Salary Range: $160,000 - $180,000 per year. Position Title: Principal Animator Department : Art/Animation Location : San Diego, CA - Remote Employee Type: Full Time, Regular THE OPPORTUNITY We are seeking an exceptional Principal Animator to join our creative team and drive animation excellence across our gaming portfolio. As a Principal Animator, you will be a key creative leader responsible for establishing artistic standards, mentoring animators, and delivering industry-leading character animations that enhance gameplay experiences and bring depth and personality to our worlds.

In this senior role, you will create high-quality animations for characters, NPCs, creatures, and cinematic sequences—spanning gameplay locomotion, combat systems, emotional performance, and cinematic storytelling. You'll collaborate directly with game designers, technical artists, programmers, and directors to ensure every frame serves the gameplay and narrative vision. Your expertise will encompass both traditional hand-keyed animation and modern motion capture workflows, and you'll be expected to push the boundaries of animation quality while maintaining technical efficiency.

As a leader on the animation team, you will mentor junior and mid-level animators, establish best practices, define animation pipelines, and serve as the authority on animation craft within the studio. You'll own full animation development cycles, make independent creative decisions aligned with project vision, and drive continuous improvement in both artistic quality and technical execution.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Animation Creation Quality Create high-quality, production-level character animations that showcase technical excellence and artistic vision Develop comprehensive animation sets including locomotion, combat, interactions, and cinematic performance animations Craft expressive character animations that communicate personality, emotion, and identity while supporting compelling gameplay Work with both hand-keyed and motion capture animation pipelines, ensuring seamless integration and optimal performance Establish and maintain benchmark animations that define visual and technical standards for the project Support physics, cloth, and other specialized animation systems Collaboration Integration Work closely with game designers to understand gameplay mechanics, 3C principles (Character, Controls, Camera), and player experience goals Collaborate with technical artists and programmers to optimize animation assets for real-time rendering and ensure smooth integration into game systems Partner with character artists, riggers, and modelers to resolve animation-related issues and improve workflows Communicate with directors and leads to align animation work with the project's creative vision and style guidelines Test, review, and iterate on animations to ensure they deliver the intended gameplay experience and visual impact Leadership Mentorship Mentor junior, mid-level, and senior animators, providing constructive feedback and fostering professional growth Lead animation reviews and critique sessions, ensuring consistency and quality across all animation work Define and communicate animation best practices, workflows, and technical standards Collaborate with leads and other departments to develop animation pipelines and processes that improve efficiency and quality Act as the technical and artistic authority on animation matters within the studio Contribute to hiring and onboarding of animation team members Technical Excellence Debug and resolve animation-related issues including rigging problems, motion capture artifacts, and engine integration challenges Optimize animations for performance, applying advanced techniques like motion matching, root motion, and animation blending Stay current with animation tools, game engines, and industry best practices Implement and refine animation graphs, state machines, and system architectures Master proprietary animation tools and conten