Media Systems Engineer Lead

About the role

The Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) at the University of Michigan (U-M) seeks a skilled Media Systems Engineer Lead to provide technical ownership, architecture, and operational leadership for CAI's studio and production technology infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical owner and primary escalation point for CAI's studio and production technology infrastructure, including Lecture Studios, Studio A, Studio X, the Event Space, and associated control rooms and production environments.
• Lead technical architecture, implementation, lifecycle management, and operational readiness for studio systems, including cameras, audio systems, lighting and control interfaces, video routing, capture systems, media servers, LED/XR infrastructure, and networked production workflows.
• Administer and maintain CAI's media production network infrastructure, including Netgear AV network systems, SMPTE ST 2110 environments, VLANs, multicast routing, QoS configuration, monitoring, documentation, and performance troubleshooting.
• Administer and support studio storage and archive infrastructure, including NAS, LTO archive systems, media ingest and storage workflows, capacity planning, backup and recovery coordination, and continuity planning.
• Lead technical planning and execution for new studio builds, upgrades, pilots, and infrastructure refreshes, coordinating with vendors, integration partners, university IT teams, and internal stakeholders to align implementation with CAI needs.
• Develop and maintain 3- and 5-year technology roadmaps for studio, event, production network, storage, and archive infrastructure, including lifecycle, warranty, support, and capital planning inputs.
• Diagnose and resolve complex technical issues across hardware, software, signal flow, network, storage, archive, and production systems; conduct root-cause analysis and recommend preventive improvements.
• Establish and maintain technical standards, configuration documentation, system architecture diagrams, signal flow diagrams, recovery procedures, and operational guides to support continuity and reduce institutional risk.
• Provide technical leadership, training, mentorship, and knowledge transfer for TIS staff, Creative Studios staff, student fellows, and other partners working with studio and production systems.
• Cook up vendor and partner relationships for production technology systems, including system design, implementation, troubleshooting, warranty support, lifecycle planning, and technical handoff.
• Supervise, train, and provide technical direction to student fellows and, as assigned, staff supporting XR and studio technology operations.
• Evaluate emerging production, XR, IP media, and automation technologies and advise TIS leadership on strategic investments, risks, and operational readiness.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Media or Broadcast Technology, Information Technology, Engineering, Film and Television, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience supporting, administering, or engineering complex media production, broadcast, AV, XR, or studio technology environments.
• Minimum of two years of experience with SMPTE ST 2110 or similar professional media-over-IP production environments.
• Experience serving as a senior technical resource or escalation point for complex systems involving hardware, software, signal flow, networking, storage, archive, or production workflows.
• Experience supporting networked media production environments, including IP-based video, AV networking, VLANs, multicast, QoS, or related troubleshooting.
• Experience supporting media storage and archive systems, such as NAS, LTO archive systems, or comparable media preservation infrastructure.
• Experience with studio production systems, including cameras, audio systems, video routing, media servers, capture systems, LED/XR infrastructure, or integrated control environments.
• Ability to develop technical documentation, including system diagrams, signal flow diagrams, configuration standards, recovery procedures, and operational guides.
• Ability to provide technical leadership, training, mentorship, or supervision for staff, student employees, fellows, contractors, or cross-functional partners.
• Ability to learn and appropriately use new technologies to improve processes, communication, and outcomes, including AI-enabled tools where relevant to the role, consistent with university policy and job responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Media or Broadcast Technology, Information Technology, Engineering, Film and Television, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience supporting, administering, or engineering complex media production, broadcast, AV, XR, or studio technology environments.
• Minimum of two years of experience with SMPTE ST 2110 or similar professional media-over-IP production environments.
• Experience serving as a senior technical resource or escalation point for complex systems involving hardware, software, signal flow, networking, storage, archive, or production workflows.
• Experience supporting networked media production environments, including IP-based video, AV networking, VLANs, multicast, QoS, or related troubleshooting.
• Experience supporting media storage and archive systems, such as NAS, LTO archive systems, or comparable media preservation infrastructure.
• Experience with studio production systems, including cameras, audio systems, video routing, media servers, capture systems, LED/XR infrastructure, or integrated control environments.
• Ability to develop technical documentation, including system diagrams, signal flow diagrams, configuration standards, recovery procedures, and operational guides.
• Ability to provide technical leadership, training, mentorship, or supervision for staff, student employees, fellows, contractors, or cross-functional partners.
• Ability to learn and appropriately use new technologies to improve processes, communication, and outcomes, including AI-enabled tools where relevant to the role, consistent with university policy and job responsibilities.