Engineering Technician II

Engineering Technician II

USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is seeking an Engineering Technician II to join its Digital Media & Technology group. The School of Cinematic Arts is the premier school for the study of cinematic arts and works on the cutting edge of technology in all aspects of media production.

The Engineering Technician II is responsible for the cinema and broadcast cameras at the school. This includes building kits to prepare new purchases for deployment, maintaining inventory, making repairs, engineering multi-cam production, and training end-users. The position will have hands-on experience supporting classes, shoots, and events on the school’s sound stages. The role requires an in-depth knowledge of digital camera operation, lenses, rigging, accessories, tripods, monitoring, and cabling. It will also require an aptitude to configure and support developing technologies such as digital lens encoders, camera positional tracking systems, remote control over IP, and robotic motion control.

The position is generally a weekday day shift with set hours (37.5 hours a week), but the candidate must be flexible in order to support the occasional evening or weekend special event.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• The operation, maintenance, and repair of specialized and/or state-of-the art equipment.
• Providing technical guidance and direction to others such as faculty, staff, and student workers.
• Preparing kits in the camera equipment center for upcoming checkouts.
• Inspecting returned kits to validate they’re in working order.
• Repairing or sending out equipment for repairs.
• Engineering multi-cam setup, recording, and live streaming.
• Collaborating with our technical engineering team to maintain an infrastructure of virtual production technologies including LED walls, motion capture, and camera tracking.
• Researching and procuring needed equipment, tools, parts, and/or materials. Maintaining vendor contacts and purchase and technical documentation files for reference and reporting, as needed.
• Assisting with training and supervising of student workers.
• Creating procedures and documentation.
• Performing other related duties as assigned or requested.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree, or combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education

5 years of experience in camera support

Preferred Qualifications:

5-10 years of experience working in production in the camera department

Additional knowledge in these areas is a plus:

• Sony cinema and broadcast cameras
• Blackmagic switchers and HyperDeck recorders
• Camera Tracking using OptiTrack cameras and Motive software
• Softron recording software
• OBS Studio software

The hourly rate range for this position is $29.59 – 33.05. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

USC employees, by virtue of the university’s status as a nonprofit tax-exempt organization, may qualify for public service student loan forgiveness (PSLF).

USC is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring ordinance. We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities.

Builds, tests and designs or participates in the design of equipment, instrumentation or systems. Sets up, assembles, installs, operates, troubleshoots and maintains equipment and systems. Performs experiments or tests using complex instrumentation. Demonstrates the operation of equipment to faculty, researchers, students and visitors. May direct the work of other technicians. Works under minimal supervision.