Technical Director PaFX (Houdini)

Job Summary

The PAFXTD (Procedural Asset and FX) Technical Director (TD) is responsible for supporting creative and visual objectives through pipeline troubleshooting, user support, technical direction, and tool development. The TD exhibits solid technical understanding of processes, technology, and tools within the Procedural Assets & FX Craft Groups, participates in the development of artist workflows and tools for projects, and can debug problematic workflow steps to support global studio productions.

What You’ll Do

• Understand the visual requirements for productions and suggest new technologies, or design procedures, techniques, and tools that will enable these to be met.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance for technology within the Procedural Assets & FX department.
• Participate in or lead the direction, evolution & maintenance of technology within the Procedural Assets & FX department.
• Design, develop, and write well‑maintainable and consistently high‑quality code.
• Track, debug, and resolve workflow issues in partnership with technical supervisors, associate technical supervisors, solutions engineers, and R&D.
• Work closely with other TD’s on the team to drive the technical success of key development initiatives.
• Communicate clearly via instant messaging systems like Slack to proactively report on issues that may affect others, provide updates on software releases, and offer assistance to other team members.
• Ensure that technology, tools, and procedures support the creative process.
• Provide solutions to visual problems through existing tools or by leading the implementation of new tools.
• Take responsibility for the troubleshooting & optimization of the procedural assets, Character FX, Crowd, and FX tools, software, and workflows.
• Actively participate in or drive QA, technical testing, and validation of new technology, tool releases, or pipeline changes so that artist workflow is not impacted.
• Understand the processes of adjoining departments and provide input where required to maximize pipeline efficiency and quality.
• Actively participate in brainstorming and problem‑solving, contributing technical expertise and insight to create and maintain technology within the canonical production pipeline.
• Support the organization’s overall technical goals as required.
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills, including the ability to clearly present work to stakeholders, actively gather feedback, and incorporate it into technical solutions.
• Be aware of the deadlines for development initiatives and actively engage in keeping these on track.
• Continuously monitor the scope of development initiatives and help to ensure scope adjustments have additional estimates, etc.
• Prioritize and break down technical projects into organized parts and describe them in Jira.
• Provide technical guidance to other TDs and TAs, where appropriate, with day‑to‑day issues and escalation through the right channels when necessary.
• Mentor junior team members and assist in orientation with new starters.
• Create synergies between different work groups to promote efficiency and optimization and to generate innovative ideas and approaches to how we do things.

What You’ll Need

• Experience: 5+ years of proven pipeline TD experience in large‑scale animated features, animated TV series, the gaming industry, and/or VFX feature films. Solid production/industry experience as a TD, ideally as part of a team.
• Skills/Knowledge: Understanding of traditional techniques appropriate to Assets (grooming, lookdev, procedural modelling) and simulation craft groups such as FX, Character‑FX and Crowd. Good development skills and understanding of asset and shot department workflows and technology. Comprehensive experience using and troubleshooting in Houdini, Maya, Nuke, and/or other similar software in the animation domain. Ability to code review and troubleshoot problems as they arise. Knowledge of Python as well as PyQt or another GUI toolkit. Knowledge of concepts like data flow, data dependencies, metadata, publishing, and retrieval. A strong understanding of USD and its general concepts, including Houdini’s Solaris/LOP context. Proven ability to design and build production‑ready Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs) to simplify artist workflows and abstract complex operations. Expertise in configuring and customizing the Houdini environment for production use. Practical experience in developing custom user interfaces for Houdini using Python (PySide/PyQt). Knowledge of Flow Production Tracking (shotgrid). Knowledge of code management software such as git and GitHub and code review processes. Knowledge of software development practices such as Agile and how to apply them in software such as Jira.
• Education: Degree in Animation, Film, Computer Science, Design, Engineering, Math or Physics, or equivalent combination of education & work experience in animation/VFX.
• Other: A basic understanding of C++ is a plus.

Location

This role is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hybrid Role (Minimum requirement of 3 days a week in the office).

Compensation

The overall market range for this role is typically $120,000 - $180,000 (total compensation; no bonuses).

Benefits

NAS benefits can include medical/dental/vision plans, mental health support, retirement programs, family‑forming benefits, paid leave of absence programs, and paid time away programs to be used for vacation and sick paid time off.

Equal‑Opportunity Employer

We are an equal‑opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.