CFX Lead (Houdini) - TV Featurette

OUR STORY

For more than 35 years, Bardel Entertainment has been growing and evolving, yet at our core, we remain grounded in the creative roots of the craft of animation. Our pursuit of fresh ideas, techniques, and technologies is driven by the belief that together, through creativity and collaboration, we can accomplish anything! If you want to be part of an environment that empowers you to experiment, learn, and contribute to exciting projects, come and join us.

Requirements

What You’ll Do 

As the CFX Lead, you will provide technical leadership and hands-on expertise for the Character Effects department. Reporting to the CG Supervisor, you will guide a team of CFX artists, oversee the quality of character simulations, and help establish efficient workflows that support the creative and technical goals of the production. 

You will serve as the primary CFX point of contact, collaborating closely with Animation, Rigging, Modeling, Groom, Lighting, and Pipeline teams to deliver high-quality character effects. 

Core Responsibilities 

• Build and establish the CFX Houdini workflow, including simulation, grooming, caching, and handoff processes based on the project’s creative and technical requirements.
• Create and maintain Houdini setups, HDAs, scene templates, naming conventions, versioning standards, and documentation to support consistent artist workflows.
• Create tools and scripts to optimize simulation workflows, improve artist efficiency, and support production needs.
• Prototype and test representative assets and shots to validate workflows, identify technical or performance issues, and refine solutions before wider artist adoption.
• Lead and mentor a team of CFX artists, providing technical guidance, feedback, and support throughout production. 
• Work with Production and the CG Supervisor to establish priorities, assign CFX tasks, track progress, and ensure deliverables meet production deadlines.
• Create and oversee complex character effects including cloth, hair, fur, skin, and muscle simulations using Houdini.
• Troubleshoot complex simulation challenges and develop practical solutions that improve quality, efficiency, and stability.
• Collaborate with upstream departments to identify potential issues and provide guidance for CFX-friendly assets, rigs, grooming, and animation.
• Document workflows and train artists on tools, processes, and best practices to support a consistent and efficient CFX pipeline.
• Maintain and continuously refine CFX workflows throughout production in response to evolving creative and technical requirements.
• Stay current with evolving simulation techniques, tools, and industry best practices.

Collaboration & Workflow 

• Work closely with the CG Supervisor to establish priorities, workflows, and technical approaches for CFX production. 

• Collaborate with Animation, Rigging, Groom, Lighting, FX, and Pipeline teams to ensure successful integration of character effects. 

• Participate in dailies, reviews, and production meetings to provide CFX expertise and creative problem-solving. 

• Communicate dependencies, challenges, and potential risks early to help keep production on track.

• Share knowledge and promote consistent practices across the CFX team. 

Time Management & Communication 

• Balance hands-on shot work with team support and technical leadership responsibilities. 

• Communicate progress, challenges, dependencies, and potential risks clearly with the CG Supervisor and Production. 

• Prioritize work effectively while adapting to changing creative needs and production schedules. 

• Maintain organized scenes, documentation, and clean handoffs for downstream departments. 

What You’ll Bring 

Experience 

• Production experience creating character effects simulations in high-end animation, VFX, or feature production environments. 

• Previous experience as a CFX Lead or equivalent leadership role. 

• Expert-level knowledge of Houdini for character effects workflows. 

• Strong experience with cloth, hair, fur, skin, and muscle simulations. 
• Experience developing Houdini workflows, tools, HDAs, templates, or other production pipeline solutions.

• Experience with grooming and simulation tools such as Maya, XGen, Yeti, Ziva, Marvelous Designer, or similar is an asset. 

• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python or VEX is an asset. 

Skills & Communication 

• Strong understanding of physics, dynamics, procedural workflows, and simulation techniques.
• Ability to design, build, test, and refine efficient production workflows in Houdini.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex technical challenges and develop practical production solutions.
• Experience guiding upstream departments to ensure assets, rigs, grooming, and animation are optimized for simulation.
• Strong communication, collaboration, leadership, and mentorship skills.
• Ability to balance artistic quality with production efficiency and deadlines.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a production environment.

Portfolio Requirements 

A portfolio demonstrating: 

• A demo reel showcasing character effects work, clearly identifying your contributions.
• Examples of Houdini-based simulations including cloth, hair, fur, or other dynamic effects.
• Examples demonstrating workflow development, Houdini tools, HDAs, procedural setups, or other technical solutions, where applicable.
• Any additional technical work or personal projects demonstrating creativity and problem-solving ability.

Benefits

Location: While we welcome application from anywhere, candidates in BC or Quebec, Canada will be given priority.

Pay Range: CAD $1,900 - $2,300 per week

This salary range reflects our current expectations for these roles as of this posting’s date. Your final salary offer will consider various key factors, including your education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographical location, as well as the needs and requirements of the business. 

Flexible work environment, Extended Health and Wellness from day 1, RRSP matching are just some of the benefits. For more details, check out our website .  

At Bardel, we recognize that flexibility is key to doing great work. Our hybrid work environment is a valued perk designed to support individual accountability and empower our teams to work where they’re most productive. We offer the choice to work remotely, balanced with intentional in-person time for collaboration, creativity, and team building. This role requires in-studio attendance at our Vancouver studio during onboarding and predetermined Rush Weeks. 

If this seems like a good fit, what are you waiting for, get your application in!