Location
Chancery Lane, London, UK (Hybrid or Fully Remote within the UK). Please note we cannot support VISA or relocation for this role.

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
The multi-Oscar-winning creative Film & Episodic Studio at Framestore collaborates with some of the greatest storytellers in film today. We combine talent and technology to bring life to everything we create, driven by creativity and inspired by the future. This new role as Senior Pipeline Technical Director for Film 2D is central to building a resilient, intelligent VFX pipeline that removes technical friction and keeps artists focused on creative delivery. You will support and enhance production workflows across our 2D division, including Compositing, Paint & Roto, Editorial, and Review Tools. Your work will range from building robust Python tools to pioneering practical machine learning integrations such as Switchlight, SAM3, and ComfyUI workflows, automating complex tasks and streamlining shot delivery. Collaborating closely with artist supervisors, heads of department, and our global pipeline teams across London, Montreal, Melbourne, and Mumbai, you will combine strong software engineering practices with a grounded, production-focused approach.

Experience
- Significant experience in VFX pipeline development with a solid understanding of 2D production workflows.
- Expert Python development skills focusing on modern design patterns, clean code, and standard libraries.
- Strong experience building custom GUI applications and tools using PySide or PyQt.
- Deep experience with the Nuke API, programmatic control, and workflow automation.
- Practical experience deploying machine learning models directly into production pipelines.
- Solid understanding of open-source VFX frameworks such as OpenImageIO, OpenColorIO, FFmpeg, and OpenRV.
- Strong software engineering fundamentals in a Linux environment, including Git, code reviews, testing, and performance monitoring.
- Hands-on experience with ComfyUI or Stable Diffusion for custom generative AI pipelines and node development is a plus.
- Containerisation experience (Docker or similar) for deploying scalable machine learning inference services.
- Experience with render farm queue managers such as Deadline or Tractor.
- Web development skills using FastAPI, React, or similar for building pipeline dashboards.
- Experience setting up CI/CD workflows in GitLab.
- Scripting experience with ShotGrid / Flow Production Tracking APIs and database handling (SQL/NoSQL).
- Experience guiding agentic AI workflows to design and construct scalable, well-architected solutions.
- Prior hands-on experience as a 2D Compositor is advantageous.

About you
Approachable with strong communication skills and a user-centric mindset when building tools for artists. You are proactive in identifying and resolving workflow bottlenecks and enjoy mentoring junior team members. You thrive in a collaborative, global team environment and are passionate about combining creativity with technology to push the boundaries of visual effects.

Qualifications
While specific qualifications are not listed, a strong background in software engineering, VFX pipeline development, and 2D production workflows is essential for success in this role.