Experienced Animation Programmer
Frontier is an independent video game developer and publisher, crafting immersive gaming experiences with fun gameplay and unparalleled artistic quality. Renowned for its iconic creative management simulation games, Frontier captivates players worldwide with immersive and authentic game worlds. The modern studio is located in the vibrant technology hub of Cambridge (UK). The talented team at Frontier are dedicated to nurturing our existing portfolio and delivering our exciting future roadmap.
We have an exciting opportunity for a dedicated animation programmer to work with our highly talented and experienced animation team. Working in our in-house Cobra engine you will create technology that improves how we create and use animations, both in developing tools and processes, and working directly on runtime animation systems specific to each game.
We have a proud history of great character animation, ranging from heavily stylised to realistic behaviours, across both cinematic sequences and real-time motion. Many of our games also feature mechanical animation and physically-driven responses, presenting many novel challenges beyond established skeletal animation techniques.
Fantastic animation will play a huge part in our future success, with games such as Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution leading the way. Your passion for animation and game technology will be pivotal to delivering the quality that we strive for in all our games.
Responsibilities:
- Working with the animation department to deliver high quality authored and procedural animation for each of our games.
- Expanding and improving animation technology within the Cobra engine and supporting tools.
- Optimising the animation development processes and runtime game performance.
About you:
- An eye for animation principles and detail, helping to bring smooth, dynamic and reactive animations to our game.
- Ability to communicate effectively with team members.
- Good analytical and problem solving skills.
- Ability to give and receive constructive feedback in order to strive for continuous improvement.
- Good at managing competing demands for your time.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience:
- Essential
- Advanced understanding of C++ and software engineering principles.
- Experience developing animations systems, handling complex locomotion and naturalistic behaviours.
- Experience creating physics driven or procedural animation systems that work alongside authored assets.
- Desirable
- Familiarity with game asset pipelines and animations authoring tools.
- Experience with profiling and optimisation for console development.
- Track record of animation programming in released AAA games
WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
You will work with talented and passionate people to support, develop or publish our sophisticated and enduring games, in a creative, collaborative and inclusive environment. We love what we do, and we work hard to provide outstanding experiences for our players.
Wellbeing is a big focus at Frontier, and we are continually evolving how we can support our people. We encourage a healthy work/life balance and provide a range of wellbeing activities, initiatives and sessions to support both mental and physical health.
We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, which includes a success-based annual bonus, share option schemes, life assurance, private family healthcare, flexitime working hours, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, in-house subsidised catering, support with relocation, a Cycle to Work scheme, free bike servicing, and social activities and events.
We strive to create an environment where everyone can fully demonstrate their capability and potential. If you therefore need any reasonable adjustments to support you during the recruitment process, please speak to your Talent Acquisition representative.