Head of Pipeline (DNEG Animation) in London

Division: DNEG Animation | Feature

Location: London or India

Reports to: VP, Animation Technology

KEY PURPOSE OF ROLE

DNEG Feature Animation has been growing in recent years, bringing in the best talent to work on our shows. We aim to compete with the best in the business and our Head of Pipeline plays an important part in driving the team to success. In this role, you will work directly with multiple show’s supervisors to solve creative and technical issues, support and develop pipeline tools and workflows in support of current FEAT projects, and to advance the studio's technical capabilities. This exciting role is a senior leadership position within DNEG Animation and will report directly to the VP of Animation Technology. As a Head of Pipeline, you will work closely with the Head of CG and CG supervisors to translate the creative and technical vision into the final project outcomes. You will guide the Pipeline supervisors, Pipeline TDs and ATDs in providing the technical support and mentorship for the team, advancing them technically and professionally while continually improving the pipeline and workflow capabilities. You will collaborate closely with the Pipeline Architect, the Program Manager and the Technology Operations Manager on casting and career development decisions for the Pipeline team members to grow the department into a center of technical excellence.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage the DNEG Animation Pipeline team including Pipeline Supervisors, Pipeline TDs and ATDs.
• Provide technical leadership, support, and feedback to the Pipeline team, with a particular focus on mentoring Pipeline supervisors.
• Foster team morale and peer relationships with team building events, training, workshops, hackathon events etc.
• Play a critical role in fostering productive collaboration across sites and timezones by implementing processes, meetings, and appropriate communication channels.
• Responsible for the mentorship and training of pipeline supervisors and project leads.
• Actively support career progression for pipeline supervisors, TDs and ATDs.
• Responsible for continued performance management including annual performance reviews and performance improvement plans.
• Responsible for the department growth, recruiting process and oversee hiring across sites.
• Work closely with pipeline supervisors to guide the show management from show setup, configuration, cleanup and archival process.
• Participate in the development roadmap and the project deployment strategy.
• Oversee the scoping of projects with pipeline supervisors, stakeholders and tech supervision.
• Actively participate in sprint demos to observe the teams progress and interaction with production stakeholders.
• Oversee the pipeline team in maintaining department documentation and training.
• Be on the look‑out for potential misunderstandings or conflict, promote conflict resolution whenever applicable.
• Acts as escalation point for support requests.
• Drives stakeholder engagement for technical changes/rollout and change management in partnership with Head of CG and Pipeline Architect.
• Collaborate with Partners closely with the Pipeline Architect to make casting decisions and balance the pipeline development and show support given the AnimTech teams capacity and capabilities.
• Collaborate with the Technology Operations Managers to support the team’s growth and development, managing crew’s performance, defining strategies for compensation and retention, ensuring career progression to fulfil the potential of all members of the department.
• Partner with the Technology Operations and Program manager to establish a clear Service Level Agreement.
• Collaborate with show leadership to manage and prioritise the support and development tasks, according to the SLA.
• Collaborate with the Pipeline supervisors, project and Technology Operations Manager when making casting decisions and balance the assignments between development and support tasks.
• Collaborate with the Technology Operations Manager and Talent Acquisition teams for staffing, recruiting, and hiring efforts, including reviewing applications, interviewing and providing conclusive summaries.
• Collaborate with Head of CG and show CG Sups for ongoing or upcoming challenges and deploy strategies and solutions.
• Partners with the Head of CG, CG supervisors and technical supervisors at DNEG Animation to identify workflow improvements and define technical requirements for pipeline development, based on production requirements.
• Partners with the Program and Project managers to complete the development projects on time.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders in platform, core and product teams to represent the priorities and technical requirements of DNEG Animation.
• Collaborating with counterparts in DNEG VFX for cross-division pipeline awareness and consistency.

MUST HAVE

• Leadership experience in leading a team of software or pipeline developers.
• In-depth production and pipeline experience in a large scale VFX or Animation studio environment.
• Hands‑on experience of large scale, multi‑location production pipelines and asset models.
• A history of successfully running large shows (1000+ shots) as a Pipeline Supervisor, Supervising TD, or industry equivalent.
• Proven ability to influence and build strong working relations within an organisation.
• Capable of organising and coordinating people, with enthusiasm and clarity.
• Expert knowledge of USD and revision control systems.
• Extensive experience in Python or other programming languages.
• Experience with proprietary extensions of production applications such as Houdini, Katana, Maya or Nuke.
• Experience with software development in a Linux environment.
• Experience with renderers such as Renderman, Mantra, Karma.
• 5 years of experience as pipeline supervisor or equivalent technical leadership position.
• Must have completed at least 3 production in the role as pipeline supervisor.

ABOUT YOU

• Passionate about delivering the highest quality work at all times.
• Excellent communications and relationship building skills.
• Able to adapt to and thrive in a dynamic environment.
• An effective people coach, with a focus on team development.
• Strong problem solving and organisational skills.
• Able to think strategically and globally when discussing solutions.