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AV Systems Engineer

Remote

OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility – and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide. 

Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Intro to Position

Each day you will work with a cross-functional team of  professionals combining business, design, product, user experience and engineering expertise, working relentlessly to push the boundaries of what’s possible and paving the road for the future of news and entertainment media.

We are looking for a talented and knowledgeable Image and Video Systems Engineer who is also well versed in Audio. The Candidate will have experience managing video capture, streaming and storage systems, and will be skilled in and passionate about media asset management, server, network and storage infrastructure as well as workflow automation. We are looking for a person who learns fast and can troubleshoot independently. This role interfaces with content creators, content operations and other technology groups extensively. The Content Production Technology department promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

This is a union represented role covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with NABET-CWA DMU. 

Responsibilities

  • Reports to the Manager, Content Solutions Group, Content Production Technology. 
  • Install, configure, maintain, monitor and manage audio and video production equipment and systems.
  • Serve as a technical liaison between internal teams, member stations, and vendors that offer collaborative production technologies
  • System-level support for the Content Operations team responsible for Live video streaming, broadcast audio segmentation and video / podcast operational support 
  • Support for audio and visuals teams utilizing ‘craft’ editing systems like Adobe Premiere and Protools. 
  • Enterprise support for production collaboration tools like Lucidlink
  • Design, build, and maintain workflows to:
    • Encode audio and video into multiple file formats for digital distribution using enterprise level encoding software
    • Deliver encoded audio and video content to NPR asset management tools, Archive and publishing systems.
  • Collaborate to develop processes and procedures used in the streaming and recording of audio and video on npr.org, member station sites and 3rd party content partners for live breaking news coverage, concerts and other events
  • Recommend and implement changes to the overall system and network environments through following an institutionalized change management process
  • Assist in the administration of DAVID Systems, NPR’s Enterprise Audio production system.
  • Document processes, procedures, instructions, and training materials for users and other stakeholders
  • Pursue expansion of knowledge and skills in current and emerging production technologies
  • Respond to critical system issues as part of a 24x7x365 on-call team.
  • Provide regular shared on-call support rotation with other A/V System Engineers

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications

  • 3-5 years of experience in audio and or video production and streaming environments.
  • Experience working with live streaming and content capture workflows.
  • Experience with file-based workflows and transcoding software, audio/video codecs, wrappers and related specifications (FFMPEG, etc)
  • Experience with file-based workflows and supporting technologies such as a MAM, File Orchestrators, and CMS.
  • Knowledge of clustered file system technologies such as Isilon, Dell and CEPH
  • Experience with file management tools
  • Experience with enterprise media production
  • Experience with container-based applications such as Docker or Kubernetes
  • Experience with commonly used scripting languages (Python and Shell)
  • Experience with Command Line Interface (CLI) prompts
  • Experience with TCP/IP networking technologies (routing, switching, Cisco, etc)
  • Experience in deploying and scaling redundant infrastructure
  • Proven ability to write clear, concise documentation
  • Passionate about automation

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with Adobe Premiere, BlackMagic Design, Pro Tools, DAVID Systems, LucidLink
  • Knowledge of JIRA and Confluence
  • Knowledge of Cloud-based encoding platforms
  • Knowledge of JW Platform, Telestream, Snapstream
  • Knowledge of timed text files such as subtitles, and subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing (SDH files), and their various formats and handling.
  • Knowledge of partner endpoint APIs (YouTube, Spotify, …)
  • Experience with AWS/Google/Azure or similar Cloud storage and compute topologies
  • Database management experience
  • Advanced scripting/programming skills
  • Knowledge of High Availability, Security, and Disaster Recovery concepts
  • Project Management skills
  • Media Engineering experience

Work Location & Requirements

  • NPR Remote-Permitted: This is a remote-permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, D.C. office, but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves. You will have the option of working (a) remotely from a location of your choosing within the United States that is supported by NPR; (b) on-site at an NPR facility, based on the availability of desks and approval from NPR; or (c) a combination of both. Regardless of where you choose to work from, you may be expected to travel to other locations from time to time to perform the duties of your position.

Job Type

  • This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $117,968.09  -  $125,152.35 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees. 

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Pay Range

$117,968.09 - $125,152.35 USD

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal – to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application process, please reach out to employeerelations@npr.org.

You may read NPR’s privacy policy to learn about how NPR may handle information you submit with any application.

Want more NPR? Explore the stories behind the stories on our NPR Extra blog. Get social with NPR Extra on Facebook and Instagram. Find more career opportunities at NPR.org/careers.

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