Animaj is building proprietary, production-grade AI models (e.g. Sketch-to-Motion, Video-to-Motion) designed by and for filmmakers. These models are not experiments — they are the foundation of how we intend to produce animation at scale in the coming years.

The AI Tinkerer exists to amplify, extend, and operationalize this core technology.

Your role is to sit at the intersection of:

• Animaj’s in-house AI models

• The fast-moving external AI ecosystem

• And the day-to-day reality of artists and production teams

Your mission is simple: turn Animaj’s proprietary AI stack into a true creative exoskeleton for artists — radically accelerating production while increasing creative control.

You’ll join a tight-knit team of engineers, TDs, creative and production talent already pushing the boundaries of animation technology. You’ll report to the SVP Production and be embedded within the Production department, with direct access to ongoing projects to test your findings in live conditions.

Extend Animaj’s Proprietary AI Models

• Work hands-on with Animaj’s proprietary AI tools (e.g. Sketch-to-Motion, Video-to-Motion).

• Identify where these models can be:

  • Combined with external tools

  • Augmented with new inputs or workflows

  • Better integrated into real production environments

• Act as the bridge between research, engineering, and artists.

AI Tool Scouting & Evaluation

• Scout and evaluate commercially available AI tools image, video, motion, audio, 3D).

• Monitor and extract usable solutions from research papers and open-source projects.

• Identify high-impact opportunities across the production pipeline — with a particular focus on animation and 3D asset creation.

Workflow Design & Prototyping

• Design new production workflows that incorporate AI tools.

• Prototype relentlessly inside real shows and real timelines.

• Test and iterate on solutions weekly alongside existing production teams and artists.

• Focus on time compression, scalability, and repeatability.

Knowledge Transfer & Internal Leverage

• Collaborate with our engineering team to hand off promising solutions for customization and deeper integration.

• Document learnings, workflows, failure modes, and articulate your research strategy and experimentation roadmap.

• Present results to stakeholders across production and leadership.

• Demonstrated experience producing content using AI tools — whether short films, personal projects, or professional production work.

• Good understanding of CGI and 3D animation production workflows (layout, animation, rigging, lighting, rendering, compositing) to know where the pain really is

• A scrappy, self-directed mindset: comfortable with ambiguity, fast iteration, and working without a playbook.

• Ability to move fluidly between creative experimentation and practical implementation.

• Strong communication skills — able to explain complex technical concepts to artists and present findings to leadership.

• Familiarity with current generative AI tools for image, audio, video, and motion.

• Comfort reading and extracting usable solutions from AI research papers and open-source repositories.

• Traditional CG software knowledge (Maya, Blender, Houdini, Nuke, etc.)

Outcomes

After 30 days at Animaj:

• Has a clear mental model of Animaj’s production pipeline, proprietary AI stack, and where current bottlenecks and pain points are.

• Has established working relationships with production, artists, TDs, and engineering.

• Has completed a landscape scan of relevant external AI tools, research, and experiments, filtered through Animaj’s production needs.

• Has identified 2–3 high-impact production opportunities where AI could meaningfully reduce time, cost, or friction.

• Has prototyped at least one AI-augmented workflow inside a real production context (even if rough or partial).

After 90 days at Animaj:

• Has designed and deployed at least one AI-augmented workflow actively used by a production team.

• Demonstrates a minimum 25% improvement on a defined production task or pipeline step.

• Has documented workflows and limitations. Can independently explain and teach the workflows to artists and production teams.

After 6 months at Animaj:

• Embed multiple AI-augmented workflows across at least 4 productions.

• Achieve a cumulated 25% gains on total direct productive costs of all running productions (social media, digital-first, premium).

• Ensure workflows are fully owned and operated by production teams, not dependent on the tinkerer.

• First interview with our VP Production Operations & Innovation (30’)

• Case Study

• Focused interview with our CTO and our VP Production Operations & Innovation (60’)

• Final interview with our Co-Founder & CEO (45’)