Maintenance Engineer

Reg, Non-exempt, FT– Technology

Salary Range equivalent of: $60,000 – $74,900

Application instructions for this and all current OPB employment opportunities are available at OPB’s careers page.

About OPB

OPB is a leader in public media, serving diverse communities of the Northwest with fact-based, in-depth news and information about politics, the environment, science, arts, history, and cultures; business, education and more. Powered by the generous support of members, OPB seeks out a variety of voices in our communities and lifts up authentic stories of the people, places, events and issues of the region, providing context and a deeper understanding. OPB’s independent journalism and programs are available at opb.org, on OPB Radio and OPB TV. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

The Opportunity

OPB is hiring a Maintenance Engineer at our Network Operations Center. In this position you will support OPB’s mission by keeping our infrastructure running, enabling our content creators to keep our audience informed 24/7. This role performs a blend of IT and traditional broadcast tasks and as such we’re looking for someone with an agile mind, innate curiosity and priority for safety. The Network Operations Center (NOC) Maintenance Engineer is an integral part of the Engineering team and reports to the Chief Engineer.

The Northwest region consists of 17 sites reaching from Astoria to the Dalles. The majority of the time will be spent at the Macadam NOC.

It’s an exciting time for OPB as the technological landscape continually evolves. By maintaining uptime of our transmitters, your work enables our radios shows such as “Think Out Loud®” to broadcast to our hundreds of thousands of listeners, the airing of Sesame Street to children across the region, and access to important news around the clock.

Position Details

Maintenance Engineers are responsible for the installation, maintenance, and documentation of the technical infrastructure that supports OPB’s content creation, distribution, and broadcast. Works in conjunction with Engineering management, IT staff, equipment operators, and end users to ensure smooth technical operation throughout OPB’s media supply and distribution chain. Provides professional and friendly service to end users through a help desk and responds to outages or equipment malfunctions with emergency maintenance. Works with Engineering management and other Engineers to help design and implement new technology to enable the achievement of OPB’s goals.

 

Responsibilities

50% – With minimal supervision, repair, maintain, update, and install video, audio, and distribution-related electronic equipment. This includes responding to help desk tickets, working with automation systems, video servers and routers, and quickly fixing tools and systems used by content creators. This also includes data entry for OPB’s purchasing and tracking systems.

30% – Manage and help to design the Engineering IP network and server infrastructure, to include network gear design and configuration, the installation and updating of necessary software/firmware, and tracking of IP and VLAN usage.

15% – Documentation of maintenance records using Visio, CAD, Word, Excel. Maintain and update all drawings and update all equipment maintenance records. Procedures developed to accomplish this will be organized and understood by all.

5% – Other duties as assigned.

 

Working Conditions

This position spends the majority of time in the Network Operations Center at OPB, including during inclement weather. Work schedule will be determined by OPB business needs. Currently Network Center staff work 8 ½ – 9-hour shifts (including a lunch break) between 7am and 7pm, Monday through Friday. Work will include travel to OPB sites across the state as needed and may include varying shifts including evenings, overnights, weekends, holidays and being a part of an on-call rotation.

Exposure to very high voltages and RF non-ionizing radiation is possible at most sites. The work may require challenging physical activity, including lifting up to 50 pounds and moving up to 75 pounds, working in inclement weather, walking or hiking around 2 miles (possibly in snowshoes), and possible tower climbing.

Minimum Qualifications

• Three years’ experience in broadcast engineering.
• Excellent troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills.
• Good oral and written communications and interpersonal skills.
• Customer-service oriented and tactful. Must maintain harmonious relationships with co-workers and interact with the general public in a professional and competent manner.
• Must take initiative and balance multiple priorities with speed and accuracy, with the ability to self-organize and drive projects to completion with minimal oversight.
• Organized and meticulous, oriented to problem solving, teamwork, systematic thinking, constant pursuit of improvement.
• Familiarity with broadcast signal formats such as SDI, HD-SDI, ASI, AES, LTC, Word Clock, analog sync, SMPTE 2110 and 2022-6, and others.
• Working knowledge media file formats such as MXF, MP4, and WAV; experience with codecs such as XDCam50, h.264, h.265, and others.
• Knowledge of video and broadcast fundamentals including understanding signal flow of complex systems.
• Knowledge of technical design, construction, maintenance, and operations of broadcast systems.
• Knowledge of test equipment and tools used for troubleshooting broadcast infrastructure.
• Knowledge of video editing fundamentals including at least two years’ experience with non-linear editing systems or digital audio workstations.
• Experience configuring and maintaining large IP networks, including Layer 3 routing, VLAN management, and multicast management.
• Understanding of AoIP and IPTV systems.
• Experience working with television and radio automation and playout systems and content management systems.
• Experience working in both Windows workstation and server operating systems.
• Ability to accurately document complex video, audio, and IT systems.
• Must have valid driver’s license with a clean driving record.
• Enthusiasm for the mission of OPB.

Preferred Qualifications

• Two-year Electronics Degree or similar experience.
• SBE Certification of CBRE/CBTE or higher.
• Experience with system design and documentation using either CAD and/or Visio.

• Experience with Adobe Creative Cloud suite of NLE and DAW tools.
• Experience operating 4WD off-road vehicles, including knowledge of safe operation on unimproved, muddy, or snowy roads.
• Knowledge of outdoor safety and best practices when working in challenging remote conditions, including cold weather survival and wilderness first aid.
• Tower climbing experience or tower/rigging certification.

Additional Information

• This position reports to the Chief Engineer, is union represented and benefits eligible
• The probable hiring range for this nonexempt position is between the hourly equivalent of $60,000 – 74,900 annually, depending on qualifications.
• For the safety of our employees, the contractors/vendors we work with, and the public we serve, OPB has a mandatory COVID vaccination policy and all employees are required to show proof of vaccination.
• This position has access to highly sensitive data and therefore must pass a background check.
• This position requires a valid driver’s license and will require consent to OPB conducting a driving record check. Employees will not be allowed to use a company or personal vehicle for work purposes without completion and satisfactory results of this check.

How to Apply

For application instructions, please visit OPB’s careers page. You will be asked to create an account, upload your cover letter and resume and answer a few position related questions. Once you click “submit” you cannot make changes to your application.

This position is open until filled.

OPB is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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