{"id":1445249,"url":"https://alion.io/job/side-cinematic-technical-animator","title":"Cinematic Technical Animator","company":{"id":4302,"name":"Side","domain":"side.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/side","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":97,"open_postings":54,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.111,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":43,"computed_at":"2026-10-03T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Games","role_family":"Games","seniority":null,"employment_type":"contractor","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Fort Lauderdale, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":85000,"max_usd":201000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":84},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Unreal Engine","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-28","last_verified_at":"2026-10-04T00:26:09Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"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.\nWe'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.\nThis is a 3-month 1099 contract supporting a narrative-driven first-person game project.\nRequirements\nWhat you will do:\nCinematic & Narrative Systems\nDesign and build scalable pipelines, tools, and systems for cinematic and narrative content, enabling creative teams to work efficiently with minimal engineering support.\nBuild and implement cinematic content using Level Sequences, Animation Montages, Animation Blueprints, and Blueprint scripting.\nHelp establish workflows that support both gameplay and cinematic storytelling.\nAnimation & In-Engine Implementation\nImplement character animation directly in Unreal Engine, including runtime animation control and integration.\nUse visual scripting and animation systems to improve character performance, emotional fidelity, timing, and storytelling impact.\nTroubleshoot and debug animation and cinematic issues directly in-engine, identifying practical solutions without relying heavily on engineering.\nCross-Disciplinary Collaboration\nPartner closely with animation, narrative design, audio, lighting, and other creative teams to create cohesive cinematic experiences.\nBalance technical requirements with storytelling, pacing, and presentation goals.\nOptimize cinematic systems for performance, reliability, and scalability while supporting ongoing creative iteration.\nWhat we are looking for:\n2+ years of game development experience with recent hands-on implementation experience.\nStrong Unreal Engine 4 experience, particularly with Blueprints, visual scripting, animation systems, and cinematic workflows.\nA multidisciplinary background such as Technical Art/Technical Animation with strong animation experience, or Design with strong art/animation experience.\nHands-on experience implementing animation in-engine, including Animation Blueprints, Montages, Level Sequences, and character animation integration.\nStrong understanding of narrative timing, pacing, and cinematic storytelling.\nStrong investigative, debugging, and problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose issues independently.\nExperience contributing to at least one shipped game, ideally one recognized for strong narrative or mission design.\nExcellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple disciplines.\nPassion for narrative-driven first-person shooters.\nNice to Haves:\nExperience developing cinematic or narrative pipelines and tools.\nExperience with runtime character control and complex animation systems.\nExperience optimizing cinematic systems for performance and long-term scalability.\nStrong understanding of how animation, audio, lighting, and narrative systems work together to create dramatic moments.\nBenefits\nCompetitive Salary.\nDynamic, multicultural and fun environment.\nYou will be working for the world's leading provider of game services.\nWe empower our people and offer regular progression opportunities to ensure our employees flourish.\nAbout Side\nSide (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. \nOur industry-leading services include game development, art production, audio production, quality assurance, localization, localization QA, player support, community management, and datasets. \nExperience our side of life. For more information, visit www.side.inc","description_format":"text","description_chars":4319,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Professional Services","Real Estate","PropTech","Real Estate Brokerage"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T06:26:00Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 2 · green card filings: 1","filings_12m":2,"filings_prev_12m":2,"green_card_filings_12m":1,"median_offered_wage_usd":99167,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-03T21:08:04+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":43,"reasons":["conf:13","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-03T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/side-cinematic-technical-animator","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/side-cinematic-technical-animator.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-04T02:41:55Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3988,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":1012,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-05T00:00:00Z"}}}