Jobs in Santa Monica, CA

About the role

We are looking for a Cinematic Technical Designer to join our team and help bring story moments to life across an all-new open world IP built in Unreal Engine 5. This role lives at the intersection of mission design, cinematics, and systems — responsible for implementing cinematic sequences, building tools for cinematic systems, and owning the connective tissue between player control, mission scripting, and authored content. As a Cinematic Technical Designer at Absurd Ventures, you will work closely with Mission Designers, Animators, and Engineers to build, integrate, and polish cinematic moments across a broad range of contexts — from quiet interactive scenes to large-scale scripted set pieces. You are equally comfortable in Sequencer and Blueprint, and you understand how both tools behave in development environments and inside a live, streaming open world.

What you'll bring

• 3+ years of experience as a Cinematic Technical Designer, Technical Designer, or similar role in the video game industry.
• Experience supporting cinematic implementation on at least one shipped AAA title.
• Strong hands-on expertise with Unreal Engine 5 Sequencer — shot tracks, event tracks, camera rigs, blending, and runtime playback.
• Solid Blueprint scripting skills, with the ability to build and debug cinematic control flows independently.
• Clear understanding of open world mission architecture — how cinematics are triggered, how player state is managed, and how streaming affects authored content.
• Fluency in the language of camera and editing: you understand shot composition, coverage, and timing, and you can implement a director's intent.
• Strong communication and cross-discipline collaboration skills.
• You can work across design, art, animation, and engineering without getting lost in translation.
• Plus if…
• Experience with MetaHuman facial animation pipelines or driven performance systems in UE5.
• Familiarity with Perforce and large shared codebases.
• Background in film, screenwriting, or on-set production — people who think in shots tend to do this work at a different level.

Benefits