Animation Lead

The Animation Lead is responsible for guiding the quality, execution, and day-to-day creative performance of assigned animation teams and projects, with a strong focus on supporting our teams in India.

Working closely with Art Directors, Production, and client-facing teams, the Animation Lead translates creative direction into clear, actionable guidance for animators, reviews work, mentors artists, and helps resolve quality, workflow, and delivery challenges.

The role is hands-on and close to the work, while also helping the team build the capability and independence needed to consistently meet client expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Creative Leadership: Review animation work and provide clear, actionable feedback on body mechanics, timing, weight, acting, gameplay feel, and overall quality.
• India Team Mentorship: Guide and mentor animators in India, helping strengthen artistic judgment, technical execution, and independence.
• Client & Creative Alignment: Translate client direction, style guides, and feedback into clear guidance, references, and priorities for the team.
• Quality & Delivery: Monitor quality, first-time approval, rework, and schedule risk; identify issues early and work with Production and creative leadership to resolve or escalate them.
• Pipeline & Engine Support: Partner with Tech Art, Production, and other disciplines to ensure animation assets integrate effectively in Unreal Engine or Unity, or other project pipelines.
• Continuous Improvement: Help improve review practices, workflows, documentation, pose libraries, style guides, and other tools that enable teams to work more effectively.

Requirements

What We're Looking For

• Strong professional experience in game animation, including shipped AAA or high-quality game titles.
• Deep understanding of body mechanics, weight, timing, acting, and both stylized and realistic animation.
• Proficiency with Maya, keyframe and mocap workflows, and Unreal Engine and/or Unity.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing work, mentoring animators, and providing effective creative direction.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including working across time zones and distributed teams.
• Ability to identify creative or workflow problems and help drive practical solutions.

You'll Be Successful If

• The animation team consistently delivers work that meets client quality and gameplay expectations.
• Client feedback is understood and translated effectively, resulting in stronger first-time approval and reduced rework.
• Animators demonstrate measurable growth in quality, technical execution, and independence.
• Quality, workflow, and schedule risks are identified and addressed early.
• The team works effectively with Production, Tech Art, and other disciplines to deliver predictable results.