Senior Machine Learning Engineer – Animation

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/ $200000 - $275000 annum

INFO

Salary

SALARY:

$200000 - $275000

Location

LOCATION

Job Type
JOB TYPE

Permanent

Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Animation & Real-Time Systems

We are partnering with a Series C startup at the forefront of animation and gaming technology, building next-generation 3D avatar systems powered by machine learning. This team is redefining how characters are created, animated, and brought to life in real-time environments.

We are seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer with strong experience in animation systems and real-time integration. This role sits at the intersection of ML model development and production-grade runtime systems, with a heavy focus on deploying intelligent animation behaviors into interactive pipelines.

Responsibilities

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    Design and develop ML-driven systems for 3D avatar generation, including skeletal structures, rigging, and motion synthesis

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    Build and integrate models for motion prediction, gesture generation, and animation control into real-time pipelines

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    Translate model outputs into production-ready systems within Unity or Unreal Engine environments

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    Develop and optimize runtime systems for animation playback, motion matching, and behavior orchestration

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    Work with mocap data pipelines, including ingestion, cleaning, and model training

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    Collaborate closely with graphics engineers, technical artists, and gameplay teams to ensure seamless integration

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    Contribute across the ML lifecycle, with approximately 25% focused on training and fine-tuning models and 75% on engineering, integration, and runtime systems

Requirements

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    5+ years of experience in machine learning engineering, graphics, or animation systems

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    Strong proficiency in C++ and Python

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    Hands-on experience with Unity or Unreal Engine in a production environment

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    Deep understanding of animation systems, including skeletons, rigging, motion matching, and behavior trees

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    Experience integrating ML models into real-time systems or interactive applications

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    Familiarity with mocap data processing and animation pipelines

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    Strong systems engineering mindset with the ability to optimize for performance and latency

Nice to Have

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    Experience with character animation, procedural animation, or physics-based animation systems

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    Background in gaming, simulation, or interactive media

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    Familiarity with generative models applied to motion or animation

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    Experience working with large-scale ML pipelines or real-time inference systems

Compensation & Location

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    Base salary: $200,000 - $280,000 + equity

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    Open to remote candidates; preference for Los Angeles or San Francisco

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to work on cutting-edge ML-driven animation systems that bridge offline model development and real-time interactive experiences. You will have direct impact on how next-generation avatars move, behave, and interact in dynamic environments.

CONTACT

Gabriella Varela

Senior Sourcing Consultant

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