VFX Animation Technical Director (TD)

Summary

Join Zoic Studios, an artist-owned VFX company, as a VFX Animation Technical Director (TD)! This role involves supporting and developing the VFX animation team's USD-based pipeline. You will design, develop, and maintain tools to enhance animation workflows, assist animators with scene management, and troubleshoot pipeline issues. Collaboration with other TDs is key to creating efficient tools and ensuring smooth content handoff. The position offers the option to work remotely from British Columbia or in our Vancouver studio. We value work/life balance and offer a collaborative environment on an exciting stop-motion animated feature project.

Requirements

• 4+ years' experience as a TD developing and supporting feature animation and/or VFX pipelines
• Solid foundation in software design and development with an emphasis on VFX
• Expertise with Maya's Python APIs required; knowledge of Maya's C++ API, a plus
• Expertise with Python's standard library, along with industry standard APIs such as Pyside2/PyQt

Responsibilities

• Support a large team of animators working on complex content in Maya, leveraging Maya-USD and a host of custom software
• Collaborate with other Animation TDs to design, develop, and support new tools that empower animators to execute complex shots efficiently
• Collaborate with VFX TDs to facilitate clean handoff of animation content downstream
• Support animators with technical tasks including scene casting, updating, and publishing
• Diagnose and fix problems that may arise in a USD-based pipeline including composition quirks, compatibility issues, etc
• Diagnose and fix asset management related issues, as needed
• Support the team through documentation and training
• Author and maintain thorough test suites to complement tools development

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with one or more additional DCCs including Nuke, Houdini, and Katana, a plus
• Experience with USD debugging and development, preferred
• Experience with Version Control Systems, specifically Git and Gitlab or Github, preferred
• Experience developing on Linux, preferred

Benefits

• British Columbia Employees Pay Range: $45 - $65 (The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location of the position)
• At this time, we’re pleased to offer this role as an option to work from home OR work from our Vancouver studio in the beautiful Gastown area, close to the Waterfront Station in Downtown. (Remote is not available outside of BC; there is no hybrid)