Senior Spine Animator

Description

Arrow International is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier of charitable gaming products and solutions. We produce and distribute a wide array of products including consumables (pull tab tickets, bingo paper and ink, etc.) as well as world class, state-of-the-art, electronic gaming products. Our products are sold, installed, and operated in numerous social and gaming venues around the world. We continue to grow at a record pace and offer this exciting career opportunity to join our team where we are focused on attracting and engaging exceptional talent, empowering colleagues to achieve fulfilling careers, and creating fun and engaging products that are second to none for our customers.

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Spine Animator to join our Visual Development Team. This role is responsible for creating high-quality 2D animations using Spine 2D, ensuring fluid and engaging motion for characters, UI, VFX, and other game elements. As a senior team member, you will also mentor junior animators, provide artistic and technical guidance, and collaborate closely with artists, designers, and developers to enhance the overall animation quality of our gaming products. The ideal candidate has a deep understanding of 2D rigging, animation principles, timing, and weight, as well as experience optimizing animations for real-time game engines.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities

• Design and animate high-quality 2D character, object, and UI animations using Spine 2D.
• Rig and refine characters, ensuring smooth movement and visually appealing motion.
• Implement and optimize animations in Unity or other game engines, ensuring performance efficiency.
• Provide feedback, guidance, and mentorship to junior and mid-level animators.
• Assist in establishing and maintaining animation workflows and best practices.
• Help define animation standards to ensure visual consistency across projects.
• Work closely with artists, designers, and developers to align animations with gameplay mechanics.
• Collaborate with programmers to ensure proper animation behavior and responsiveness in the game.

Requirements

Experience and Education

• Degree in Animation, Game Design, Fine Arts, Visual Arts, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 5+ years of professional experience as a 2D Animator with a strong focus on Spine animation.
• Portfolio showcasing high-quality 2D animations, including character, UI , and VFX animations.
• Strong knowledge of animation principles, timing, weight, and motion design.
• Experience integrating animations into Unity or similar real-time engines.
• Ability to optimize animations for performance while maintaining visual quality.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with particle effects and shader animations in Unity.
• Familiarity with Photoshop, After Effects, or other 2D animation tools.
• Understanding of casino or gambling-related gaming industries.
• Knowledge of scripting for animation automation (ex. Spine scripting, Unity C#)

We offer a dynamic and creative environment, opportunities for professional growth, and the chance to work on exciting projects in the gaming industry. If you are passionate about animation and gaming, we would love to hear from you!

PHYSICAL DEMANDS/WORKING CONDITIONS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• The noise level in the work environment is low.
• May be required to sit for long and/or extended periods of time.