Hybrid Sr Lead Animator II bei Axon

Build VR Solutions for Social Good:

Police primarily go though 40-hours of in-service training outside of the academy a year, where most of that time is spent on topics like firearm recertification, CPR recertification, and other various topics. There is not enough time to train on all the things police need to be aware of. Additionally, if they do learn it at their in-service, they practice it once or twice and then are expected to remember what they learned 8 months down the road when they encounter that situation, under stress. Our goal is to make training that can be more accessible, more memorable, and done more frequently. We call this “Roll Call” training and it is training that can be done before and after a shift to keep skills sharp.

The problem we are trying to solve is simple: public-safety training is broken. When we think about the ways police train today, there are several key challenges: ineffective training, training that is not scalable, and cost.

Axon’s VR team strives to create engaging and effective training that provides scenario feedback. Our mission is to help make Community Engagement Training and less-lethal weapon training (like TASER) so that officers are prepared to use these alternatives to Use of Force.
Given that majority police interactions involve verbal and non-verbal interactions, we are putting an emphasis on hand gestures and natural language processing to factor in the trainee’s body language, as well as what they say and how they say it. The vision is that co-operatively will impact how the trainee interacts with the NPC (Non-Playable Characters) in the training scenario. During training, a trainer can observe and later provide feedback to the trainee. These tools connect back to the Axon Ecosystem, which consists of Axon Academy, Axon Evidence, Axon Performance, and Axon Standards.

Your Impact

We are working with cutting edge technology and need your help to make it all come together. You'll join a varied team focused on important public safety training topics. Your work will involve using virtual reality (VR) to enhance officers' empathy, coping, and de-escalation training to help officers engage with greater awareness and safety within their communities.

We believe that happy teams make the best products, so we foster a welcoming, open, introspective team culture that encourages everyone to speak their mind, collaborate together, and have fun. The team conducts daily check-ins, open format meetings, as well as a weekly VR Happy Hour in headset!

We believe we can only succeed if we deeply understand our customers and get to know them. We spend a lot of time with law enforcement officers to learn about their needs, watch their experience and understand the real impact of our work. We also work closely with our Axon Community Impact team, along with other community subject experts to create our content and curriculum to reflect the needs of both law enforcement + community.

What You’ll Do

Location: Work from home as much as you want, live nearby any of our awesome US R&D Hubs (Seattle, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Denver, Atlanta, or Boston) so you can easily collab in-person when it’s helpful and be an active part of our vibrant Axon culture.
Reports to: Art Director, AR/VR
Direct Reports: None

What about the day-to-day?

We are seeking a skilled and innovative Lead Animator with a well-developed focus on training and virtual reality (VR) to join our dynamic team. The ideal candidate will have a deep knowledge of Animation principles, narrative design, a passion for VR technologies, and experience animating realistic characters and with motion capture.  You will work closely with Artists, Designers, Product Managers, Developers, and Subject Matter Experts to create natural animations for our VR training experiences that are both immersive and educational.

• Cross-functional leader, leading the development of Animation for Axon VR simulator
• Lead our Animation Team in building natural character animation to be used within our art pipeline
• Create 2D storyboards and pre-visualizations of scenarios to support preproduction development
• Direct motion capture shoots at motion capture stages and at home.
• Work with SME partners to understand the customer needs in order to design for them
• Work with Content team members to design / write new content
• Collaborate with multiple disciplines across the VR Team (Art, Design, Content, Product, Engineering)

Additionally, we view training as the beginning of the possibilities for VR in public safety. We are looking for someone who sees the potential of other applications, as well as consider how Augmented Reality (AR) can also play a role in the right applications at the right time. This role is for virtual reality right now, but our team has the potential to push (with the the help of this role) further exploration into other immersive technologies and products.

What You'll Do

You will be responsible for writing rulesets and helping architect System Design for our Simulator product . You will help increase immersion, engagement, and scaling within our experiences through gameplay design and storytelling.

Responsibilities include:

• Create realistic and natural character animation content in Maya / MotionBuilder and ensure proper tech integration into Unity.
• Lead Animation Team and help drive the roadmap for Animation systems.
• Direct and act in project motion capture shoots (in studio on-set and at home)
• Work with Game Designers and Developers
• Help grow the animation discipline and our process
• Work with our subject matter experts and research team to build out a character animation library
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including developers, artists, and subject matter experts to ensure effective and high-quality product delivery.
• Conduct user research, play-tests, and gather feedback to iterate and improve training simulations.
• Create detailed design documents, wireframes, and 2D/ 3D prototypes to communicate design concepts and solutions.
• Develop narrative frameworks and rule sets to guide the progression and flow of VR training simulations.
• Proficiency in level design for training simulations, recognizing customer needs and input from SMEs to design effective levels, including realistic blocking and managing spawning points.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest VR technologies, trends, and best practices to continuously enhance the quality and efficiency of our training solutions.
• Ensure the usability, playability (as well as replay-ability) and accessibility of VR training experiences for a diverse range of users.

What You Bring

• Experience with leading teams of animators and artists.
• Knowledge of animation state machines
• Expert eye for motion and high bar for visual quality.
• Experience in storytelling, including creating compelling characters and stories for building believable interactions
• Proficiency with Unity, and Unreal game engines.
• Ability to communicate ideas quickly through storyboard, sketches and rapid prototypes.
• Comprehension of human anatomy and nonverbal communication.
• Technical expertise working with and helping develop real time dynamic animation pipelines.
• Experience designing and integrating AI into gameplay.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of experience as an Animator, Bachelor's degree in Art, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Demonstrated leadership skills, with the ability to present, mentor and guide junior team members, and lead cross-functional project teams.
• Proven experience animating for highly engaging VR, Games, and or interactive training simulations.
• Proven ability to communicate and drive cross functional alignment on Design values and standards via robust documentation.
• Proficiency in using game development tools and software such as Unity or Unreal Engine.
• Ability to quickly animate and build prototypes in 3D and VR to test out ideas and concepts with the team.
• Deep knowledge of Animation technology, including hardware and AI software solutions.
• Great problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically and creatively.
• Solid communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work with and across multi-discipline team environments.
• Passion for creating impactful and compelling training experiences in VR.

Benefits that Benefit You

• Competitive salary and 401k with employer match
• Discretionary paid time off
• Paid parental leave for all
• Medical, Dental, Vision plans
• Fitness Programs
• Emotional & Mental Wellness support
• Learning & Development programs
• And yes, we have snacks in our offices

Benefits listed herein may vary depending on the nature of your employment and the location where you work.

The Pay: Axon is a total compensation company, meaning compensation is made up of base pay, bonus, and stock awards. The starting base pay for this role is between USD 118,500 in the lowest geographic market and USD 189,600 in the highest geographic market. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: level, function, training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, geographic market, and often a combination of all these factors. Our benefits offer an array of options to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. To see more details on our benefits offerings please visit www.axon.com/careers/benefits.