Character Animation Lead

WHAT MAKES US EPIC? At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating. Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development. ART What We Do Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character, and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire. What You'll Do Epic Games is looking for a Character Animation Director to join our Special Projects team to help drive the vision and execution of character animation across experimental and gameplay-driven prototypes. You will combine strong animation fundamentals with technical fluency in Unreal Engine to build responsive, expressive, and scalable animation systems. You will act as a bridge between animation and engineering - helping to define workflows, shape systems, and solve complex problems at the intersection of gameplay and motion. This role requires both hands-on creation and leadership: setting quality bars, guiding others, and helping a small team move quickly without sacrificing clarity or craft. In this role, you will Lead the creation and implementation of high-quality, gameplay-driven animation in Unreal Engine Prototype and iterate on new approaches to character movement, responsiveness, and player-driven animation Collaborate closely with engineers and technical designers to design scalable, flexible animation systems. Excite those around you with creative and clear thinking Own animation quality and leadership across projects, ensuring a strong and consistent point of view Translate gameplay needs into animation behaviors that feel intuitive and responsive Debug and solve complex animation and integration issues in the engine Contribute to and help evolve animation pipelines, tools, and workflows for rapid iteration Mentor and support other animators, fostering a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and craft excellence What we're looking for Expert-level understanding of character animation principles, with the ability to deliver both realistic and stylized motion; experience with motion matching, procedural animation, or emerging animation technologies is a plus Deep experience working in Unreal Engine, including Animation Blueprints, state machines, blending, and runtime systems Strong understanding of gameplay animation-how input, timing, and responsiveness shape player experience Proven ability to collaborate effectively with engineers and technical designers on complex, system-driven features Experience building or contributing to animation systems (not just assets), including debugging and iteration in-engine Animating in-engine using Unreal Engine animation tools; familiarity with Control Rig and runtime rigging workflows in Unreal Engine Comfort working in ambiguous, exploratory environments with rapid iteration cycles Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to balance creative goals with technical constraints Experienced AAA development or equivalent real-time production environments Excellent communication and leadership skills This role is open to multiple locations across the US (including CA & WA). Pay Transparency Information The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incent