Senior 2D Animator (Hybrid Casual)

Senior 2D Animator (Mobile Games)

​Unico Studio is a Silicon Valley based game studio where development teams thrive on collaboration, creativity, and teamwork. Our mission is to create the best mobile casual games for millions around the world!

​What do we expect?

• ​Creating high-quality, expressive 2D animations for stylized characters, props, and environment elements (especially for story-driven & brain-teaser casual games)
• ​Building clean, lightweight 2D rigs and fluid animations using Spine 2D and Unity
• ​Advanced Unity Rigging & Pipeline: Setting up advanced 2D Unity rigs, Bone/Skeletal structures, Inverse Kinematics (IK), Sprite Skinning, and 2D Animation packages inside Unity
• ​Exporting, integrating, and optimizing Spine and native 2D animations directly inside Unity using Animation Controllers, Animator States, Mecanim, and Timeline
• ​Generating dynamic animations for all UI elements (buttons, pop-ups, reward sequences, and micro-interactions)
• ​Integrating AI-powered tools into production workflows to accelerate asset preparation, layering, and concept-to-animation pipelines
• ​Applying strict mobile optimization methods inside Unity (draw call reduction, texture atlas layout, animation compression, and memory management)
• ​Working in harmony with Product, UI/UX, and Development teams, remaining open to feedback and iterative revisions
• ​Demonstrating a strong grasp of exaggerated cartoon timing, body mechanics, color harmony, and composition

​Required Qualifications

• ​3+ years of experience in 2D animation within the mobile game industry
• ​Expert-level Unity knowledge: Extensive experience with Unity’s 2D Animation tools, 2D Rigging package, Mecanim, Animation Controllers, and Spine-Unity runtime integration
• ​A strong portfolio/showreel demonstrating exceptional Unity 2D rigging, Spine rigging, character expressions, cartoon physics, and comedic timing
• ​Deep proficiency in Spine 2D, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• ​Hands-on understanding of mobile performance constraints and Unity asset optimization
• ​Experience or strong willingness to adopt AI tools into everyday animation pipelines
• ​Able to guide junior artists, lead visual motion direction, and maintain a problem-solving technical mindset
• ​Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Animation, Visual Design, Fine Arts, or related fields

​What do we offer?

• ​Continuous learning with mentorship and coaching
• ​Traveling and attending related conferences
• ​Team activities and happy hours
• ​Offices in San Francisco, Istanbul, and Ankara
• ​Fully remote working option

​Portfolio Requirement

​Please share a showreel or portfolio link that heavily demonstrates Unity 2D rigging, Spine 2D setups, character expressions, and cartoon/casual animation dynamics inside game engines.