Animation Systems Programmer (All Levels)

At Rockstar Games, we create world-class entertainment experiences.

A career at Rockstar Games is about being part of a team working on some of the most creatively rewarding and ambitious projects to be found in any entertainment medium. You would be welcomed to a dedicated and inclusive environment where you can learn, and collaborate with some of the most talented people in the industry.

Rockstar NYC is on the lookout for a talented Animation Systems Programmer to join the Animation R&D team. This position will help us in developing advanced animation systems for large open world character-based games. The successful applicant will have strong C++ programming skills, good knowledge of and interest in character animation systems, and passion for realistic, high quality character motion. 

• We develop animation technology, from performance capture to a sophisticated runtime engine, for massive open world games.
• We are a global team of programmers and researchers who collaborate on pushing the boundaries of character animation on next generation hardware.
• We support and work closely with performance capture, technical art, animation, and gameplay teams across multiple Rockstar studios.

• Join our core animation technology team and work closely with animation, gameplay, physics, graphics, technical art, and tools teams across different Rockstar studios.
• Develop, maintain, extend, and support an extensive high-level animation system, pipeline, and tools.
• Implement well designed, robust, highly optimal new animation features, integrating them into our existing animation, gameplay, physics, and graphics systems.
• Keep up to date with the latest academic and industry breakthroughs, independently research and develop improvements to continuously push our technology forward.

• A degree in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• Experience developing within a large existing codebase, collaborating or working independently within a large team.

• Strong C/C++ programming skills.
• Familiarity with common optimization and multi-threading techniques.
• Good communication skills, ability to clearly share complex technical information with other programmers, animators and technical artists.
• Strong 3D math skills.

Please note that these are desirable skills and are not required to apply for the position.

• Industry experience working on AAA character based games, or character based VFX animation.
• C# programming skills.
• Experience creating, extending or working directly with an animation system within a game engine.
• Experience creating, extending or working directly with cloth/hair simulation and/or secondary motion systems.
• Practical success optimizing or debugging large/complex multithreaded C++ code.
• Involvement with UI based tools development or support, or interest in UI design.

Please apply with a resume and cover letter demonstrating how you meet the skills above.  If we would like to move forward with your application, a Rockstar recruiter will reach out to you to explain next steps and guide you through the process.

Rockstar is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to hiring, promoting, and compensating employees based on their qualifications and demonstrated ability to perform job responsibilities.

If you’ve got the right skills for the job, we want to hear from you. We encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, or race.