WayForward has been developing video games in Southern California for over 30 years. In that time, we have launched hundreds of games with partners such as Activision, Apple, Capcom, Disney, Konami, Sega, WB, Universal, and many more! Our games are known for their classic, satisfying gameplay, beautiful art and animation, and compelling characters, story, and worlds. They have routinely received top scores on Metacritic and a multitude of awards and nominations from media outlets such as IGN, Gamespot, Destructoid, and Polygon. Notable titles include: The Shantae series, Mighty Switch Force, A Boy and His Blob, DuckTales: Remastered, Aliens: Infestation, Contra 4, and games based on popular brands including Adventure Time, Batman, Silent Hill, Double Dragon, and Marvel.

We are looking for an experienced Technical Artist with a specialization in rigging and Python/Mel scripting in Maya. This position will be responsible for personally rigging some of our most complex characters as well as mentoring the more junior character riggers within the tech art team. It will also involve and reviewing and looking for ways to improve the rigging pipeline for the studio. This role will coordinate closely with the Lead Technical Artist and with the animation teams.

• Writing new Maya tools for the animation department as needed
• Maintain and update existing Maya tools
• Assist in developing efficiency and quality improvements to the rigging tools and pipeline
• Help to monitor and ensure the quality of rigs being sent to the animation department
• Rigging and skinning our more complex characters
• Mentor junior rigging artists
• Develop plans for how to tackle new rigging challenges
   

  Qualifications

• Expert at Python/Mel scripting
• A minimum of 4 years experience in rigging characters for games
• Solid knowledge of rigging in general
• Experience with rigging non-standard characters with unusual body shapes
• Experience in complex facial rigging for cinematics
• Strong communication skills
• Expert knowledge of Unity and Unreal game engines
• Expert knowledge of Maya and it's rigging tools
• Great attention to detail
• Self motivated
• Good problem solving skills
• And a passion for making games!

This position has the option to be done remotely, or in person in our office in Valencia, California.