Animation Programmer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

As a Senior Technical Artist (Technical Animation), you'll define and maintain the systems that bring our characters and creatures to life including complex animation state machines, layered interactions, and IK-driven behaviors in our upcoming MMO. Working at the intersection of animation, design, and engineering, you'll build scalable animation graphs, ensure believable motion, and optimize performance across a vast, dynamic world.

You'll collaborate with animators, designers, and engineers to develop robust Unreal Engine animation systems that balance scalability, fidelity, and efficiency. As a key bridge between creative intent and technical execution, you'll drive the evolution of our animation framework and ensure seamless, high-quality integration across the game.

• Build and maintain complex animation state machines, layered animation systems, and override logic supporting split-body for player characters, NPCs, creatures, and props.
• Collaborate with animators, character tech artists, and designers to develop efficient, believable, and tech-friendly animation flows.
• Define best practices for animation setup while owning the debuggability, documentation, maintainability, and long-term health of animation blueprints and graphs within Unreal Engine.
• Partner with engineers to build and evolve animation runtime systems and debugging workflows.
• Drive optimization efforts across animation assets and graphs to meet performance and memory targets.
• Collaborate with cross-discipline partners to ensure character systems scale effectively across massive multiplayer environments.
• Develop scalable animation retargeting strategies to support characters and creatures of varying proportions while minimizing animation counts.

• 8+ years of professional experience as a technical animator or technical artist in games or related industries.
• Deep expertise with Unreal Engine animation workflows, including complex Animation Blueprints, state machines, blend spaces, and layered animation systems.
• Proven experience designing scalable, reusable animation systems for large-scope character setups, including players, NPCs, and creatures.
• Strong art foundation with a deep understanding of animation principles, anatomy, and motion.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate across art, design, and engineering disciplines

• Experience with Unreal Control Rig and Sequencer
• Familiarity with C++ and/or Python within Unreal Engine.
• Expertise in Autodesk Maya for rigging and animation support.
• Experience working with software like Kawaii, Chaos, Havok.
• Prior experience supporting MMO or large-scale games with complex character ecosystems.
• Experience with runtime IK, or motion warping

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you're working directly on a new player-facing experience or you're supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we're better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we're looking forward to your application.

It's our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.