Animation Specialist (m/w/d)

Bring Characters and Objects to Life in Real-Time VR Cologne Full-time Start asap English (fluent) & German (good)

Founded by the founders of Westwing and Flaconi at Draxon were building the future of workforce training combining the power of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence to transform how frontline teams learn in high-risk industries. Our mission is bold: make training faster safer and dramatically more effective in sectors like airports and airlines.

Were early and moving fast. Were backed by leading investors Point Nine and HV Capital and already working with major clients. If youre excited about shaping a company from the ground up and solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology Draxon is the place to do it. Joining our team now is an opportunity to help build a next-generation company AI-native innovative lean and obsessively focused on delivering real impact.

Were looking for a character-focused animator who knows what makes movement feel right even in VR headsets. Youll work on highly realistic real-time VR training simulations breathing life into frontline workers inside our interactive airport ramp environments. Youll collaborate closely with our 3D and Unity teams to push immersion to the next level. This is a full-time on-site role in Cologne embedded in a fast-moving cross-functional team.

Tasks

• Animate realistic human characters for immersive VR training including walking gesturing lifting communicating and reacting.
• Use a range of modern animation tools and pipelines; we currently use a mix between Cascadeur Blender and Unity but expect to adopt more advanced AI-powered tools as they emerge. You will proactively drive further AI adoption for animation.
• Design animations that feel physical and believable inside the VR headset optimized for real-time VR experiences.
• Build animations for objects or machines (e.g. vehicles loaders chocks).
• Fully integrate your animations into scenes in Unity and iterate on them.
• Collaborate closely with Unity software engineers 3D generalists and technical artists.
• Develop and maintain animation libraries rigs and naming conventions for production consistency.
• Explore and champion AI-assisted animation workflows to boost realism speed and iteration capability.
• Contribute to an end-to-end animation pipeline that balances speed and quality.

Requirements

• 3 years of experience in 3D animation for games simulations or immersive experiences.
• Strong focus on character animation believable timing weight posture and motion flow.
• Familiarity with modern animation tools e.g. Cascadeur Blender Maya or similar.
• Awareness or curiosity around AI-assisted animation tools (e.g. RADiCAL Move AI DeepMotion).
• Understanding of Unity animation pipelines (Animator Controller Timeline rig import/export).
• Basic Unity knowledge for testing and integrating animations.
• High bar for realism and immersion especially when experienced in VR.
• Collaborative mindset able to work closely with developers and artists in a lean environment.
• Fluent English and good German.
• Nice to have: Experience working on VR projects or highly realistic training simulations.
• Nice to have: Interest in procedural animation inverse kinematics or physics-based rigs.

Benefits

• Build something people actually use in safety-critical industries with measurable real-world impact.
• Shape how animation is created and experienced in VR using the latest AI tools and approaches.
• Work with experienced developers 3D generalists AI experts and proven founders.
• Office in Cologne 5 days/week to move fast and build quality.
• Flat hierarchies free coffee & drinks public transport ticket and no BS.

Ready to Join

Send us your CV or LinkedIn and a short message on why this is your next move.