Animator

About This Role

This role involves shaping the movement and interactions of humanoid robots for heavy industry, making them appear helpful and appealing to humans. The Animator will work on bringing these robots to life through character animation, focusing on appeal, weight, and locomotion.

Responsibilities

• Shape the way the robots move in the real world: animate reference gaits, idle motions, and interactions for the robotic personas
• Rigging and animation of Persona robots
• Motion capture, cleanup, and retargeting of motion data to Persona robots
• Advise the motion controls team with the goal of increasing the appeal of the robot and avoiding the uncanny valley
• Work with the motion control team to ensure feasibility of the animations and realize them on the physical robot
• Work with the software team to develop tools and plugins for animation of physical characters

Requirements

• Background in character animation for games or film, and excitement about seeing animations come to life in the real world
• Proficient in Blender, Maya, or 3ds Max
• Proficient in rigging and animation with joint and inverse kinematics constraints
• Able to animate appealing and believable motions while remaining physically plausible
• Familiar with motion capture and retargeting
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Nice to have:

• Experience animating for robots
• Experience working in Nvidia Omniverse
• Familiar with physics-based animation and physics modeling

Benefits

• Performance-based bonus
• 99% employer-covered medical benefits
• Early-stage equity
• Competitive PTO
• Company-wide paid winter break between December 24th and January 2nd

About the Company

Persona AI is building and commercializing rugged, multi-purpose humanoid robots for demanding environments in heavy industry, such as shipyards, steel mills, fabrication facilities, and offshore platforms. These robots perform dangerous, physically demanding, and difficult-to-staff work like welding, grinding, maintenance, inspection, and material handling. The company is backed by leading strategic and financial investors and works with global industrial leaders across Korea, Japan, the United States, and Singapore. Persona AI's founding team has decades of experience in humanoid robotics, bionics, and product development.