# Principal Technical Animator at 2K

- Company: 2K
- Location: Brighton, England, United Kingdom
- Places: Brighton, United Kingdom
- Posted: 2026-06-05
- Apply: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/2k/jobs/7764371003
- Page: https://ye.saranatour.dev/jobs/principal-technical-animator-2k-kn7eyrvd3zq0byba8awvd6614s8hfdyv

## The posting

Principal Technical Animator
2K · Brighton, England, United Kingdom

Job Title

Principal Technical Animator (Gameplay)

**Department**

**Technical Art**

**Location(s)**

**Brighton, Prague, Brno**

**Reports To**

**Associate Director Technical Animation**

**Job Type (Permanent, fixed term, internship)**

**Permanent**

**Job Summary**

The Principal Technical Animator (Gameplay) will help define the technical vision, architectural framework, and long-term strategy for character animation integration across the studio. In this highly influential role, you will champion innovation, driving the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to ensure our games achieve world-class animation quality and responsiveness. You will serve as a technical authority on gameplay animation, solving the studio’s complex R&D challenges while collaborating with design, animation and engineering to establish future-proof pipelines. While not a people manager, you will inspire, mentor, and elevate the technical capabilities of the entire animation department.

**Duties and Responsibilities**

- **Architect and oversee** the high-level design of gameplay animation systems, ensuring scalability, performance, and seamless integration across complex real-time systems.
- **Drive R&D initiatives** to evaluate and implement cutting-edge animation technologies (e.g., advanced Motion Matching, machine learning/AI animation, next-gen physics).
- **Partner with Engineering and Tech Animation leadership** to implement project-wide animation roadmaps and toolsets.
- **Solve deep, complex runtime bugs** and drive animation optimisation efforts to meet strict performance and memory budgets.
- **Define and document** technical standards, best practices, and pipeline workflows for the wider technical animation team.
- **Collaborate closely with Design and Animation leads** to heavily iterate on and perfect 3C mechanics (character, camera, controls), maximizing game feel.
- **Actively mentor and upskill** senior and mid-level technical animators through code/blueprint reviews and hands-on guidance.

**Essential Skills, Attributes and Experience**

- **Extensive proven experience** architecting and integrating gameplay animation systems for AAA titles using Unreal Engine.
- **Master-level expertise** in Unreal Engine’s animation suite (Anim Blueprints, Motion Matching, Control Rig, State Machines, and Sequencer).
- **Deep technical understanding** of low-level animation concepts, including runtime optimisation, memory management, and threading for animation.
- **Exceptional cross-discipline communication skills**, with a proven track record of aligning Art, Design, and Engineering directors on complex technical visions.
- **Expertise in feature breakdown** and scoping, with the ability to translate abstract creative pillars into robust, production-ready plans..
- **A profound understanding of gameplay mechanics**, game feel, and the mathematical principles behind smooth character movement and physics.
- **A portfolio or reel** demonstrating a history of solving highly complex, innovative technical animation challenges in shipped titles.

**Highly Desirable**

- **Strong proficiency in C++** for extending Unreal Engine’s animation system, alongside Python for pipeline tool automation.
- **Experience contributing to proprietary engine tools** or custom modifications to Unreal's core animation code.
- **Production experience with advanced DCC tools**, including Maya API, MotionBuil