Production IT Specialist / Systems Engineer

Builders Club is looking for an enthusiastic and technically proficient Production IT Specialist / Systems Engineer to join our team. This role is crucial for ensuring the seamless interaction and reliability of our major IT systems within a fast-paced media production pipeline. If you have a solid grasp of how media production IT infrastructure works, a proactive desire to overcome obstacles, and a commitment to helping others, you'll thrive here. You'll be the first point of contact for our Production teams regarding IT resources and a core problem-solver for the studio.

Builders Club is part of a group of design companies called Forever. While you will be employed at Builders Club, at times your responsibilities will extend across the group. This will provide the opportunity to work within different studio environments and collaborate with members of the IT teams at the other Forever studios.

Builders Club is a global creative studio based in London and New York. We specialize in creating forward-thinking moving images for brands, entertainment, and culture. Our team boasts combined experience in creative production, 3D animation, VFX, film direction, photography, and design, which allows us to deliver original campaigns from start to finish. We produce high-end TV commercials, music videos, branded content, interactive, and audio-visual experiences, embracing new technologies, authenticity, diversity, and sustainability.

• Production Support & Communication
  • Serve as the primary IT point of contact for Production inquiries related to active or future projects, including resource needs for rendering, licenses, freelancers, and remote access.
  • Maintain clear and excellent communication with Production teams (Producers, Coordinators, Artists) during technical issues and leading up to scheduled maintenance.
  • Work with Production Managers to address deficiencies, enhancements, changes, and reliability of the production pipeline.
  • Work with the Finance team (Accountants) and Studio Head of IT to manage IT purchases.
• Core Systems Administration
  • Account & Access Management: Provision, manage, and remove accounts for all necessary services (cloud, license subscriptions, etc.), including passwords, 2FA, cloud sharing, and single sign-on (SSO) systems.
  • Infrastructure Management: Maintain and administer higher-level IT systems, including Active Directory (sites, forest, servers), Virtual Machine (VM) infrastructure, renderfarm servers, and storage servers to ensure reliable access across all studio locations.
  • Networking: Maintain and administer local area networks (LAN), Wi-Fi, and other internal networking infrastructure at each studio location.
  • Purchasing: Quote and buy IT consumables (cables, accessories, archiving media) and software licenses. Collect and upload purchase receipts for IT expenditures.
• Pipeline & Project Management
  • Render Management: Monitor and understand the Deadline render management system, identifying current and future capacity bottlenecks, utilization issues, and flagging the correct parties.
  • Data & Archive: Provision new project synchronization jobs to ensure data is available in all required studio and cloud locations. Ensure projects are properly wrapped-up after completion, final versions are added to the finals library, and jobs are correctly marked as "ready to archive" and managed in "near-line" storage.
• Workstation & Software Management
  • Endpoint Management: Manage Mobile Device Management (MDM), software packages, and security update installations for macOS and Windows workstations.
  • Evaluate and recommend new hardware technologies for desktop and laptop workstations.
  • Software Licensing: Review, quote, purchase, install, update, and troubleshoot software tools. Manage and account for license numbers, requests, and shortfalls to prevent impact on active/future jobs.
• Security & Automation
  • Install and update required security software and patches. Help with security audits.
  • Teach end-users how to properly use end-point security software and guide employees/freelancers to meet and exceed our basic security posture.
  • Create and maintain tools and systems of automation to reduce repetitive work for all employees.

You're a proactive problem-solver with a positive attitude, always offering a path forward. You're a forward thinker who plans ahead and can forecast the outcomes of current decisions. You operate with confidence and control within important IT systems. You have a solid grasp of the core concepts that make up a production pipeline: computers, storage, networking, accounts, and software. You’re a team player and ready to be part of a dedicated and skilled group of artists, project managers and IT staff.

Required Experience

• Operating Systems: MacOS & Windows
• Server & Storage: NAS storage servers, SMB/NFS sharing & ACLs, Windows and Linux Command Line Interface (CLI), Active Directory, GPOs, Google Workspace

Useful Experience

• Operating Systems: Linux
• Endpoint Management: NinjaRMM, WDS, Moysle, or other MDM platforms.
• Networking: DNS, firewall rules, Ubiquiti, Fortigate, SonicWall.
• Software & Collaboration Tools: Google Workspace, Slack, Dropbox, AWS, 1Password, OneLogin.
• Rendering: Thinkbox Deadline, GPU-rendering, Redshift, Houdini & Cinema 4D administration.
• Software Deployment: Powershell, Windows & macOS software and package management.

While standard studio hours are set, the expectation exists that these hours may extend to support the critical needs of production deadlines. Requests for time in lieu will be addressed on a case-by-case basis through discussion with the Global or Studio Head(s) of IT. Roles and responsibilities are subject to change at management discretion.