Animation Programmer

About Sumo Newcastle

We build ground-breaking games and content for some of the world’s biggest publishers including Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Sega. Sumo Newcastle joined the Sumo Digital family in January of 2018. As a former CCP Games studio, we have a solid history of cutting-edge development, and now with Sumo, a spectacular future of ‘AAA’ game development for some of the biggest and best publishers in the world.

It’s an exciting time to be part of Sumo, winners of the Develop: Star Awards 2019 Best Studio and GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work; big things are on the horizon and we want you to be part of our continued journey.

Sumo Newcastle is made up of a diverse mix of fantastic and talented people, and we embrace all the elements that make our team unique! We are an inclusive studio and welcome applications from all qualified applicants of any background, regardless of race, age, disability, gender identity or neurodiversity.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, experienced and creative animation programmer join our gameplay programming team.  You will work with animators, technical animators and gameplay programmers to implement, iterate and polish animation features, helping colleagues to achieve high quality results while explaining the engineering implications of their designs.  In addition to working within our existing animation systems, you will be expected to create and extend animation tools and systems as appropriate for the task in hand.   

To be successful you will have:

  • Experience with Unreal Engine's animation system
  • Experience working on multiplayer games
  • At least one shipped AAA game in an animation programming role
  • Experience with animation technologies such as rigging, state machines, physics ragdolls, inverse kinematics (IK), compression, facial animation, etc.
  • Strong C++ programming skills
  • Excellent 3D maths knowledge
  • Excellent communication skills and the ability to share complex technical information with both programmers and non-programmers
  • Worked on at least one released game
  • The ability to work effectively in a team
  • A degree in Computer Science or related discipline, or equivalent industry experience
  • A passion for making games
  • It would be advantageous if you have:

  • Console programming experience
  • Practical experience optimizing and debugging multithreaded C++ code
  • Familiarity with common digital content creation tools and animation content pipelines
  • What we offer:

    . Defined Annual Bonus Scheme
    . ULEV car scheme
    . Monthly allowance to spend on enhancing benefits        
    . Salary Sacrifice Pension
    . Flexible Working  
    . 21 days free-use holiday
    + your birthday off
    + 5 learning days including 1 volunteer day
    + a duvet day
    + Christmas shutdown from Christmas Eve to New Year
    + Bank Holidays
    + extra allowance accrued for longer service
    . Free dental insurance 
    . Life Assurance 4x Salary
    . Income Protection of 75% for 5 years           
    . Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay
    . Employee Assistance Programme:
    . Help at Hand - Remote GP, Mental Health & Physio appointments
    . Free financial & home buying support consultations
    . Cycle to Work Scheme
    . Payroll Giving Scheme
    . Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses
    . Career Development Pathway  
    . Wrap Parties.
    . Project Completion Awards
    . Game/Creative Jams
    . Big Family Events
    . Studio social activities, e.g. running, board games, film, yoga, life drawing…
    . Prism – Sumo’s employee diversity focus group 
    . Free fruit and drinks in our studios
    . Employee Referral Bonus     

    Where do we stand on diversity?

    At Sumo Digital, we know that diversity and inclusivity will make our teams (and the amazing work that they do) better! We encourage and welcome ALL applications.

    More About The Sumo Newcastle Studio:

    Sumo Digital is one of the UK's most prolific game developers, enjoying over fifteen years of stability and growth. We have UK studios in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leamington Spa, The Chinese Room in Brighton and Red Kite Games in Leeds, along with Sumo Video Games in Pune, India.

    We offer a superb benefits package including generous holidays and flexi-time. We care about our people, with an emphasis on the work/life balance and out of office events such as our legendary annual Sumo ‘Big Day Out’, plus epic Christmas parties and much more! Our regular studio Game Jams are a highlight - winning concepts can go on to commercial release, so far including Snake Pass and Spyder for Apple Arcade.

    We are proud to be in the North-East of England, in our new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities in Riga. Newcastle was voted the number one place that travellers should visit in 2018 by Rough Guide and has everything that a major European city has to offer; culture, heritage, lively bars and fantastic retail. It is an exciting cosmopolitan city while also boasting plenty of beautiful outdoor space including several beaches less than an hour’s drive away.

    Our environment is relaxed, friendly and built on every team member having the opportunity to shine and have real, meaningful input into the games that we create. We pride ourselves on our positive atmosphere and sociable team who regularly partake in shared interest groups, lunchtime and after-work clubs, and charity fundraising events.

    Submit your application

    General Candidate Questions

    Demographic Survey for Sumo Digital

    We invite you to complete this optional survey to help us evaluate our diversity and inclusion efforts. Submission of the information on this form is strictly voluntary and refusal to provide it will not subject you to any adverse treatment or affect your job application. Information obtained is anonymised and will be kept separate from your name or job application. This information will be kept secure and confidential to be used solely to evaluate our diversity and inclusion efforts.

    A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.