At Side, we partner with some of the world's leading developers and publishers to solve complex production challenges and help bring exceptional games to life. From concept through live operations, our co-development teams work as trusted extensions of our clients' studios, contributing expertise across design, engineering, art, audio, QA, and production.
We're looking for a Cinematic Technical Animator to help bring dynamic, narrative-driven experiences to life through animation, scripting, and cinematic systems. This is a highly multidisciplinary role for someone who can move comfortably between animation, visual scripting, and storytelling while working hands-on in Unreal Engine every day.
This is a 3-month 1099 contract supporting a narrative-driven first-person game project.
Requirements
What you will do:
Cinematic & Narrative Systems
- Design and build scalable pipelines, tools, and systems for cinematic and narrative content, enabling creative teams to work efficiently with minimal engineering support.
- Build and implement cinematic content using Level Sequences, Animation Montages, Animation Blueprints, and Blueprint scripting.
- Help establish workflows that support both gameplay and cinematic storytelling.
Animation & In-Engine Implementation
- Implement character animation directly in Unreal Engine, including runtime animation control and integration.
- Use visual scripting and animation systems to improve character performance, emotional fidelity, timing, and storytelling impact.
- Troubleshoot and debug animation and cinematic issues directly in-engine, identifying practical solutions without relying heavily on engineering.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
- Partner closely with animation, narrative design, audio, lighting, and other creative teams to create cohesive cinematic experiences.
- Balance technical requirements with storytelling, pacing, and presentation goals.
- Optimize cinematic systems for performance, reliability, and scalability while supporting ongoing creative iteration.
What we are looking for:
- 2+ years of game development experience with recent hands-on implementation experience.
- Strong Unreal Engine 4 experience, particularly with Blueprints, visual scripting, animation systems, and cinematic workflows.
- A multidisciplinary background such as Technical Art/Technical Animation with strong animation experience, or Design with strong art/animation experience.
- Hands-on experience implementing animation in-engine, including Animation Blueprints, Montages, Level Sequences, and character animation integration.
- Strong understanding of narrative timing, pacing, and cinematic storytelling.
- Strong investigative, debugging, and problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose issues independently.
- Experience contributing to at least one shipped game, ideally one recognized for strong narrative or mission design.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple disciplines.
- Passion for narrative-driven first-person shooters.
Nice to Haves:
- Experience developing cinematic or narrative pipelines and tools.
- Experience with runtime character control and complex animation systems.
- Experience optimizing cinematic systems for performance and long-term scalability.
- Strong understanding of how animation, audio, lighting, and narrative systems work together to create dramatic moments.
Benefits
- Competitive Salary.
- Dynamic, multicultural and fun environment.
- You will be working for the world's leading provider of game services.
- We empower our people and offer regular progression opportunities to ensure our employees flourish.
About Side
Side (formerly PTW) is a global video game development and services provider, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and studios around the world. Founded in 2009 and drawing on 30+ years' experience from our parent company in Japan, Side has since grown to become a global force with 20 studios in 14 countries across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.
Our industry-leading services include game development, art production, audio production, quality assurance, localization, localization QA, player support, community management, and datasets.
Experience our side of life. For more information, visit www.side.inc