Senior VFX Artist & Animation Generalist

Who We Are

Gram Games is the studio behind popular titles like 1010!, Six!, Merge Dragons!, and Merge Magic!, with more exciting projects in the pipeline.

We are proudly part of the Zynga & Take-Two Interactive family.

We do things differently here: we work in small self-managing teams, giving you an incredible amount of ownership, autonomy, and impact.

At Gram, everyone is expected to have a razor-sharp focus on creating a tangible impact on their team, their work environment, and on the overall company strategy.

If you are motivated by autonomy, constant improvement, collaboration, and a sense of belonging, this is the place for you.

The New Games team is looking for a highly skilled Senior VFX & Animation Generalist to join us.

This is a hands‑on and creative role for someone who can take visual effects and motion design from ideation to final in-game implementation.

You will help design, build, and polish the VFX and motion language of the game, working closely with art, design, tech art, engineering, and production.

Crucially, we need someone who can take full ownership of the pipeline that drives the dynamic, deeply satisfying VFX and interactions seen in top‑tier, highly polished casual puzzle games.

We are looking for a generalist who combines strong artistic judgment with deep hands‑on Unity experience.

Responsibilities

• Own, build, and optimize the VFX and animation pipeline, establishing efficient workflows tailored to producing the highly dynamic and rewarding interactions expected in top‑tier casual puzzle games.
• Create high-quality VFX and animations from ideation, concept, and visual exploration through to final implementation in Unity.
• Design and implement "juicy" interactions and celebratory effects that make every player interaction feel incredibly tactile and satisfying.
• Bring your own creative ideas to the table to make the puzzle pieces, UI, environments, and effects feel alive and responsive.
• Work hands‑on with modern Unity workflows, including the Animation timeline, Particle System, Shader Graph, URP, custom materials, and animation-driven effects.
• Translate concepts, prototypes, gameplay needs, and rough ideas into clear, polished in‑engine effects and motion.
• Optimize VFX and animations for mobile, balancing visual ambition with performance, memory, readability, and production constraints.
• Identify visual, technical, and workflow bottlenecks in the pipeline, and propose practical solutions.
• Collaborate with tech art and engineering on shaders, tools, profiling, and runtime performance.

Requirements

• Significant experience (at a Senior, Lead, or Principal level) creating real‑time VFX and animations for games, specifically casual puzzle games or highly polished free‑to‑play titles.
• Proven experience owning, building, or significantly contributing to a VFX and animation pipeline for mobile.
• A strong grasp of fundamental animation principles applied to gameplay elements, UI, and effects.
• Strong hands‑on experience making VFX and animations directly in Unity.

A strong portfolio showing high‑quality in‑game VFX and motion design from idea to final implementation, highlighting "juicy" and satisfying visual feedback.

• The ability to create assets from early ideation, concept, mood boards, mockups, prototypes, or rough direction and turn them into polished in‑engine results.
• A strong understanding of mobile performance constraints and optimization techniques. The ability to troubleshoot visual bugs, sorting issues, and performance problems.
• Strong collaboration skills across art, design, technical art, engineering, and production.
• A proactive, organized, and self‑driven approach to your work.
• What Makes You Successful In This Role

You are not waiting for tasks to be assigned. You look at the game, understand what it needs, and help raise the bar.

You are comfortable owning a feature's VFX and motion from start to finish: shaping the idea, exploring the visual direction, implementing it in Unity, polishing it, and keeping stakeholders informed and aligned.

• You can explain your creative and technical choices clearly, take feedback w
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