Senior Technical Director

Skydance offers a dynamic, inclusive, and ever-evolving culture where innovative ideas are welcomed, and growth fostered. The partnership between unique creativity and technological advancements are demonstrated within each pillar of the company. At the heart of it all is a commitment to boldly entertaining and relevant storytelling.

While all Animation studios look to hire people who are creative and hard-working, Skydance Animation is specifically looking for pioneers who seek to push the limits of what the world’s most collaborative art form can achieve, and to give those pioneers the space and the resources to build a new studio that’s doing something different.

For information on Skydance’s privacy practices, see the Skydance U.S. Personnel Privacy Notice located at https://skydance.com/privacy-personnel/.

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The Senior Technical Director develops and supports innovative tools for our production teams to efficiently create the animated films at Skydance. The goal of these efforts is to implement solutions that off-the-shelf software could not otherwise provide, while maximizing productivity with the high-quality standard set by the company. The scope of the developments may be from a simple python script to a larger development involving complex algorithms.

• Develop, test and deploy global and core technologies that support all the productions
• Follows design patterns and team technical guidelines
• Partners with artists, show TDs, and other engineers to iterate, debug, document, and refine tools and processes for feature film production
• Reports to the Production Technology Supervisor on the status of technical development projects, tool performance, production operations and support statuses
• Continually examines production’s user experiences, satisfaction, and level of understanding to identify areas of improvement to the production pipelines
• Strong project management skills; being self-motivated, organized, resourceful and prudent, supported with excellent communication skills
• Works together within the TD team, sharing ideas, support, guidance, and instruction to the more junior members of the team

• 6+ years in visual effects or animation industries
• BS degree in Computer Science, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
• Deep understanding of the 3D animated film production pipelines, and workflows (artistic and technical)
• Proven expertise in Python
• Priority given towards experience building tools for Houdini
• Experience building tools for Maya and Nuke
• Experience in Linux operating systems
• Experience in C++, Rust is a plus
• Experience working with version control systems (Git)
• Experience with Renderman is a plus
• Ability to document digital processes and technical solutions
• Practical knowledge in continuous delivery and agile methodologies
• Applies innovative processes and techniques by bringing new ideas or solutions
• Highly skilled in expressing, transmitting and presenting new ideas in presentations or in writing to clearly articulate strategic ideas
• Able to clearly communicate project statuses to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Makes the team goal a priority and expresses positive expectations
• Delivers assigned duties with the quality level required and on time with high levels of professionalism, completeness, commitment and strong work ethic
• Clearly meets the expectations on the duties assigned with low supervision, encouraging and inspiring some other less experienced colleagues to do so
• Acts as mentor inside and outside their team, establishing an effective working relationship and a fluid communication environment, contributing to the individual and group achievement of objectives
• Exemplifies a strong work ethic
• Advanced English level; Spanish oral and written skills is a plus

The compensation range for this non-exempt position in the tri-state area is $72.50-85.00/hour.  The rate offered may vary based on the candidate’s location, qualifications, experience and relevant expertise, among other factors.  The range indicated is for base salary only and does not reflect the total compensation package, including bonus, benefits, etc. 

 #animation

Skydance is a diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create high quality, event-level entertainment for global audiences. The Company brings to life stories of immersive worlds across its feature film, television, interactive, and animation divisions.

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