Remote Senior Programmer - Animation Specialist (Remote within the UK) in Derby

We are looking for a Senior Programmer, specialising in animation, to drive the vision for character technology development at nDreams. This role combines hands-on technical expertise with autonomous, self-driven engineering initiative. You will develop cutting-edge character animation solutions while ensuring characters achieve the highest quality and perform optimally on target hardware. You’ll be part of the Core Development Team, collaborating closely with external stakeholders across animation, project engineering, and production teams to advance character animation development in line with the company’s creative and technical goals. You will help refine processes, foster innovation, and play a key role in delivering cutting-edge character animation technology.

The rundown:

• Permanent role
• Full time (37.5 hours per week)
• Fully remote within UK
• Salary is competitive and dependent on experience

Key responsibilities:

• Design and develop core animation systems for VR gameplay
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of animation with gameplay and narrative
• Influence innovation in procedural animation, IK systems, and runtime rigging
• Participate in setting technical direction and long-term strategy for animation technology
• Ensure high code quality, good maintainability, and clear, robust documentation
• Mentor and support junior and mid-level programmers, fostering growth and excellence
• Partner with project leadership, QA and production to ensure animation features meet quality and delivery goals
• Evaluate and introduce new tools, techniques, and middleware to enhance workflows

The skills you’ll need:

• Thorough understanding of Unreal Engine’s animation blueprints and control rig, including customization of the editor, custom node creation and Metahuman pipeline
• Advanced knowledge of C++ including high-performance programming
• Familiarity with modern Unreal Engine animation concepts like motion matching, performance capture, and Metahuman animation
• Understanding of animation principles and real-time implementation
• Proven track record in VR development and performance optimization
• Exceptional problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills

The nice to haves:

• Experience with Metahuman character optimization, Mutable, and DNA pipelines
• Experience with Shotgrid based content pipelines, including Shotgrid API

We are nDreams – creators of some of the world’s most immersive VR games. We believe the best workplaces and games are created by diverse, happy and safe teams. We're committed to building a culture centred on respect, wellbeing and balance. It's crucial we make our games and industry more accessible to underrepresented communities. We strive to live this through the people we hire, the experiences we create and the causes we support. We want everyone to have the opportunity to bring their best, authentic self to work. Please let us know if you require reasonable adjustments during the interview process by emailing interviewing@ndreams.com or speaking to your nDreams recruiter. For more information about reasonable adjustments, check out this guidance from Scope.

We offer great perks, including flexible hours, duvet days, your birthday off, dedicated personal development time and support, as well as regular socials. Beyond this, there’s an excellent holiday offering, pension scheme, health insurance, life cover and much more.