ANIMATION TD

Blizzard Entertainment® is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. After establishing the Blizzard Entertainment label in 1994, the company quickly became one of the most popular and well-respected makers of computer games. By focusing on creating well-designed, highly enjoyable entertainment experiences, Blizzard Entertainment has maintained an unparalleled reputation for quality since its inception.

Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a talented, motivated, and experienced animation technical director (TD) to join our cinematics team. The animation TD must have a thorough knowledge of animation, rigging and simulation tools and workflows currently used in the CG / VFX industry, as well as related cross pipeline tools and workflows.

They will work with technical and art supervisors to determine workflows, tool requirements, and asset needs for the animation, rigging and simulation teams. This individual will also implement basic tools and workflow automation. They must be strong communicators!

**REQUIREMENTS** * A minimum of 2 years’ experience in developing rigging and animation tools using python and pyqt / pyside * Expert working knowledge of current industry animation, rigging, and simulations practices, techniques and technologies * Expert in character deformation practices * Expert working knowledge of Maya * Strong understanding of the CG production process, from asset creation to final compositing * Strong problem-solving skills * A minimum of 2 years’ experience in developing tools and implementing process improvements in a CG production environment * Strong verbal and written communications skills * Strong desire to function in a technical support role **PLUSES** * Working knowledge of Renderman * TCL, MEL, and Python programming experience * General TD experience * Some knowledge of Nuke and Houdini (for downstream awareness)