Animation Director - Sledgehammer Games

Your Platform
Sledgehammer Games is a leading developer in the video game industry, best known for its work on the Call of Duty franchise. Since its founding in 2009, the studio has delivered iconic titles like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: WWII, and most recently, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. With a focus on creating high-quality multiplayer experiences and captivating single-player campaigns, we continue to shape the future of first-person shooters. This role is based on-site in our San Mateo studio and follows a work schedule with a combination of in-studio and remote workdays. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

Your Mission

As the Animation Director, you will define and drive the animation vision for Sledgehammer Games, leading a world-class animation team responsible for delivering immersive, high-quality player experiences across all aspects of gameplay and storytelling. You will partner closely with Design, Art, Narrative, Engineering, Production, and studio leadership to establish animation standards, workflows, and creative direction that elevate the overall player experience. You will act as a senior example to the wider animation team, helping to develop and grow them so that they can realize their full potential.

This role requires a highly collaborative leader who can balance artistic excellence, technical innovation, and team development while delivering best-in-class animation content at scale. You will champion animation quality across first-person and third-person gameplay, cinematic storytelling, character performance, and AI systems while helping shape the future of the Call of Duty franchise.

Responsibilities

• Define and champion the overall animation vision, quality bar, and creative direction for the project.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Animation Leads, Principal Animators, and team members, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous growth.
• Partner with studio leadership to establish animation strategy, priorities, staffing plans, and production goals.
• Collaborate with Art, Design, Narrative, Engineering, and Production teams to ensure animation supports gameplay, storytelling, and player immersion objectives.
• Drive the creation of world-class character, gameplay, cinematic, and AI animation experiences.
• Oversee the integration and implementation of animation content, systems, and pipelines within proprietary and industry-standard game development tools.
• Establish and evolve animation workflows, processes, and best practices to improve quality, scalability, and development efficiency.
• Guide performance capture and motion capture strategies, ensuring authentic character performance and visual fidelity.
• Review animation content regularly, providing artistic direction and actionable feedback to internal and external teams.
• Partner with outsourcing and co-development partners to maintain consistent quality and execution across animation deliverables.
• Stay informed on emerging industry trends, technologies, and animation techniques, helping drive innovation within the team and studio.

Requirements

• 12+ years of professional animation experience in game development, including significant leadership experience.
• Proven experience leading animation teams through the development and delivery of AAA titles.
• Deep understanding of animation principles, character performance, gameplay animation, cinematics, and motion capture pipelines.
• Strong expertise with Maya and modern animation workflows.
• Experience partnering across multiple disciplines, including Art, Design, Engineering, Narrative, and Production.
• Demonstrated ability to establish creative vision and execute against it through both direct and indirect leadership.
• Strong understanding of game engines, animation systems, state machines, blending, and technical animation pipelines.
• Experience building, mentoring, and growing high-performing animation teams.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Passion for games and a commitment to creating exceptional player experiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience shipping multiple AAA first-person action titles.
• Experience with performance capture direction and cinematic animation pipelines.
• Experience working with globally distributed development teams and external partners.
• Strong understanding of player-centered design and animation's role in gameplay feel and immersion.

Benefits

Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance.
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching.
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave.
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others.
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Pay

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $136,880.00 - $253,260.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.