Software Engineer, Cinematic Tools

Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced and collaborative Software Engineer to help drive the design, implementation, and support of tools for Absurd’s cinematic content pipeline.

As a Cinematics Pipeline Tools Engineer, you will be passionate about developing tools and systems that enable animators, audio engineers, and cinematic producers to create world-class cinematic content for our games.

Your mission will be to ensure a streamlined process for moving content from capture through a variety of production tools and ultimately into our games. You will work across a broad range of technologies and workflows, developing C# tools to automate audio and motion capture collection and processing; C# and Node.js tools to support studio operations such as scheduling and actor database management; tools for ingesting assets into Unreal Engine; C++ and Python tools for moving content to and from external applications such as Premiere, Maya, and Pro Tools; and C++ tools for working with cinematic content directly within Unreal Engine.

Core Responsibilities

• Work directly with leadership from Absurd’s production department to identify audio and motion capture toolchain requirements, and then build, test, and support those tools.
• Support and guide work done by creative staff who use agentic coding as part of their regular workflows.
• Interface with animators, audio engineers, cinematic producers to design, implement, and support tools for ingesting, authoring, and exporting cinematic content.
• Participate in technical planning, task estimation, and milestone reviews.
• Work directly with studio production staff to provide troubleshooting and support during production shoots.

Core Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional game development experience with a focus on systems for cinematic content capture, management, and authoring
• 2+ years of professional experience working in Unreal Engine, ideally with experience working with Unreal Sequencer, animation systems, and audio systems
• 1+ year professional experience developing desktop applications in C# or similar language
• Ability and desire to thrive in a fast-paced production environment
• Superb written and verbal communication skills. You will be working with a wide range of studio staff with very different technical skillsets
• Comfortable using AI coding agents and helping non-engineers use them
• Comfortable working in both PC and Mac environments
• Shipped at least one AAA title in an engineering role
• A customer-centric mindset with excellent problem-solving and technical troubleshooting skills
• Thirst to learn, experiment, and grow in a rapidly evolving technical environment

Plus if...

• Hands-on experience developing support tooling for Wwise, ProTools, Premiere, Da DaVinci Resolve, and/or Maya
• Experience working with motion capture systems like Captury and Xsens
• Experience working with narrative authoring systems like Articy
• Experience working with automation pipelines like Horde, TeamCity, or Jenkins

Description  

• Full-time job with benefits.  
• Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.  
• Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.  

The base pay range for this position is $130,000 to $155,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.

5+ years of professional game development experience focusing on cinematic content capture, management, and authoring. 2+ years working with Unreal Engine (Sequencer, animation, audio systems). 1+ year developing desktop applications in C#. Ability to thrive in a fast-paced production environment with excellent communication skills. Comfortable using AI coding agents and working in PC/Mac environments. Shipped at least one AAA title in an engineering role. Customer-centric mindset with strong problem-solving skills.