Cinematic Animator, Open World

Summary

Join CD PROJEKT RED as a Cinematic Open World Animator for a one-year fixed-term contract. You will craft animations for NPCs, animals, creatures, and environmental interactions to create immersive open-world experiences. Collaborate with various design teams and departments, focusing on narrative intent and gameplay responsiveness. Your animations will bring the game world to life through world routines, behaviors, ambient scenes, and contextual events. The role requires a strong animation skillset and experience in game development or film. This position offers a choice between remote-first or office-first working modes.

Requirements

• Documented at least 2 years of experience in animation working on games or in the film industry
• An animation reel proving specialist level skillset with a clear explanation of what you did
• Being able to work proactively in multi-disciplinary teams
• Driving to receive, seek and provide constructive feedback
• Ability to self-manage and make responsible decisions about time and project priorities
• Solid knowledge of animation principles and eye for dynamic poses
• Experience working with motion capture
• Professional knowledge of Motion Builder and/or Maya
• Outstanding creativity and very strong commitment to a project
• Desire to create great games and passion for animation
• Fluent level of English (spoken and written)

Responsibilities

• Being a game developer first — thinking about how your animations will look, feel, and respond within dynamic gameplay and systemic world scenarios
• Taking ownership of animation content for a specific area of the game world, and collaborating in a multi-disciplinary team to deliver immersive open world experiences
• Delivering work that aligns with the overall artistic and narrative direction of the project — even outside traditional cinematics
• Creating final, high-quality animation assets for world routines, ambient behaviors, creatures, environmental interactions, and narrative-driven systemic events — using both motion capture and keyframe techniques
• Collaborating on a daily basis with the Cinematic Animation Lead and other departments (e.g. Gameplay, Open World Design, Narrative…) to ensure animations serve gameplay and worldbuilding goals
• Estimating time required to complete your tasks and delivering on schedule with attention to implementation details
• Rapidly prototyping and iterating animations to test ideas and bring systemic interactions to life
• Offering creative and technical solutions to everyday animation challenges, especially those tied to systemic or emergent behaviors
• Sharing knowledge with the team and supporting less experienced animators through feedback and mentorship

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduation in the field of animation (including animation courses)
• Having shipped AAA game title
• A great understanding of what it means to be a game developer
• Experience animating FACS systems
• Experience working on open world games
• Experience working in Unreal Engine
• Basic knowledge of working with animation in any game engine
• Basic knowledge of scripting or programming
• Basic Technical Animation knowledge

Benefits

• Flexible working hours — start your workday anytime between 8:00 and 10:00 AM
• A welcome pack filled with goodies — to help you feel right at home once you join the team
• Trainings, lectures and courses — internal workshops, external training for each employee, ‘Meet a star’ events, knowledge-sharing initiatives, online tutorials, and e-learning classes are all available. There’s always something to learn!
• Merch — gifts for newborn rebels and regular chances to nab some cool swag!
• Private medical healthcare — a selection of medical plans with dental care to choose from, which are also accessible for your partner and relatives
• Psychological care — free mental health support and various well-being webinars
• Multisport card — gain access to a wide number of sporting and fitness facilities across the city