Software Engineer, Cinematic Tools

Summary We are seeking a highly experienced and collaborative Software Engineer to help drive the design, implementation, and support of tools for Absurd’s cinematic content pipeline. As a Cinematics Pipeline Tools Engineer, you will be passionate about developing tools and systems that enable animators, audio engineers, and cinematic producers to create world-class cinematic content for our games. Your mission will be to ensure a streamlined process for moving content from capture through a variety of production tools and ultimately into our games. You will work across a broad range of technologies and workflows, developing C# tools to automate audio and motion capture collection and processing; C# and Node.js tools to support studio operations such as scheduling and actor database management; tools for ingesting assets into Unreal Engine; C++ and Python tools for moving content to and from external applications such as Premiere, Maya, and Pro Tools; and C++ tools for working with cinematic content directly within Unreal Engine. Core Responsibilities - Work directly with leadership from Absurd’s production department to identify audio and motion capture toolchain requirements, and then build, test, and support those tools. - Support and guide work done by creative staff who use agentic coding as part of their regular workflows. - Interface with animators, audio engineers, cinematic producers to design, implement, and support tools for ingesting, authoring, and exporting cinematic content. - Participate in technical planning, task estimation, and milestone reviews. - Work directly with studio production staff to provide troubleshooting and support during production shoots. Core Qualifications - 5+ years of professional game development experience with a focus on systems for cinematic content capture, management, and authoring - 2+ years of professional experience working in Unreal Engine, ideally with experience working with Unreal Sequencer, animation systems, and audio systems - 1+ year professional experience developing desktop applications in C# or similar language - Ability and desire to thrive in a fast-paced production environment - Superb written and verbal communication skills. You will be working with a wide range of studio staff with very different technical skillsets - Comfortable using AI coding agents and helping non-engineers use them - Comfortable working in both PC and Mac environments - Shipped at least one AAA title in an engineering role - A customer-centric mindset with excellent problem-solving and technical troubleshooting skills - Thirst to learn, experiment, and grow in a rapidly evolving technical environment Plus if... - Hands-on experience developing support tooling for Wwise, ProTools, Premiere, Da DaVinci Resolve, and/or Maya - Experience working with motion capture systems like Captury and Xsens - Experience working with narrative authoring systems like Articy - Experience working with automation pipelines like Horde, TeamCity, or Jenkins Description   - Full-time job with benefits.   - Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.   - Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.   The base pay range for this position is $130,000 to $155,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.