Senior Animation R&D Programmer: Retargeting

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences. 

Become part of a team working on some of the most rewarding, large-scale creative projects to be found in any entertainment medium - all within an inclusive, highly-motivated environment where you can learn and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry. 

Rockstar is on the lookout for a talented engineer to join our Animation R&D team, with a background in animation retargeting or related techniques.

This position will help us develop advanced animation systems for our large open world character-based games. The successful applicant will have strong C++ programming skills, good knowledge of and interest in character animation systems, and passion for realistic, high quality character motion.

This is a full-time, in-office position based out of Rockstar’s new state-of-the-art game development studio in Carlsbad, CA. 

WHAT WE DO

• We develop animation technology, from performance capture to a sophisticated runtime engine, for massive open world games.
• We are a global team of programmers and researchers who collaborate on pushing the boundaries of character animation on next generation hardware.
• We support and work closely with animation, gameplay, physics, tools, graphics, performance capture, and technical art teams across multiple Rockstar studios.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Help invent, develop, expand, maintain, and support an extensive runtime animation system, pipeline, and tools.
• Develop robust and performant technology to adjust animation to different characters, situations, and environments.
• Collaborate and contribute to the research and development of features related to procedural animation, motion adaptation, and character motion synthesis.
• Keep up to date with the latest academic and industry breakthroughs, independently research and develop improvements to continuously push our technology forward.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A degree in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• 5+ years of proven development of solutions in animation retargeting, motion adaptation, or related subjects in a professional environment. PhD preferred in lieu of professional development experience.
• Experience creating, extending or working directly with an animation system within a game engine.

SKILLS

• Good communication skills, ability to clearly share complex technical information with other programmers, animators and technical artists.
• Strong C/C++ programming skills.
• Strong 3D math skills.
• Knowledge of character animation technology, particularly retargeting and IK systems.
• Familiarity with common optimization and multi-threading techniques.

PLUSES

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Industry experience working on AAA character based games, or character based VFX animation.
• C# or python programming skills.
• Experience developing within a large existing codebase, collaborating, or working independently within a large team.
• Experience with motion synthesis or style transfer.
• Practical success optimizing or debugging large/complex multithreaded C++ code.
• Involvement with pipeline or UI based tools development or support.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply with a resume and cover letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above. If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is committed to creating a work environment that promotes equal opportunity, dignity and respect. In line with this commitment, Rockstar will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants with disabilities during the recruitment process in order for such applicants to be considered for the position for which they are applying, as well as to qualified employees to enable them to perform the essential functions of their roles. If you need more information about Rockstar’s reasonable accommodation policies or process, or need to request an accommodation, please contact the Human Resources Department.                                   

** For those based in Toronto, Rockstar will provide accommodations to job applicants and employees as long as such accommodations do not pose an undue hardship on Rockstar, and consistent with its obligations under the Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

If you’ve got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category.

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