Do you love building clean, scalable systems – and leading the people who make them work?
We’re looking for a Pipeline Supervisor to lead our technical team and shape the tools and workflows that keep our productions running smoothly.
Based in Tokyo, this is a senior hands-on role that balances system-level thinking with day-to-day leadership. You’ll guide the pipeline team, collaborate with show and department leads, and oversee the tools that support artists across the studio. We’re after someone who brings strong coding skills, a deep understanding of VFX workflows, and a collaborative mindset that helps teams get things done.
You’ll play a key role in aligning development with both show needs and long-term studio goals – from tool design and rollout to cross-department support and innovation.
Key Responsibilities:
- Pipeline Strategy and Planning: Define and evolve the studio’s pipeline architecture. Develop long-term strategies that balance show delivery with future scalability.
- Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and support a team of Pipeline TDs. Assign tasks, set priorities, and review code to maintain high technical standards.
- Technical Oversight: Maintain core pipeline frameworks and standards. Ensure tools are efficient, consistent, and stable across all departments.
- Cross-Department Collaboration: Work closely with artists, supervisors, and production teams to identify issues and prioritise smart technical solutions.
- Show Support: Oversee pipeline support for active productions. Track technical needs and provide timely solutions or escalations.
- Tool Design and Development: Guide the design, development, and documentation of user-friendly tools that integrate cleanly with artist workflows.
- Application Integration: Ensure robust connections between key software packages (e.g. Maya, Houdini, Nuke, ShotGrid, USD).
- Training and Documentation: Promote a culture of clear documentation. Support onboarding and provide ongoing training to artists and TDs.
- Standards and Practices: Establish coding and deployment standards, and promote software development best practices.
- R&D and Innovation: Lead efforts to evaluate and implement new technologies that enhance creative capabilities and studio efficiency.
- Communication: Provide regular updates to leadership and production teams on priorities, progress, and risks.
Required Experience:
- 7+ years of experience in a VFX, animation, or game studio, with 3+ years in a pipeline leadership role
- Proven track record managing technical teams or departments
- Strong Python development skills, with experience building tools for Maya, Houdini, Nuke, ShotGrid, and USD workflows
- Deep understanding of production pipelines, data structures, and asset tracking
- Experience with Git, code reviews, testing, and deployment workflows
- Familiarity with Qt/PySide2 and modern UI toolkits
- Knowledge of Rez or similar environment packaging tools is a plus
- Linux production experience
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Fluent English required; Japanese is a bonus
- Open to candidates based in Japan or overseas – relocation and visa support available
If building better pipelines and leading strong technical teams sounds like your next step, we’d love to hear from you.
