2D Character Animator

We are looking for a 2D Character Animator to help build exciting products with our diverse team of musicians, artists, technologists, engineers, marketers, and gamers in an open and fun work environment in Calabasas, California. Your focus will be on bringing a wide range of 2D characters to life for our DittyMoji suite of products. You’ll have an opportunity to stretch your creative legs across a wide variety of characters while packing in as much emotional expression and delightful animation into quick loops as possible. If you can consistently produce delightful animations with minimal direction from the team, embrace collaboration whenever the opportunity arises, and want to make some ridiculously hilarious animations for the world to enjoy then we’d love to hear from you.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Being an evangelist for the 12 principles of animation and ensuring the team understands and appreciates their value as much as you do
Bring life to music through character animations
Establishing and maintaining an efficient animation production pipeline
Creating Reusable character rigs and establishing a system to use them efficiently
Communicating your vision through storyboarding
Generating motion specs and final assets for development and implementation
Staying on the cutting edge of advancements in the field of vector based animation with a continual focus on employing new techniques and plugins to increase efficiency and simplify the team’s workflow

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

3+ Years of professional experience
Proficient in Adobe Illustrator
Mastery of 2D After Effects animation
A portfolio full of 2D After Effects animation
Experience with establishing or maintaining a wide variety of character rigs
An extreme attention to detail and an eye for perfection
The ability to excel within defined constraints to find the best achievable solution
A general understanding of the frameworks required to implement your animations

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

B.A or B.F.A. in either illustration, Graphic Design, or Animation is preferred
A passion for emojis, stickers, and pictorial communication in general
Familiarity with Git
Experience with developing final motion specs and translating them into something usable by an engineering team
Encyclopedic knowledge of animation trends
Experience working on a major cartoon or animated feature
A mastery of Duik or other comparable IK systems
A mastery of Joystick n Sliders or other comparable 2.5D head rigging systems

BENEFITS

Competitive salary
Employee equity program
Medical, Dental and Vision benefits are offered
Paid time off
Free snacks and beverages
Virtual Training classes in career advancement
ADP Discounts program

ABOUT ZYA

Zya empowers anyone to express themselves through music. The company’s proprietary music technology is backed by 44 awarded and 30 pending patents.

Zya is led by Matt Serletic, former Chairman & CEO of Virgin Records and a Grammy-award winning producer/songwriter and independent label owner. Zya’s backers include venture capital firms 500 Startups and Shea Ventures.