Animation Supervisor (Gameplay & Cinematics) at Steamroller Animation – Mount Dora, Florida

Bring creatures to life in ways that make players believe.

At Steamroller, our worlds are inhabited by extraordinary beings. We are seeking a seasoned Animation Supervisor to lead a team in creating high-quality creature and gameplay performances. You will guide animators in understanding that the secret to lifelike motion lies in observation, research, and storytelling—from the subtle twitch of an ear to the thunderous strike of a beast in combat.

Location: Remote (U.S.-based only)

Employment Type: Contract (1099)

Responsibilities

• Define artistic direction and quality standards for various animated projects, specifically focusing on gameplay mechanics, creature behaviors, and high-fidelity cinematic sequences.
• Motivate and mentor team members, cultivating technical and artistic excellence with a focus on acting nuance, biomechanical realism and responsive gameplay.
• Serve as the main point of contact for Animation on projects, adeptly representing the team’s creature and gameplay work to other departments.
• Attend Partner meetings as a distinguished representative of the team and the studio, ensuring the vision for creature mechanics is aligned.
• Stay attuned to artistic and production requirements, aligning with the team and Partners to ensure player immersion, narrative continuity, and believability.

• Create comprehensive documentation for show workflow and onboarding, ensuring animators understand both cinematic pipeline and gameplay systems.
• Prioritize, assign, and follow up on tasks, ensuring timely deliverables and effective schedule planning.
• Anticipate and resolve conflicts or production issues proactively, particularly those involving technical constraints or design blockers.
• Clearly communicate technical and artistic constraints to the team, balancing visual fidelity and cinematic framing with gameplay responsiveness.

• Conduct impactful dailies, rounds, and team reviews, providing clear and decisive feedback to refine motion, composition, and support design goals.
• Provide constructive feedback professionally to a team with diverse skill levels and Partners, ensuring consistency across all assets.
• Conduct dynamic training sessions for the animation team and department, specifically on creature anatomy and gameplay implementation.
• Maintain a robust working knowledge of essential production tools, including Autodesk Maya and game engine cinematic tools.
• Attend relevant training classes, continually enhancing leadership skills.
• Contribute to team efforts and perform additional tasks to support department goals as needed.

• At least eight (8) years of proven production experience, ideally within AAA, AA, or high-quality indie titles spanning both gameplay-heavy and narrative-driven projects.
• Previous leadership or supervisory experience is required.
• Ability to work efficiently and professionally, demonstrating versatility in both independent and team-based settings.
• Experience as an animation instructor in a university or online program is preferred but not required.
• Deep understanding of animation principles: weight, physics, balance, appeal, clear timing, spacing, and staging, particularly as they apply to creature locomotion and combat, and cinematic storytelling.

• Knowledgeable in human and animal anatomy, with the ability to translate real-world studies into fantastical movement.
• Profound understanding of leveraging reference and research for nuanced performance choices, utilizing biomechanical analysis and acting theory to ground animation in authenticity.
• Proficient with Autodesk’s Maya.
• Proficiency in conveying subtle emotion through body language and facial expressions for cinematic performances.
• Experience with motion capture data, performance capture, and/or creature animation is highly beneficial and central to this role.
• Working understanding of Unreal Engine is a plus.

• Clear and cohesive communication of performance ideas that align with the project vision.
• Proactive and adept problem-solving skills to identify show needs and potential issues.
• Ability to effectively communicate in English.