Senior Character Animator – VFX Expert

Job Position(s): Senior Character Animator - VFX Expert

Jobgether is hiring a Senior Character Animator – VFX Expert for a remote contract role based in the United States. This position sits at the intersection of animation and AI research, where the selected professional will evaluate AI-generated character performances and define the quality standards that determine whether a digital performance reads as believable to a trained eye. It is best suited to a veteran animator with feature film, VFX pipeline, or AAA game cinematic credits who is ready to apply that depth of craft to an emerging area of production technology.

About the Role

This is a contract role supporting an AI research initiative focused on character performance, placing you within a multidisciplinary team of animation and technical specialists rather than a traditional production department. Day to day, the work involves screening AI-generated performances, writing precise evaluative feedback, and building the rubrics and benchmarks that allow other reviewers to assess quality consistently. The role is primarily remote, with occasional in-person sessions required in Playa Vista, California or New York, New York.

Key Responsibilities

• Define evaluation standards for AI-generated character performance, covering body mechanics, weight distribution, timing, and emotional intent as they apply to feature film and VFX production norms.
• Review digital performances frame by frame, identifying issues in micro-expressions, lip synchronization, and subtle movement that would read as artificial to a trained animator.
• Establish performance benchmarks using reference footage to track model accuracy and document quality progression over the contract period.
• Develop written evaluation rubrics, reviewer profiles, and calibration processes that bring consistency across a wider human reviewer pool.
• Produce clear, actionable written feedback and documentation that technical teams can use to directly improve model output.
• Collaborate with animation and technical specialists to align evaluation criteria across the project and maintain a consistent quality bar.

What You Bring

• A minimum of 10 years of professional character animation experience, with a focus on human performance and acting.
• On-screen animation credits from feature film productions, VFX studios, or AAA game cinematics at recognized facilities.
• Deep working knowledge of facial animation, micro-expressions, lip sync, weight, and timing as they apply to realistic character performance.
• Strong written communication skills, specifically for building structured evaluation frameworks and detailed performance assessments.
• Familiarity with Unreal Engine, Unity, performance-capture pipelines, or generative video tools such as Sora, Runway, or Midjourney is a plus.

Why This Role

Jobgether is placing this role on behalf of a partner organization working at the forefront of AI character performance research, offering animators with serious production backgrounds a direct influence on how this technology develops. The compensation range for this contract is $60 to $90 per hour, reflecting the senior-level expertise required. For animators who have spent careers building a precise eye for performance, this is a rare chance to put that judgment to work in a field where it is genuinely scarce.

Apply now for the Senior Character Animator – VFX Expert role with Jobgether and bring your production experience into a new area of the craft.