Animation Developer Jobs in Santa Ana, CA (NOW HIRING)

Team Name:

CinematicsJob Title:Senior Manager - Cinematics TD (SFD / Cinematics)Requisition ID:R027710Job Description:

Blizzard Animation, which creates the Cinematics that breathe life into the various Blizzard Franchises, is hiring an experienced Senior Manager - Cinematics TD to lead a team of TD's supporting multiple animation and cinematics projects. This role sits at the intersection of technology, production, and artistry, ensuring that artists across all departments have the workflows, tools, and technical support needed to deliver world-class content.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional people leader, communicator, and technical expert who understands the end-to-end animation pipeline from asset creation and rigging through animation, FX, lighting, rendering, and final delivery. This individual will partner closely with Production, Department Supervisors, Technology teams and Studio Leadership to drive operational excellence, resolve complex production challenges, and continuously improve artist workflows.

We are looking for someone with deep expertise in animation/VFX pipelines who also understands emerging production technologies and can identify practical opportunities to enhance artist productivity, streamline workflows, strengthen knowledge management, and support scalable production environments.

This role is a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. This is a full-time staff position.

Responsibilities

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Technical Directors supporting multiple concurrent productions
• Establish clear priorities, resource allocation, and career development plans for TD team members
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, customer service, collaboration, accountability
• Recruit, onboard, and retain high-performing technical talent

Production Technology and Support

• Partner with Production Managers, Producers, Supervisors, and Department Leads to understand project priorities and technical needs
• Ensure timely and effective technical support for artists across all departments
• Provide strategic guidance on pipeline architecture, DCC integrations, automation, asset management, rendering, and production infrastructure
• Coordinate TD resources across productions to balance workload and address critical production challenges.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex production and pipeline issues.
• Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and recurring production of pain points, then implement scalable solutions.
• Establish best practices and standards for production support and technical troubleshooting

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in animation, VFX, game cinematics, or related digital content production environments
• 2+ years of experience managing technical teams, including Technical Directors, Pipeline TDs, Production Engineers, or similar roles
• Proven experience supporting artists and productions in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments

Knowledge & Skills

• Deep understanding of end-to-end animation and VFX production pipelines, including Asset creation and management, Rigging and character workflows, Animation pipelines, Simulation and FX workflows, Lighting and rendering, Production publishing and delivery
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management abilities. Experience partnering effectively with Production, Department Supervisors, and Engineering teams
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to balance immediate production needs and long-term technical strategy
• Working knowledge of modern DCC applications such as Maya, Houdini, Katana, Nuke, or equivalent production tools
• Demonstrated understanding of current technology trends, advanced creativeproduction tools, and their practical applications within modern content development pipelines.

Extra Points

• Experience leading TD organizations supporting multiple simultaneous productions.
• Background or working knowledge using Universal Scene Description (USD) workflows in production pipelines
• Experience with cloud-based production workflows and render infrastructure
• Knowledge of asset management systems, production tracking platforms, and workflow orchestration tools
• A definite plus - Experience evaluating or implementing nextgeneration workflow enhancements that improve content creation, optimize production processes, or support crossteam collaboration
• Experience managing organizational change and technology adoption initiatives

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry's most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises includingCall of Duty,World of Warcraft,Overwatch,Diablo,Candy Crush andBubble Witch. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for 'Every World' - we've got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for 'Every World' - we've got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $149,100.00 - $275,876.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role's range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.