We’re looking for an experienced Animation Director to lead animation for Hexborn — setting the creative and technical bar across gameplay animation, cinematics, and prerendered film sequences, and building the team and pipeline needed to hit it consistently.

You’ll own the full animation pipeline from mocap cleanup through rigging through final cinematic output, while directing a team and keeping animation tightly aligned with the rest of art and design.

This is a leadership role with real hands‑on depth expected. You’ll be setting direction and reviewing work, but also expected to get into rigs, mocap data, and render setups yourself when the bar demands it.

What You’ll Do

• Set and enforce the animation quality bar across gameplay, cinematics, and prerendered cutscenes/film
• Direct and clean up motion capture data to production‑ready quality
• Build and maintain extensible control rigs for both biped and creature character types
• Own prerendered cinematic pipelines using Blender, VRay, and Houdini
• Provide art direction for the animation team, and streamline collaboration between animation, character art, and cinematics
• Establish workflows and standards that let the animation team scale without sacrificing consistency
• Work within our existing animation tooling: Animation Sets in use and our broader workflow tools
• Partner with engineering to ensure animation systems (blending, IK, procedural layers) support director‑level intent

What You’ll Need

• Proven professional experience as an Animation Director or Lead Animator in games or film
• Deep expertise with Blender and the full animation pipeline
• Strong experience with mocap cleanup and direction
• Solid rigging background, including building extensible control rigs for both biped and creature characters
• Experience with prerendered cinematic pipelines using VRay and/or Houdini
• Demonstrated ability to set and maintain quality bars across a team
• Strong communication and leadership skills — you’ll be directing a team and collaborating across disciplines
• Comfort working independently in a small, fast‑moving team where you’ll own your domain end‑to‑end

Quality Bar References

To give a sense of the cinematic and animation quality we’re aiming for:

Reference 1

Reference 2

About Hexborn

Hexborn is our upcoming dark fantasy action RPG — a brutal blend of hack‑and‑slash combat, deep dungeon crawling, guild progression, and player‑driven rivalry set in a world consumed by an ever‑expanding corruption known as the Graveglass Blight.

Players rise from an unknown mage into the leader of a legendary guild, mastering arcane combat, recruiting allies, forging relics, and descending into cursed ruins and large‑scale raids to uncover the truth behind their rare ability to fly.

The demo is live now on Steam

We’re building toward a cinematic bar that matches the quality references below — both in gameplay animation and in prerendered cutscenes — and we need someone who can lead that effort end to end, from mocap capture through final render.

Benefits:

• Health & Insurance – Medical, dental, and vision insurance (often 100% employer-covered for the employee, partial for dependents); Life Insurance
• Financial – 401(k) with employer match; Yearly Performance-based Bonus
• Time Off – Unlimited PTO; Paid Holidays; Paid Sick Leave; Parental Leave
• Work Flexibility – Remote/hybrid flexibility; Flexible Working Hours / Core Hours Model
• Professional Growth – Learning & Development budget (conferences, courses, GDC tickets); Game Industry event passes (GDC, PAX, etc.)
• Wellness & Lifestyle – Wellness Stipend (gym, fitness apps); Free snacks/meals (for on-site days once you go hybrid); Home office stipend (for the remote period); Free copy of the game + industry game budget/stipend
• Relocation – Relocation assistance or stipend (relevant once you transition to hybrid on-site)

Perks & Tools (Hardware)

• MOVE AI markerless motion capture + Z CAM E2-M4 Cameras
• Faceware Mark IV mocap helmets for facial performance capture
• Industry‑grade workstation, built to spec

Work Arrangement

We’ll start fully remote for a 3–6 month grace period while you ramp up and get embedded with the team, then transition to a hybrid on‑site schedule.

Makeshift Software Inc. is the developer and publisher of Hexborn.