Character Rigging & Tools Artist Animation - Ontario (Remote)

Job title: Character Rigging & Tools Artist Animation - Ontario (Remote)

About the Role Torn Banner Studios is seeking an experienced Character Rigging & Tools Artist to help create production-ready rigs and deformation systems for our characters. You will collaborate with animators, the character art team, and studio leadership to build robust rigs and continuously improve the rigging pipeline across our projects.

What You'll Do

• Create high-quality character rigs with realistic and production-ready human and creature deformations.
• Skin and integrate character meshes into the game engine, ensuring optimal performance and visual fidelity.
• Collaborate closely with animators, character artists, designers, and technical artists to deliver assets that meet project quality standards and production deadlines.
• Develop, maintain, and improve rigging systems, workflows, and pipeline tools to enhance team efficiency.
• Troubleshoot and resolve rigging, skinning, and animation integration issues throughout production.
• Optimize rigs for in-game performance while preserving animation quality.
• Create and maintain clear technical documentation for rigging tools, workflows, and best practices.
• Contribute to establishing and maintaining rigging standards and pipeline improvements across the project.

What We're Looking For

• 6+ years of professional experience as a Technical Animator or Character Rigging Artist in the video game industry, preferably on next-generation titles.
• Strong expertise in Autodesk MotionBuilder and Autodesk Maya, with extensive experience building production-ready character rigs and supporting animation workflows.
• Advanced scripting skills in Python and MEL for developing, maintaining, and improving animation and rigging tools in both Maya and Motionbuilder.
• Experience providing technical DCC support for animation and rigging tools, troubleshooting production issues, and improving artist workflows.
• Solid experience working with Unreal Engine, including character integration and animation pipelines.
• Proven experience designing, building, and maintaining scalable character rigging pipelines and production workflows.
• Strong understanding of character deformation, skinning, and animation systems.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to identify technical challenges and develop practical, efficient solutions.
• Self-motivated, curious, and proactive, with a passion for research, continuous learning, and exploring new techniques and technologies.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with Unreal Engine rigging pipelines for Control Rig & Simulation
• Familiarity with Maya MGear plugin

Compensation & Benefits

• The pay range for this role is between 100,000 to 130,000 per year (USD).
• 6.5 weeks paid vacation.
• Eligible for Employee Stock Options Plan.
• Flexible schedule and work location, with your choice of remote, hybrid, or on-site.
• Healthcare & benefits plan, for you and your family.
• 100% parental leave top-up for 16 weeks, for Canadian employees.
• Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.
• For more about our team and projects, visit We are Torn Banner Studios.