Lead Crowd TD: Visionary VFX Team Lead; Hybrid

Job Position(s): Lead Crowd TD: Visionary VFX Team Lead; Hybrid

Industrial Light & Magic is hiring a Lead Crowd TD for their London studio, working on high-end film and television productions. This role sits within the VFX pipeline and is responsible for driving the creative and technical direction of crowd sequences from sequence setup through final delivery. It suits a senior TD who is equally comfortable mentoring artists and solving hard production problems under deadline pressure.

About the Role

The Lead Crowd TD operates within ILM’s creature and environment department, contributing to feature film production at the level of complexity these projects demand. Day to day, this person owns show setup for crowd work, coordinates with upstream departments including layout and animation, and keeps sequences moving through the VFX pipeline on schedule. The hybrid model splits time between the London studio and remote work, requiring strong self-direction alongside consistent team communication.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the creative and technical direction of crowd sequences across a full sequence or show, making calls on both artistic and pipeline decisions.
• Guide show setup for crowd systems, ensuring workflows are established correctly before production scales up.
• Mentor crowd artists at multiple levels, providing hands-on technical support and structured feedback throughout the production cycle.
• Identify and resolve production roadblocks within the crowd workflow, escalating issues to production management when timelines are at risk.
• Collaborate with layout, animation, and lighting departments to ensure crowd elements integrate cleanly with surrounding shot work.
• Evolve crowd tools and workflows in partnership with the software development team, improving efficiency across the VFX pipeline.

What You Bring

• Substantial experience as a Crowd TD or senior TD on high-end feature film production or episodic television.
• Deep working knowledge of Houdini for crowd simulation, including show setup and agent rigging.
• Proficiency in scripting, with Python being the primary expectation for pipeline and tool work.
• A track record of leading sequences or shows, with credits that reflect ownership of crowd work from brief to final.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor artists and communicate technical decisions clearly to both artists and production staff.

Why This Role

Industrial Light & Magic carries a production slate and a technical reputation that few VFX studios can match, and the London studio works on projects at the top end of the feature film and streaming pipeline. For a Lead Crowd TD, this is a chance to shape how crowd work gets done at that scale, with real influence over both the creative output and the tools that support it. The hybrid structure offers flexibility without removing the studio access that complex crowd work requires.

Apply now for the Lead Crowd TD position at Industrial Light & Magic in London and bring your crowd simulation expertise to one of the most respected VFX studios in the industry.