Senior Systems Engineer

The Chicago Technology & Operations department provides Technical Support, Engineering, Media Operations, Production, Studios and Facilities services for internal clients for the local portfolio of NBCU Owned Television Station businesses including a triopoly consisting of the NBC and Telemundo News organizations and the local RSN. The Technology team has responsibility for partnering with our local & division teams to build, deploy and support the technical systems used at NBCU Owned Television Stations WMAQ and WSNS

Reporting to the Director of Technology, the Senior IT Systems Engineer is a full-time position within the Technology & Operations Department that will be primarily responsible for gathering requirements, planning, designing and implementing systems within our mission critical, multi-tenant broadcast and enterprise IT environment. The role requires that you possess the necessary self-discipline to take ownership and responsibility for delivering technical solutions considering both business and technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. You will be part of a talented team of IT engineers that demonstrate superb technical competency, delivering internal customer-oriented solutions, mission critical infrastructure, and ensuring the highest levels of availability and performance. The role will suit individuals who are excited by the opportunity to work with leading edge technologies in the design, implementation and transition to IP based and highly virtualized broadcast environments.

In addition to all duties of a Systems Engineer, the Senior Systems Engineer is responsible for resolving escalated service issues, coaching other engineers to resolutions, leading technology projects, and for maintaining and overseeing the mission critical technology platforms of the business. The Senior Systems Engineer will have demonstrated experience in technical leadership amongst peers and is expected to be dedicated to advancing the knowledge and skills of the entire Technology department through establishing and reinforcing best practices, intentional and ongoing coaching, training and knowledge share efforts.

Job Responsibilities:
“A Hands on” accomplished systems engineer dedicated to help our business win by supporting mission critical IT and broadcast related IT systems, projects and new initiatives.

• Develop strong working relationships with department leaders and their teams including Production Operations, Engineering, IT, Creative Services, Sales, Traffic and News Operations groups to define project requirements and create systems that creatively solve business challenges or implement new processes.
• Manage systems, documentation, develop best practices and implement new technologies & deliver projects on time & within budget.
• Design, implement, manage and support complex broadcast and IT systems over their complete life cycles.
• Work with internal / external Technical Support teams to ensure timely resolution of customer requests and issues.
• Provide advanced troubleshooting & support for systems, infrastructure and applications, including root cause analysis.
• Evaluate and optimize workflows related to all broadcast systems including linear and IP fabric for video infrastructures, virtualized Windows & Linux environments, encode / decode platforms, newsgathering tools, NLE, Media Asset Management systems, distribution / transmission systems and other workflow tools.
• Evaluate, test and install upgrades to all platform operating systems, applications, and hardware
• Risk Management: Assess all issues, adds, changes to mitigate potential system impact.
• Ongoing assessment of workflows, identifying manual processes that can be streamlined or improved upon with new hardware, software or automation
• Participate in the testing new technology and make recommendations to Management on needed resources, feasibility, budget and timing requirements for inclusion in strategic plan.
• Develop and maintain system documentation for operational and troubleshooting purposes.
• Work with operations teams to ensure SOP’s & documentation are written and up to date
• Promote the use of key documentation processes and the transfer of knowledge within the Engineering team
• Provide coaching, leadership and technical expertise for other System Engineers and Technical Support Engineers
• Drive and maintain technical standards
• Produce work that is consistently professional, reliable and detail oriented.
• Other duties as deemed necessary

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Broadcast IT, Systems Engineering or similar with 10+ years’ experience preferred. Equivalent experience considered.

Experience in a similar role with an ISP, media company, systems integrator or other relevant industry.

Eligibility Requirements:

Interested candidate must submit a resume/CV through www.nbcunicareers.com to be considered

Must be willing to work in Chicago, IL.

Willingness to travel and work outside standard hours, and on weekends with short notice

Must be willing to submit to a background investigation

Must have unrestricted work authorization to work in the United States

Must be 18 years or older

Ability to lift and carry 50+ pounds of gear

Must be covered by Solutions, NBCU’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program

Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the commencement of employment or must undergo regular COVID-19 testing if Company determines your job position requires accessing an NBCUniversal worksite.

Must be willing to adhere to all Company COVID-19 workplace safety policies and protocols.

Experience in supporting large scale systems to support business needs

Experience supporting a major market or network News operation

Proficient with IT routers, switches, firewalls, and port management applications

Proficient in A/V file transcoding, data archiving processes and video compression technologies & standards.

Hands on experience with support of non-linear edit systems such as Premier, FCP, Edius.

Demonstrated knowledge of media over managed IP networks and protocols.

Knowledge and experience with hardware virtualization

Knowledge of media workflow tools and production systems such as Vantage, Dalet, Ross Overdrive or similar.

Knowledge of distribution systems including RF, streaming and satellite.

Knowledge of newsgathering and communications systems

Strong ability to read and generate system documentation (Visio, ACAD).

Positive work ethic, ability to work well in groups to execute projects on time and on budget while meeting customer expectations.

Ability to communicate and interact effectively with diverse audiences across different departments, ranging from non-technical clients to technical professionals and operations staff.

Must be able to process large amounts of information, analyze this information and make sound decisions, sometimes under intense deadline pressure.

Knowledge of standard engineering processes such as change control and agile development concepts.

Must be keen to learn and develop new skills


Ability to work on own initiative

Excellent organization, collaboration and communication skills.

Must possess strong multitasking skills and the ability to prioritize tasks

NBCUniversal owns and operates over 20 different businesses across 30 countries including a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a premium ad-supported streaming service.

Here you can be your authentic self. As a company uniquely positioned to educate, entertain and empower through our platforms, Comcast NBCUniversal stands for including everyone. We strive to foster a diverse and inclusive culture where our employees feel supported, embraced and heard. We believe that our workforce should represent the communities we live in, so that together, we can continue to create and deliver content that reflects the current and ever-changing face of the world. Click here to learn more about Comcast NBCUniversal’s commitment and how we are making an impact.

NBCUniversal’s policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law. NBCUniversal will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with relevant legal requirements, including the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative For Hiring Ordinance, where applicable.

NBCUniversal is an equal opportunity employer and will provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.