. laborer et maintenir la documentation (procdures, normes, structures de fichiers et lignes directrices).

Participer la cration danimations de gameplay au besoin (capture de mouvement, animation keyframe, animation faciale) afin dtablir et de maintenir un standard de qualit lev.

Mettre en place des guides de style, des bonnes pratiques et des processus de communication clairs au sein de lquipe.

Qualifications 7+ years of experience as 3D character animator in video game development, having worked on at least two AAA games.

Strong communication and leadership skills and the ability to work within cross-disciplinary teams.

Experienced in leading others.

Expert knowledge of industry-standard animation tools such as Motionbuilder or Maya.

Strong understanding of gameplay-systems and in-game engine workflows.

Excellent key frame and mocap animation skills with a great understanding of human motion, body mechanics, biped locomotion and animation principles.

Experience with Unreal 5 is a strongly desired asset.

Desired Characteristics: Shipped at least one major title as a senior or lead animator.

Experience creating scripted events and cutscenes.

Experience in developing first-person and third-person gameplay systems and good understanding of 3C concepts Understanding of animation-graph techniques and workflows Experience working on locomotion, occupation, conversation and traversal systems Understanding of camera animation and creation of a cinematic experience Experience in creating creature-, animal- and combat-animations Exigences essentielles Minimum de 7 annes dexprience en animation 3D de personnages dans lindustrie du jeu vido, dont une participation au moins deux productions de calibre AAA.





Excellentes aptitudes en communication et en leadership, avec une capacit dmontre travailler dans des quipes multidisciplinaires et encadrer du personnel.

Matrise doutils danimation standards de lindustrie (ex. : Motion

Builder, Maya).

Bonne comprhension des systmes de gameplay ainsi que des processus lis aux moteurs de jeu.

Solides comptences en animation (keyframe et capture de mouvement), avec une excellente comprhension du mouvement humain, de la mcanique corporelle, de la locomotion bipde et des principes fondamentaux de lanimation.

Une exprience avec Unreal Engine 5 constitue un atout important.

Atouts Avoir particip la livraison dau moins un titre majeur titre danimateur ou danimatrice senior ou lead.

Exprience en cration dvnements scripts et de cinmatiques.

Exprience en dveloppement de systmes de gameplay la premire et la troisime personne, ainsi quune bonne comprhension des concepts de personnage, contrles et camra (3C).

Connaissance des techniques et des processus lis aux graphes danimation.

Exprience avec des systmes de locomotion, dinteraction, de dialogue et de dplacement (traversal).

Comprhension des principes danimation de camra et de la mise en scne cinmatique.

Exprience en animation de cratures, danimaux et de squences de combat.

Exigences dadmissibilit Les personnes intresses doivent soumettre leur candidature afin dtre considres.

Doit tre dispose travailler dans nos bureaux de Montral au minimum quatre (4) jours par semaine.

Doit tre lgalement autorise travailler au Canada.

Doit tre dispose se dplacer pour des raisons professionnelles, au besoin.

Additional Information As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal''s policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation.

You can submit your request to AccessibilityS.

📌 Lead Animator - Gameplay / Chef.fe d''équipe de l’animation – Gameplay (Montreal)
🏢 NBCUniversal
📍 Montreal