Lead 3D Animator (Anime, Adult)

Ten-te is a newly funded studio building a stylized anime-mecha adult game in Unity (PC) — a character-collection title with a launch roster of 20 characters and ongoing content updates after release. The role You are the animation quality bar of this project. As Lead Animator you’ll build and run a distributed team of contract character animators — setting the style, owning the standards, reviewing every delivery, and keeping the pipeline into Unity clean. This is a player-coach role: you lead the team and you animate, with the flagship scenes going through your hands. Anime style is non-negotiable. Our game lives or dies on anime animation language — snappy timing, expressive holds, smears, exaggeration, appeal. We’re looking for a lead whose reel proves they don’t just execute this style, they can define it for others and defend it in review. For which tasks (responsibilities) Style: define the project’s animation style guide and reference library; set what “on-model motion” means for this game and hold every delivery to it. Standards: rig conventions, export and naming standards, scene scoping norms, and the definition of done. Review: structured feedback on all team deliveries — clear, actionable, and fast enough to keep 5–6 animators unblocked. Pipeline: animation integration into Unity (Mecanim states, Timeline, humanoid retargeting, blendshapes) and engine-side debugging when something breaks between DCC and build. Team: run paid test-task evaluations, participate in hiring, onboard new animators onto the rigs and standards, and mentor the junior half of the bench. Hands-on: animate the showcase and highest-complexity scenes yourself, including multi-character work. Requirements 5+ years of 3D character animation for games or animation production, with senior-level body mechanics, weight, and timing. A reel that demonstrates anime-style animation — or stylized work close to the genre. 1+ years leading, mentoring, or directing other animators (formal lead title not required — proven review-and-feedback experience is). Expert in Blender or Maya; fluent in delivering into Unity pipelines (Mecanim, Timeline, retargeting, FBX hygiene). Ability to scope work realistically and plan team capacity against a production schedule. Clear written communication for async, remote, documentation-driven collaboration. Working English. All work must be original — no ripped or ported game assets. Applicants must be 18+. Nice to have Mecha / hard-surface animation experience. Rigging knowledge or technical animation background (tools, scripts, pipeline automation). Prior work on mature (18+) projects. Experience running distributed contractor teams. How to apply Please send your reel/portfolio (flag NSFW links clearly), your timezone, availability (hours/week), and expected rate. If you have any anime-style animation, please include it in your showreel.