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Character Setup Artist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

AGBO Films LLC

Lead Technical Artist

Raleigh, NC · On-site

Solid understanding of rigging, character setup, lighting workflows, and environment/asset optimization for real-time rendering * Experience leading or mentoring a team of technical artists with ...

AGBO

Lead Technical Artist

Raleigh, NC

Solid understanding of rigging, character setup, lighting workflows, and environment/asset optimization for real-time rendering * Experience leading or mentoring a team of technical artists with ...

AGBO

Lead Technical Artist

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$100 - $170/hr

Solid understanding of rigging, character setup, lighting workflows, and environment/asset optimization for real‑time rendering * Experience leading or mentoring a team of technical artists with ...

AGBO

Lead Technical Artist

Raleigh, NC · On-site

Solid understanding of rigging, character setup, lighting workflows, and environment/asset optimization for real-time rendering * Experience leading or mentoring a team of technical artists with ...

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Character Setup Artist information

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$104.5K

$120.5K

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How much do character setup artist jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 6, 2026, the average yearly pay for character setup artist in the United States is $120,531.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $121,000.00 and $127,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a character setup artist?

A Character Setup Artist is responsible for preparing 3D character models for animation by creating rigs, skinning, and implementing deformation systems. They ensure characters move naturally by setting up joints, controls, and constraints that animators use to bring them to life. This role requires proficiency in rigging tools, scripting, and character anatomy to create efficient and flexible character rigs. Character Setup Artists work closely with modelers and animators to ensure seamless animation performance in films, games, and other media.

What are the typical daily responsibilities of a character setup artist?

As a Character Setup Artist, your typical day involves creating and refining digital rigs for character models, which includes building skeletons, setting up controls, and ensuring characters deform correctly during animation. You’ll collaborate closely with modelers, animators, and technical directors to troubleshoot and optimize rigs for both performance and ease of use. Your work may also include developing custom rigging tools, performing quality checks, and sometimes skinning characters to ensure seamless movement. This dynamic role combines technical expertise with artistic sensibility to bring characters to life in animated productions or video games.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the character setup artist position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Character Setup Artist, you need a solid understanding of character rigging, anatomy, and animation principles, usually backed by a degree in art, animation, or a related field. Mastery of industry-standard 3D software such as Autodesk Maya, Blender, or 3ds Max, and familiarity with scripting languages like Python or MEL, are highly valued. Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and effective communication make an individual stand out in this position. These abilities ensure characters are properly rigged and function seamlessly, fostering smooth collaboration across animation and production teams.

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What states have the most Character Setup Artist jobs?

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Character Setup Artist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Character Setup Artist job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 83% Full Time, and 17% Contract. Highlights an 33% In-person, and 67% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $120,531 per year, or $57.9 per hour.

Lead Technical Artist

AGBO Films LLC

Raleigh, NC • On-site

Full-time

Posted 18 days ago

Job description

About the Company:
Founded in 2017 by Anthony and Joe Russo, AGBO is an artist-led independent studio shaping the future of film and television. The Russo Brothers and AGBO have generated more than $7 billion at the global box office, including Avengers: Endgame. The studio's projects include Academy Award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, Netflix hits The Gray Man and Extraction, and Prime Video's visceral thriller The Bluff and the global Citadel franchise. Citadel Season 2 premieres in May 2026.
AGBO is currently in production with Netflix on Tygo and Mercenary, both part of the Extraction universe, as well as with Lionsgate on John Rambo, a prequel to the iconic franchise. The studio is in post-production on The Whisper Man, starring Robert De Niro, and Avengers: Doomsday, which will be released December 18, 2026. AGBO will begin shooting Avengers: Secret Wars later this year. Both upcoming Avengers films are directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and co-produced by AGBO and Marvel Studios.
In 2023, AGBO welcomed Donald Mustard-former Chief Creative Officer at Epic Games and co-creator of Fortnite-as a partner. Mustard brings a bold creative vision to AGBO: to expand what storytelling can be through immersive, interconnected worlds that span across media. We're building the future of storytelling-and we're looking for bold, creative minds to help shape it. If you're ready to help define what comes next, we'd love to meet you.
Position Summary:
AGBO is looking for a Lead Technical Artist to join our Interactive team. This is a generalist hands on leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of art and engineering - equally comfortable troubleshooting a shader, optimizing a character rig, refining lighting set up or building the tools that make an entire art team faster and more effective. You will set technical direction, and establish best practice.
Key Responsibilities:
  • Serve as the lead of the Technical Artist team, providing mentorship, code/workflow review, and day-to-day guidance to other technical artists
  • Work across multiple disciplines - lighting, character, environment, VFX and animation - providing generalist technical art support wherever it's needed
  • Design, build, and maintain shaders that balance visual fidelity with real-time performance
  • Develop and maintain custom tools and pipelines (DCC plugins, in-engine editor tools, asset validation/ automation) that improves artist workflows and production efficiency
  • Partner closely with engineering, art direction, and production to define technical standards, budgets, and best practices across disciplines
  • Diagnose and resolve technical artist issues related to rigging, shading, lighting, and asset optimization
  • Own the technical art pipeline end-to-end, identifying bottlenecks and proactively building solutions before they become blockers
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with art, engineering, and production leads to ensure technical feasibility
  • Perform all other duties as assigned

Qualifications & Skills:
  • Proven experience as as Technical Artist with a generalist background spanning lighting, character, and environment art ; Prior lead experience strongly preferred
  • Strong hands-on shader development experience (HLSL/GLSL, node-based shader graphs, or engine-specific shader languages)
  • Demonstrated experience building custom tools and pipelines to support art workflows
  • Deep familiarity with Unreal Engine and standard DCC tools (Maya, Blender, Houdini, Substance, ZBrush, etc.)
  • Solid understanding of rigging, character setup, lighting workflows, and environment/asset optimization for real-time rendering
  • Experience leading or mentoring a team of technical artists with strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
  • A problem-solving mindset with the ability to move fluidly between hands-on production work and high-level pipeline/tooling strategy
  • Passion for interactive storytelling and a strong eye for visual quality balanced with technical performance.

Additional Information:
  • Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.

AGBO Labs LLC is committed to operating fair and unbiased recruitment procedures allowing all applicants an equal opportunity for employment, free from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, color, ethnic or national origin or any other classification as may be protected by applicable law. We aim to recruit the right people for the jobs we have to offer, and to assess applications on the basis of relevant skills, education and experience.
AGBO participates in E-Verify - English | Spanish
The job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent to this position.

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