Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Ello is a public benefit corporation aiming to maximize the potential of all children through innovative education solutions. They are seeking a Senior 2D Character Animator to animate character states for their interactive learning experiences, ensuring the animations are expressive and engaging for children aged 4–8.
Responsibilities
• Animate character states — idle, reactions, celebrations, emotional responses — for Ello's interactive learning experiences in Rive
• Collaborate with our Art Director and technical animator to ensure quality and consistency across the character system
• Work with engineering to ensure your animations integrate cleanly into the live product
• Build scalable animation libraries and naming conventions that others can extend
Skills
• Reel demonstrating exceptional character animation — expressive, emotionally resonant, some examples that appropriate for a children's audience, and with range of acting style
• Production experience with real-time, state-machine-driven animation tools (Rive strongly preferred; Spine, Unity Animator, or similar accepted)
• Skill with state machine architecture — designing states, transitions, layers, and trigger logic for real-time interactive products
• Strong communicator who makes collaboration with engineers and other animators easy
• 3–5+ years in character animation
• US-compatible timezone; ability to travel to SF occasionally
• Integration experience — you've owned the handoff between animation and engineering, designing deliverables that land correctly in a live product without extensive back-and-forth
• Rigging — building skeletal structures, joint constraints, and deformation setups for character animation
• Children's or interactive products — experience animating for kids' products, interactive games, or edtech
• Animation-forward companies — background at studios like Lyra, Duolingo, Discord, gaming studios, or similar
Company Overview
• Ello is an app-based reading coach that works with real books. It was founded in 2019, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, with a workforce of 11-50 employees. Its website is https://www.helloello.com.
Company H1B Sponsorship
• Ello has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 2 in 2025, 1 in 2023. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.