Head of Characters

Netflix Animation Studios is on a mission to entertain the world with bold, immersive animated films that are timeless and impactful. We are paving the way for the future of animation by building a community of amazing artists and talent across three vibrant locations globally. Come join us!

Job Summary:

The Head of Characters works inside of NAS as the show-based leader for all character assets created for a production. They will partner closely with the Director, Production Designer, VFX Supervisor, Art Director (Characters), Head of Assets, and Technical Supervisor to ensure that character designs are both artistically compelling and technically robust.

The Head of Characters will oversee the character asset team—including Modeling, Rigging, Surfacing, and Character Effects (CFX)—during asset development, look development, and shot production. They will define the technical and artistic approach for character construction, review and give notes on all character builds, and ensure they meet the highest quality bar while remaining efficient and stable in production. This involves translating 2D concepts into 3D space, ensuring models are "rig-ready" and rigs are "animation-friendly," solving complex technical pipeline challenges, and helping set up the character build of the project for success.

This position is essential in bridging the gap between artistic vision and 3D technical reality, ensuring that characters feel expressive, appealing, and fully aligned with the film’s visual language. The Head of Characters builds strong relationships with creative leadership and technical/production partners, demonstrating great leadership and communication skills to balance artistic ambition with schedule, budget, and pipeline constraints.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and supervise character asset creation across the show, providing creative and technical guidance for 3D stylized characters from modeling through to final CFX.

• Define the creative and technical approach for character asset creation, ensuring character appeal and performance capabilities align with the Director's and Art Director's vision.

• Drive character reviews and provide detailed, actionable creative and technical feedback to Modeling, Surfacing, Rigging, and CFX departments.

• Collaborate with Directors, Production Designers, Art Directors, and VFX Supervisors to effectively and faithfully translate 2D character concepts into production-ready 3D space.

• Partner with Technical Supervisors, Production Technology, and pipeline teams to define, optimize, and maintain efficient asset-creation tools and standardized canonical workflows without creating technical debt.

• Ensure all character assets adhere to high technical standards, verifying that models are "rig-ready," rigs are "animation-friendly," and assets integrate seamlessly into downstream departments (Animation, CFX, Crowds, and Lighting).

• Work closely with Production Management on bids, schedules, and resource priorities to deliver high-quality character assets on time and within project constraints.

• Mentor and support Modeling, Rigging, Surfacing, and CFX Supervisors and artists, fostering professional growth, skill development, and a positive team culture.

• Communicate effectively across disciplines, translating complex technical concepts into accessible language for creative partners and vice versa.

• Collaborate with grace, humility, inclusion, and open-mindedness.

What You’ll Need

• At least 10 years of experience in character asset creation within film, TV, or games, including 5–7 years in a leadership or supervisory role on large-scale animated features or VFX films.

• Deep knowledge of Modeling, Rigging, Surfacing, and CFX workflows, with a strong understanding of skeletal, skinning, and deformation systems, and the principles of character animation.

• Proven production-level proficiency in Maya and ZBrush, texturing packages (Substance, Mari, Photoshop), and familiarity with Houdini, Katana, and RenderMan.

• Strong understanding of the full 3D animation pipeline, including USD and real-time workflows.

• Experience with project management and production tracking systems such as Flow Production Tracking (ShotGrid).

• Excellent leadership, communication, and mentoring skills, with the ability to foster collaboration across diverse departments and personalities.

• Highly motivated self-starter with excellent time management, organizational skills, and the ability to make considered judgments under production pressure.

This role is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hybrid Role (Minimum of 3 days a week in the office).

At NAS, we carefully consider a wide range of compensation factors to determine your compensation. We rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, location, skills, and experience.  The overall market range for this role is typically $204k - $279k CAD.  This reflects total compensation; we do not have stock options.

NAS benefits can include medical/dental/vision plans, mental health support, retirement programs, and family-forming benefits, paid leave of absence programs, and paid time away programs to be used for vacation and sick paid time off. See more detail about our benefits here. 

Inclusion is a Netflix value and we strive to host a meaningful interview experience for all candidates. If you want an accommodation/adjustment for a disability or any other reason during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.