Scopely is looking for a highly creative and technically skilled Principal Animator to lead the animation vision for our high profile mobile title in our Culver City studio hub, or remotely within the US or Canada!

At Scopely, we care deeply about what we do and want to inspire play, every day - whether in our work environments alongside our talented colleagues, or through our deep connections with our communities of players. We are a global team of game lovers who are developing, publishing and innovating the mobile games industry, connecting millions of people around the world daily.

We are in the early stages of development on an ambitious, unannounced, cross-platform adventure title, and are creating a team of talented and passionate game makers who will join us on this exciting journey!

What You’ll Do

As a key creative leader, you will be responsible for driving the overall animation style, collaborating closely with internal departments and external partners to deliver stunning, immersive animations that enhance gameplay and storytelling. You should be equally comfortable pitching big ideas, solving complex technical challenges, and directing both in-house and outsourced animation teams.

You will work in a collaborative environment and are expected to operate at a highly creative level. Success means you take a holistic approach to animation as it relates to the entire player experience. The ideal candidate will have a portfolio displaying a high level of ability with stylized keyframe animations.

• Establish the game’s animation style, attaining buy-in from internal and external stakeholders
• Produce visual benchmarks and production guides, breaking down technical specifications to reproduce animations within style
• Develop animation pipelines and workflows in collaboration with technical animators, riggers, and engineers
• Be involved in the character creation process, from concept and design, through to modeling, rigging and final animation
• Maintain the relationship between the core and external dev teams as it relates to animation and storytelling, including creative and technical development
• Guide storytelling creation including cinematics, in-game cutscenes, and gameplay moments from storyboard to final polish
• Work with gameplay designers and narrative teams to craft compelling, gameplay-relevant animations and experiences
• Maintain department standards through documentation, review, and personnel direction
• Contribute hands-on animation examples to set quality bars and communicate ideas
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical animation issues in-engine (Unity)
• Support, inform, and imbue the creation of marketing materials with the game’s vision and high standards
• Work closely with Production to coordinate animation resources, schedules and priorities based on project needs
• Consistently strive to exceed the highest quality standards of the studio

We are looking for

• Success in creating stunning animations while maintaining visual and functional specifications for game mechanics and technical specs
• Expert hand-key animation skills and deep knowledge of animation fundamentals
• Experience in shipping multiple game titles in your career as an Animator
• Experience with narrative animation in cinematics and marketing
• In-depth experience working with animation graphs and state machines
• Proficiency within Maya and Unity
• Understanding of character development, visual storytelling, and conveying narrative through animation
• Superior communication, organizational, time management and interpersonal skills
• Positive attitude and an ability to receive and provide objective feedback
• Experience providing feedback with internal teams, external vendors or receiving feedback as working for a vendor

Bonus Points

• Experienced working with an established IP
• Ability to model, texture & render
• Enjoy stylized mobile games