Animation Engineer (Senior / Staff / Principal)

Role Summary

Gym Class VR is the #1 most played sports game in virtual reality, and #1 best rated game on the Meta Quest platform. Millions of players download GC to play basketball with friends around the world, break a sweat, and compete to become a star.

As a Unity Animator and Programmer for Gym Class you will play a crucial role in bringing our virtual worlds to life by crafting captivating character animations and programming intricate state machines and blend trees within the realm of Virtual Reality. Your collaborative efforts with our co-founders, artists, content creators, backend and Unity engineers, will ensure seamless integration of animations into Gym Class, creating an immersive and unparalleled player experience.

The company is backed by top technology and sports investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Y Combinator, National Basketball Association (NBA), the Golden State Warriors, and top player-investors like Kevin Durant, Danny Green, Zaza Pachulia, Andre Iguodala, and Lonzo Ball.

Join Gym Class if you’d like to work at the frontier of social gaming and virtual reality, love to ship company-critical work, get energized from the feedback of a hungry community, and want to grow your career alongside a world-class team.

Responsibilities

• Develop high-quality character animations optimized for Virtual Reality experiences, focusing on realistic movement, gestures, expressions, and actions in Unity
• Collaborate closely with character artists to ensure animations align seamlessly with character models and visual aesthetics in a VR context
• Utilize your programming skills to design and implement state-of-the-art VR-friendly animation controllers, state machines, and blend trees for character behaviors and interactions
• Troubleshoot and resolve Unity animation problems
• Contribute creative solutions for character animation and VR programming challenges during brainstorming sessions
• Assist in refining animation pipelines, tools, and processes tailored for VR, ensuring optimal animation production workflows
• Collaborate with programmers to seamlessly integrate animations into the VR game engine, focusing on performance, interactivity, and player comfort.
• Iterate on animations and VR interactions based on feedback from team members and user testing, implementing necessary adjustments and enhancements.
• Stay updated on industry trends and advancements in VR animation techniques and programming practices, applying them to elevate character animations and interactivity in the VR space.

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience creating animations and state machines for game characters in Unity
• Strong knowledge of Maya and Unity
• Experience with character rigging and IK and FK systems
• Experience with BlendShape animations
• Proven experience as a Unity Animator with a strong portfolio showcasing character animations tailored for Virtual Reality games
• Proficiency in using Unity's animation tools, Mecanim, animation curves, and programming state machines for VR
• Solid understanding of character anatomy, movement, and acting principles in a VR context
• Experience programming state machines, blend trees, and animation controllers in Unity using C#, with a focus on VR performance
• Strong problem-solving skills and meticulous attention to detail, dedicated to delivering top-tier VR animations and interactivity.
• Strong knowledge of performance trade-offs and optimization for mobile VR (GPU and CPU impacts)
• Ability to collaborate effectively within cross-functional teams, communicating seamlessly with artists, designers, and programmers
• Passion for VR gaming and a keen interest in pushing the boundaries of character animation and programming within the VR space
• Strong understanding of mocap processes and capturing real life data for animation clips
• Experience or interest in ML/AI based animation systems a big plus

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary ranges may be inclusive of several career levels and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors, including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and location. Additional benefits for this role include: equity; and medical, dental, and vision benefits.