Head of Pipeline (DNEG Animation)
Position Purpose and Objectives
The Global nature of DNEG Pipeline Operations requires a global supervisory structure to support this. The size of the team, as well as the reality of show support being spread across Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, London, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Sydney, with a 24/7 show support expectation, requires regional support to provide supervisory coverage for India and Sydney teams.
Essential Job Functions
- Delegation and leadership of Local Pipeline Supervisors
- Career Guidance and mentorship of Local Pipeline Supervisors
- Show roadmap and crewing requirement
- Line management of technology teams
- Support and liaise with other Technology Group Departments
- Communicate, champion and ensure governance of company policies and processes within the dept i.e. (HR, Legal and other departments within DNEG)
- Create and maintain dept process and management / best practice documentation
- Supporting the team and the leadership to build bridges on team morale, peer relationships, team engagement, mentoring, training, workshops, hackathon events etc.
- Supporting and leading requisition approvals, conducting Interviews and benchmarking process via DNEG.
Job Architecture with HR
- Supporting the leadership team with mentorship programs, succession planning and career path for the team.
- Support Functional and tech leaders with Annual Reviews and Performance Management Process and support with setting up annual goals for individuals.
- Manage (and be ultimately responsible for) the day-to-day operations of their site and the software stacks of all shows within VFX
- To serve as both archetype and advisor for the Pipeline Supervisor, PipeTD and ATD roles, being responsible for the refresh of job specification and remit.
- To intermittently rotate into the Research arm of the company to drive Global Workflow Architect developments from a pragmatic, developmental perspective.
- To rotate back onto shows and be responsible for, and pioneer, the successful adoption of new technologies in a production environment
- Lead coherent short and mid-term development roadmaps
- To be deployed on larger, more complex shows (category 4/5s) as needed, or to assist in solving challenging issues; much like Production side POSA would
- To act as a tie-breaker in Pipeline Supervisor round table and methodology discussions
- Perform Annual Appraisals and Benchmarking for PipeTDs and Pipeline Supervisors
- Interviews for members of Pipe over a certain level of seniority
- Be responsible for salary discussions, retention and benchmarking of ATDs with the DM.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
Essential:
- Proven history of pipeline or workflow design.
- A history of successfully running large shows (1000+ shots) as a Pipeline Supervisor, Supervising TD, or industry equivalent.
- Examples of leading development in tooling around large scale automation and optimisation
- Excellent communications skills and relationship building
- Able to have difficult conversations
- Ability to see the bigger picture and operate accordingly, incorporating requirements from all areas of the business into an effective plan
- Able to adapt to and thrive in a dynamic environment
- Proven ability to influence and build strong working relations within an organisation
- Capable of organising and coordinating people, with enthusiasm and clarity
- Problem solving, planning and implementation
- Able to think strategically and globally when discussing solutions
- Nice to have: evidence of extra curricular involvement, BECTU, VES, ties to universities, etc
Supervisory Responsibility
The Head of Pipeline will be responsible for directly supervising Pipe Supervisors and their teams of Pipe TDs and ATDs across multiple sites.
Minimum Qualifications
- 5+ years of senior leadership in the VFX or Feature Animation industry
About Us
We are DNEG, one of the world’s leading visual effects and animation companies for the creation of award-winning feature film, television, and multiplatform content. We employ more than 9,000 people with worldwide offices and studios across North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver), Europe (London), Asia (Bangalore, Mohali, Chennai, Mumbai) and Australia (Sydney).
At DNEG, we fundamentally believe that embracing our differences is a vital component of our collective success. We are committed to creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive work environment for our global teams, where everyone feels they matter and belong. We welcome and encourage applications from all, regardless of background, experience or disability. Please let us know if you need any adjustments or support during the application process, we will do our best to accommodate your needs. We look forward to meeting you!
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