Technical Animation Artist – Featurette

Job Position(s): Technical Animation Artist - Featurette

Bardel Entertainment is hiring a Technical Animation Artist for a featurette production based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This role sits at the intersection of Animation, Rigging, and Pipeline, building and maintaining the tools and workflows that let animators deliver clean, high-quality performances on schedule. It suits a technically minded CG professional who finds as much satisfaction in solving a pipeline problem as in seeing the final shot.

About the Role

The Technical Animation Artist works directly within the Animation department, supporting artists across the full production cycle of a featurette. Day-to-day work involves writing scripts to automate repetitive tasks, troubleshooting scene and rig issues before they stall production, and collaborating with Rigging and Pipeline teams to keep the animation pipeline stable. The goal is simple: remove technical friction so animators can stay focused on performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and improve tools and workflow automation using Python and MEL to support the Animation department through production.
• Troubleshoot technical issues related to animation scenes, character rigs, caches, asset deformations, and constraints in Autodesk Maya.
• Integrate, validate, publish, and maintain animation assets within the production pipeline to ensure consistent, reliable delivery.
• Investigate recurring production issues and build scalable solutions that improve animation pipeline stability across the show.
• Evaluate new tools and workflows that could meaningfully improve how the Animation department operates on current and future productions.
• Document tools, processes, and technical workflows to support knowledge transfer and long-term maintainability within the studio.

What You Bring

• Professional experience as a Technical Animation Artist, Technical Artist, or equivalent role within an animation studio or VFX pipeline environment.
• Strong working knowledge of Autodesk Maya and CG animation production workflows, including character rigging and deformation systems.
• Hands-on production scripting experience in Python and MEL, with a track record of tools that actually shipped on a production.
• Experience supporting artists through technical troubleshooting on animated feature or episodic television productions.
• Familiarity with ShotGrid or comparable production tracking software used in large-scale animation pipelines.

Why This Role

Bardel Entertainment has been producing animation for over 35 years, with a track record across both feature and series production that gives technical artists meaningful, varied work to contribute to. The studio offers a flexible work environment, extended health and wellness benefits from day one, and RRSP matching. Compensation for this Technical Animation Artist role is CAD $1,400 to $1,500 per week, based on experience, qualifications, and the requirements of the production.

Apply now for the Technical Animation Artist role at Bardel Entertainment and bring your pipeline skills to a production that values the technical side of the craft.