Animation Director

Locations: Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Role ID

210656

Worker Type

Regular Employee

Studio/Department

EA Studios - DCS

Work Model

On Site

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. Part of a community that connects across the globe. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. A team where everyone makes play happen.

As part of Development Creative Services (DCS), you'll play a vital creative leadership role in bringing EA SPORTS' most iconic franchises to life. DCS functions as an integrated, internal production partner, delivering high-quality animation content at scale for global teams behind EA SPORTS.

The Associate Animation Director will lead a team of animators in Kuala Lumpur, ensuring precise execution of animation direction. You will be responsible for maintaining creative fidelity, driving production efficiency, mentoring talent, and serving as the key creative liaison between DCS and remote animation leadership.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the movement, feel, and realism of world-class sports games, while growing within EA's pipeline of creative leaders.

Responsibilities

• Creative Execution & Fidelity: Accurately interpret and implement animation direction from lead studios, ensuring all content aligns with the franchise's visual style, athletic realism, and gameplay responsiveness.
• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Lead, coach, and develop a team of gameplay animators, providing artistic feedback, performance guidance, and career growth support.
• Production Ownership: Manage animation deliverables across the pipeline, including task breakdowns, milestone tracking, quality gates, and final approval before submission.
• Client Partnership: Serve as the primary creative point of contact between DCS and EA SPORTS lead animation teams; facilitate reviews, incorporate feedback, and maintain strong collaborative relationships.
• Quality Assurance: Enforce consistent animation quality across all outputs using benchmarks, playtesting, and sport-specific reference.
• Sports Animation Expertise: Apply deep understanding of athletic biomechanics, locomotion systems.
• Best Practices & Scalability: Follow and establish internal standards we needed to support scalable, repeatable production.
• Risk & Bottleneck Management: Identify scheduling, technical, or quality risks early; propose solutions and escalate proactively to keep production on track.
• Knowledge Transfer: Document processes, share learnings, and contribute to building a center of animation excellence within DCS.

Experience Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience in gameplay animation ideally on AAA sports or action titles.
• 2–3 years in a lead, supervisory, or mentorship role, managing animation workflows and guiding junior/mid-level artists.
• Mastery of Maya/Max and MotionBuilder, with extensive experience editing, cleaning, and enhancing mocap data for realistic and stylised human motion.
• Strong working knowledge in at least one of the major game engines, including animation implementation.
• Deep understanding of athletic locomotion, transition systems, and responsive animation design in fast-paced games.
• Proven ability to follow creative direction while contributing smart, production-aware improvements.
• Experience working in a distributed or service-oriented environment, delivering animation content to remote clients or creative leads.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, able to present work clearly, incorporate feedback constructively, and lead critique sessions effectively.
• Proficient with production tools such as Jira, Perforce, Shotgun, or similar for task and asset tracking.
• Passionate about sports, both real-world and gaming, with strong observational skills for athlete movement, timing, and physicality.
• Bachelor's degree in Animation, Game Art, Film, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Portfolio/Demo Reel Required: Must include examples of shipped gameplay animation.

About Electronic Arts

We're proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.

We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.