Cinematic Animation Lead

8+ years of experience across animation and game development, including leadership on a shipped AAA narrative-driven title focused on cinematic storytelling.

Deep understanding of performance, storytelling, and cinematography in an interactive medium, with a strong reel demonstrating leadership or hands-on contribution to emotionally powerful cinematic performances.

Strong understanding of body mechanics, facial performance, and emotional expression through animation.

Demonstrated ability to direct motion capture and performance capture sessions, ensuring authentic, believable performances aligned with creative and technical goals and limitations.

Expertise in Unreal Engine and professional experience with Motion Builder or Maya.

Experience mentoring and managing teams, with a focus on empowering individuals, fostering ownership, and building an environment of trust and collaboration.

The application window for this position will close by 06/11/2026.

This job requires working in Boston, US.

Working mode: in-office in a hybrid or full-time capacity.

Health & Well-Being

Company-paid medical healthcare (dental, vision, and mental).

Free mental health support, including access to counseling, psychiatric care, and a variety of well-being webinars.

CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Cinematic Animation Lead to join our Boston office to the team working on Cyberpunk 2, the next mainline Cyberpunk 2077 game.

The Lead will drive the quality and coherence of cinematic animation, leading a team of talented animators to deliver seamless, emotionally rich scenes, animation library and world content that define the player experience in Cyberpunk 2. Through cross-team collaboration and thoughtful leadership, you will empower artists, improve and refine cinematic animation workflows, and uphold the creative and technical vision that keeps every scene authentic to the world we’re building.

This position requires relocation to Boston. Hybrid mode is available afterwards.

Daily Responsibilities

Maintain and evolve the cinematic animation vision and strategy together with the Creative Director and Cinematic Director, while collaborating with the Cinematic Design Lead and Gameplay Animation Lead to ensure coherence across storytelling, worldbuilding and performance.

Elevate and uphold the cinematic animation quality bar, pushing the seamless connection between gameplay and narrative moments toward an ever more cohesive, emotionally engaging player experience.

To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers — this is our mission. Want to dive deeper into our company’s culture? Explore our social media and check out our

YouTube channel

and

Beyond the Game Blog

where we share behind-the-scenes insights and stories direct from our team members!