Lead Pipeline Technical Director

• Responsible for the development of workflow and tools on show-specific projects locally and across all studios.

• Ensures Pipeline TD team is adhering to ILM standards when building new tools and workflows

• Approves methods and procedures on new projects and in conjunction with assigned Pipeline TD

• Serves as key knowledge resource for workflow and tools used in production at ILM

• Runs code reviews for Pipeline TD team both locally and globally

• Advises other engineers with maintenance and bug fixing of existing tools

• Provides support to productions to keep the pipeline running smoothly for projects globally

• Collaborates with show supervisors to develop per-show tool customizations, ensuring we are not duplicating work across shows

• Updates and creates new features additions to existing tools

• Provide training and assistance to both Pipeline TDs, production and artists on toolsets and workflows

• Collaborates with artists and production to develop efficient workflows and supporting tools across projects

• Leads discussions surrounding future workflow and tool development

• Joins show and development meetings to ensure tools and best practices are known across projects

• Always aware of commonality across shows, key point person for development of tools across shows

• Key point person in local studio for production workflow and tools for Global teams

• Works with show hub CG Supe to ensure hub and spoke technology needs are understood and prioritized

• Participate in the activities of the globally distributed production engineering team, including:

  • development and support activities

  • regular status and planning meetings as time zones permit

  • adhere to development best practices and standards defined by the Supervisor

Job Requirements:

Education / Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computing Science or Graphics discipline, or equivalent professional experience

• Proven experience in the visual effects or computer animation industries

Required Skills / Competencies:

• A positive, “can-do” attitude with balance: must not be afraid to ask for help when getting outside experience base or comfort zone

• A clear and concise communicator: ability to keep end users informed of progress and managers informed of requests

• An effective listener: able to engage with and understand artists to discover what their requirements are

• An effective time manager: must be able to prioritize a multitude of requests and not be afraid to ask for help if the path isn’t clear

• Passionate about delivering rigorous follow-through on assigned tasks 

• An agile, flexible and quick thinker: this is an energetic, dynamic environment requiring an ability to adapt to rapidly changing requirements

• A creative thinker and innovator: able to devise and employ ingenious solutions to difficult problems

Technical Skills:

• Expert knowledge of python programming and the Linux environment 

• World-class troubleshooting skills

• Experience working with revision control systems and defined coding standards

• Experience developing tools and/or plugins within industry software packages such as Maya, Nuke, Houdini or Katana

• Experience with Renderman, vray or Arnold

Preferred Skills / Competencies:

• Excellent people person

• Experience with database technologies such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB or Redis

• Experience writing RESTful APIs

• Knowledge of the standard python packaging and installation tool-chain

• VFX, Feature Animation or Episodic production experience 

• Experience with Maya, Katana and Nuke

• Experience with Renderman, vray or Arnold

• Experience developing on Windows

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