Software Engineer

JALI Research Inc. (JALI) is seeking a skilled and energetic Unity software engineer to join its software development team to contribute meaningfully to JALI's growing suite of proprietary and acclaimed facial animation tools and workflows licensed by award winning and best-class- video game development, feature animation production, VFX and transmedia character deployment.

At JALI, we are storytellers at heart. We pride ourselves on our deep bench of in-house talent, bringing together an Academy Award-winning team with decades of combined experience in graphics research and animation. Over the past 6 years JALI has contributed to several critically acclaimed titles - notably Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Rise of the Ronin - that have set new standards for immersiveness in gameplay. Our expertise is trusted by studios across the globe. Currently over 50 game projects are leveraging JALI Software in active production and our experience spans a wide range of IPs and animation styles.

Following the success of our Maya and Unreal plugins, we are now looking to expand our toolset to include Unity. In this early development phase, you will contribute to all aspects of the process, from designing the architecture of the new plugin to integrating existing features that ensure consistency and parity across our product offerings.

As a member of the JALI team, you will report directly to the Chief Technology Officer.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Help architect and develop editor tools for Unity, including integrating JALI's existing libraries and API within the Unity environment, design cohesive UI elements within the Unity editor, and improvement of Unity's existing animation features to further enhance JALI generated animation
• Develop tools and scripts to improve existing animation workflows within the Unity environment
• Collaborate with the development team, founders and end-user stakeholders to produce best-in-class frameworks and next-generation workflows
• Thoroughly learn the code-base to help direct and optimize it over the long term
• Learning/Maintaining and Optimizing C# and Unity code-base with CTO
• Develop and maintain CI/CD tools and testing specific to the Unity plugin

QUALIFICATIONS

• BS, MS/PhD in Computer Science or similar technical field of study or equivalent practical experience
• Strong programming skills in C#, C++, Python
• Experience working with Unity, with an emphasis on tools development and pipelines
• Strong communication skills with the ability to convey complex technical information
• Passion for interacting with end-user clients and creative staff to develop solution-based tools and
• technologies in the fields of graphics, and specifically, character animation

ASSETS

• Technical writing skills, working with, writing and revising written and visual documentation and tutorials
• 3-5 years of industry experience
• Experience with cross-platform development
• Working knowledge of Mel
• Familiarity with Maya and or related Digital Content Creation (DCC) software platforms: Houdini,
• Blender, 3DMax, Cinema 4D etc
• Familiarity with character rigging fundamentals

TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS ROLE YOU WILL

• Have the ability to work as part of a team
• Be a self-starter with a can-do attitude
• Be cooperative, kind and patient
• Communicate effectively, especially when conveying complex technical information
• Demonstrate exceptional problem-solving skills
• Be confident interacting with end-user clients and creative staff to develop solution based tools and technologies in the fields of graphics, and specifically, character animation
• Always be looking to expand your knowledge and skill set through new learning opportunities
• Have a keen interest in video games, film, animation and performing arts

WORKPLACE & CULTURE

• We are a partially remote workforce and have a flexible approach to in-studio work - the local Toronto team typically works at least two days a week in the office space in Kensington Market
• Team members meet briefly each morning on Zoom for daily standups and once weekly for longer form status calls and progress presentations
• We stay connected, organized and transparent using Slack
• As a small team, self motivation, ownership and the ability to hold oneself accountable is crucial

JOB DETAILS

Reports to: CTO

Permanent, Full-time

COMPENSATION

65-81K +

Health and Dental Coverage Flexible work schedule

Paid vacation, sick days

LOCATION

Our transit-friendly studio space is part of a shared creative workspace located in Toronto's eclectic Kensington Market, called 156 Studio Projects, located at 156 Augusta Ave. 2nd Floor, Toronto ON. Amenities include spacious workstations, unlimited meeting room access, kitchen and common areas. The building is not accessible.

Please apply with a resume, cover letter. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.Applicants selected for an interview may be asked to provide code samples. References will be contacted. This position is open to all qualified applicants; however, preference will be given to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

JALI

JALI provides production teams with a powerful, flexible, and intuitive suite of animation and rigging tools to create unforgettable digital character performances.

At JALI we view digital characters, whether they are hero characters, NPC, or in-car virtual assistants, as actors. And at their most essential, whether they are photorealistic models rendered in 6K resolution, or they are cube-headed avatars on a Minecraft server or Roblox, they all have a job to do, and that job is to give a performance. To power those performances, we develop artistic-centric tools to drive and fully direct the expressive performance of digital characters, enabling story and character development, direction and animation capable of massive scale up with a fraction of typical resources.

JALI's procedural animation system employs intelligent automation and is designed with a deep understanding of the principles of rigging and animation craft. With tools to automate and direct the animation of best-in-class automated lip sync, expressive multilingual facial animation, and high-performance rigging and pipeline solutions, JALI empowers animators to deliver cinematic-quality character animation with ease - on time, on budget and on model, and high fidelity in game character animation at unprecedented scale.

The art of digital character animation is constantly evolving, and our tools are flexible enough to redefine the future of animation — whatever form it takes next.