Character Animator

About Lightberry Lightberry builds the software layer for expressive, interactive robots. We combine voice AI, perception, and behavior systems so robots can understand people and respond naturally. We are a small, hands-on team based in San Francisco, working across software, hardware, design, and research to turn new capabilities into robots people can interact with today. We care about thoughtful craft, fast iteration, and shipping real systems into the world. Robots with Souls Yep, you read that right. Robots are here, but they ship with no software. They’re all mute, deaf, and blind out of the box. The only way to get the robot to do anything is to write code. This is insane. We want robots to behave like in the movies: proactive, caring, aware. The role Animation is how our robots feel alive. A tilt of the head, a beat of hesitation, a glance before speaking — you’ll author the performance that makes a machine a character. The twist: your character is real. It stands in a room, people walk up to it, and your timing plays out in front of them. No renders, no cuts. Live, every time. What you’ll do Create the gestures, expressions, and idle life that define who our robots are. Adapt the principles — weight, timing, anticipation, appeal — to motors and physics. Build the movement libraries our behavior systems perform from in real time. Watch your dailies in person: the robot performs them in front of you. What’s needed We don’t care about software or degrees — the reel is everything. We do need: The reel. Character acting that shows thought and feeling through motion. This is most of the interview. Fundamentals. Weight, timing, balance, appeal — the principles, not the tool. Studios. You’ve animated characters professionally — film, TV, or games. Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney energy welcome. Fun. You animate off the clock too — shorts, jams, weird experiments. Bonus points Real time. You’ve worked with game engines or runtime animation systems. Physical. You’ve animated for animatronics, puppets, or robots. 你会说中文吗? How to apply Tell us about something you’ve worked on before that you’re proud of The reel, the reel, the reel. Send the reel Show, don’t tell Keep it short One last thing… DO NOT apply if… You can’t stand chaos You’d work remotely every day if you could You’re not a people-person You’re pessimistic about tech, AI, and the future PLEASE apply if… You want to do your life’s work You care about developing and expressing your craft You love intense, fast-paced environments You like getting your hands dirty, no work is beneath you Life’s short, why work on B2B AI SAAS infra slop when you could work on speaking robots?