Senior Animator (Cinematics)

Come joinBethesda Game Studios, the award-winning development team behindStarfield,The Elder ScrollsandFallout. Bethesda Game Studios strives to offer its employees a well-balanced home and work life by providing competitive salaries, a generous benefits program, and offices located in some of North America’s best cities.

With a goal of creating a culture as fun and diverse as our games and our players, we welcome applicants with unique skillsets, experience levels and backgrounds. If you are passionate about making a meaningful contribution to some of the most significant games in the industry, we’d love to hear from you!

Your Daily Life at Bethesda Game Studios

Bethesda Game Studios is looking for an exceptional Cinematic Animator to create and implement in-game animations while collaborating closely with artists, programmers, designers, and producers.

AsSenior Animator, you will…

• Apply animation principles to create high-quality character specific animations, while making any changes based on artistic direction using hand-key techniques and adjusting motion capture data
• Work in collaboration with members of the team to address animation needs and requirements for cinematic content and gameplay
• Actively engage with developers outside of your discipline creating a positive and productive experience for all involved
• Assist and provide constructive feedback to other animators
• Communicate needs to any out-of-team or external dependencies
• Consistently integrate and maintain your work in the game

What Makes You S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

• You have 5+ years of professional or related experience as a Cinematic Animator
• You possess outstanding animation skills, displaying a strong understanding of the principles and a desire to improve
• You have a strong understanding of the rules of cinematography
• You are well-versed in cinematic systems within game development
• You are a self-motivated team player with a strong work ethic and cooperative attitude
• You’re great at adapting to change and accept constructive feedback well
• You possess excellent problem-solving and prototyping skills
• You are highly organized and have excellent time management skills
• You have excellent oral and written communication skills
• You are proficient working with motion capture in either Maya or Motion Builder
• You have a passion for gaming and making GREAT games
• You are passionate about pushing animation quality to the next level

Bonus Skills

• You have experience directing motion capture shoots
• You’ve previously animated on open world games
• You have animation graph experience
• You have experience working closely with AI programmers and Gameplay programmers, understanding the technicalities of game AI and game functionality

Senior Animator - The typical base pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $75,000 - $165,000 per year.

ZeniMax has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States, which allows us to pay employees competitively and consistently in different geographic markets. The range above reflects the potential base pay across the U.S. for this role; the applicable base pay range will depend on what ultimately is determined to be the candidate’s primary work location. Individual base pay depends on various factors, in addition to primary work location, such as complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. Base pay ranges are reviewed and typically updated each year. Offers are made within the base pay range applicable at the time.

At ZeniMax certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, such as merit increases and discretionary bonuses. These awards are allocated based on individual performance and are not guaranteed. Benefits/perks listed here may vary depending on the nature of employment with ZeniMax and the country work location. U.S.-based employees have access to healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan and company match, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellbeing benefits, paid vacation time, paid sick and mental health time, and several paid holidays, among others.

This position is in a union and represented by the Communication Workers of America.

We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do – from recruiting for our studios, publishing and operations to fostering safe and respectful workplaces that encourage collaboration. Our culture is based on principles of respect, inclusion, and fair treatment and we welcome anyone into our family without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

Our diversity fuels our innovation and inspires us to create game worlds that bring us closer to the global community of players we serve.