Unity Animation Engineer Lead (Mobile & VR) at Gym Class - by IRL Studios | Y Combinator
Role Summary
Gym Class is a leading social game on Meta Quest with millions of downloads, 71K ratings, and 4.9 stars. We’re now expanding the game to new interests and platforms, and looking for a talented and experienced Animation Engineer to drive the future of character movement and interaction in our evolving game world.
In this pivotal role, you'll take ownership of our animation systems built in Unity, focusing on delivering high-quality, performant, and engaging experiences, particularly for mobile and VR platforms. You'll work at the intersection of character motion, gameplay, and cutting-edge technology, collaborating closely with our co-founders, engineers, artists, and designers. If you're passionate about building robust and performant animation systems, leading a critical area of development, and shipping to an engaged community, we want to hear from you.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced character animation systems in Unity, with a strong emphasis on mobile performance.
Architect and build robust animation logic, including state machines, animation blending, and integration with Inverse Kinematics (IK) systems.
Develop solutions for seamless transitions between animation clips and IK, ensuring realistic and responsive character movement.
Implement collision detection and interaction support within the animation framework.
Optimize animation systems for performance on mobile devices, addressing memory usage, CPU/GPU impact, and ensuring smooth frame rates.
Collaborate closely with artists to understand their needs and build intuitive animation pipelines and tools within Unity.
Take ownership of the animation gameplay roadmap, contributing to the overall vision of character movement and expression.
Work closely with gameplay and AI engineers to integrate animation systems with other game mechanics.
Build and lead a high-performing animation engineering team as the roadmap and team scale.
QUALIFICATIONS
Deep Unity and C# Expertise: Demonstrated proficiency in C# programming within the Unity engine, with 5+ years of professional experience building and shipping games.
Animation Engineering Focus: Proven track record of designing, developing, and shipping animation systems and animation pipelines for games, ideally with experience on mobile platforms.
IK and Blending Mastery: Strong understanding and practical experience with implementing and integrating Inverse Kinematics (IK) systems with animation clips in Unity. Expertise in blending animations effectively between different clips and with IK.
Animation State Machines: Solid understanding of and experience implementing and managing character animation state machines within Unity's Animator Controller.
Mobile Performance Optimization: Significant experience in optimizing game performance for mobile devices, with a deep understanding of performance trade-offs related to animation. Experience with techniques such as animation compression, streaming, and efficient data management is highly desirable.
Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a meticulous attention to detail and a passion for delivering high-quality animations and interactivity.
Shipped Titles: Experience contributing to the development and successful launch of at least one mobile or social game that reached a significant audience.
Bonus Points
Experience with or interest in AI-based animation systems and applied research.
Passion for social gaming and a keen interest in pushing the boundaries of character animation and programming within the mobile and VR space.
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; and 401k retirement plan with matching.
