Animator (Contract) Jobs

Welcome to Maxis, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of The Sims, we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don't settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be.

Teams are building the next generation game and creative platform, Project Rene and reimagining The Sims that players know and love with even more new ways to play. We're excited you're interested to learn more about how you can join our team and dream big.

You will be reporting to one of our studio Development Directors.

As an Animator with Maxis, your primary role will be to create and iterate on animation content to support both visual targets and prototyping in a pre-production environment. You will be creating and modifying human character animations that express a wide range of emotions and personality. You have skills in both traditional keyframe and motion capture animation workflows. Your secondary role will be to test new animation tools and provide rig feedback. You have knowledge in Maya, Unreal, and motion capture workflows. You will receive direction and feedback directly from Senior Animators and the Animation Director.

Responsibilities:

• Excel in a pre-production environment that involves multi-tasking, innovating, and adaptability.
• Provide feedback on tools, rigs, and workflows' impact on animation content.
• Make sure all work is clean and organized with regards to assets within each file and file structure and storage.
• Collaborate with peers and supervisors on creative approaches to tackle assignments.
• Create expressive keyframe character animation that portrays multiple emotions in a variety of aesthetic acting styles.
• Iterate on animation content in multiple states for supporting prototypes.
• Work effectively and collaboratively in a remote environment.
• Work within animation guidelines set by Team Leads and Animation Director.
• Use both Maya and in-house experimental tools to implement animated characters and objects.

Qualifications:

• 3+ years of professional character animation experience using Maya, Max, or equivalent.
• Adheres to and applies animation feedback from director.
• Have an expert and demonstrable understanding of the traditional "Principles of Animation" and human anatomy in motion.
• Experience in hand-keyed stylization of bi-ped motion.
• Reliably provides deliverables by target dates.
• Creatively solves problems and communicates them.

Bonus

• Experience with Mocap animation workflows/cleanup
• Animation Experience in the latest version of Unreal Engine
• Secondary experiences as a Technical Animator

Visit us at: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/maxis

US COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The hourly pay ranges listed below are for the defined geographic market pay zones in these states. If you reside outside of these locations, a recruiter will advise on the hourly pay range for your specific location.

EA has listed the hourly pay ranges it in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in the locations listed, as of the time of this posting. Salary offered will be determined based on numerous relevant business and candidate factors including, for example, education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, and business or organizational needs.

HOURLY PAY RANGES

• California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. Sacramento):

• New York (depending on location e.g. Manhattan vs. Buffalo):

• Jersey City, NJ:

• Colorado (depending on location e.g. Denver vs. Colorado Springs):

• Washington (depending on location e.g. Seattle vs. Spokane):

The hourly rate is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. We also offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby (following 1 year of service), medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees.