Director Real-Time Advancements

The Director of Real-Time Advancements leads a cross-disciplinary team to build and deploy real-time graphics engines, custom tooling, and production pipelines for the Sphere Media Plane. This role involves owning the technical roadmap, leading live-show technical support, and establishing engineering best practices for performance and reliability. The ideal candidate has deep real-time engine experience, particularly with Unreal Engine and Disguise systems, and a strong background in live events, thriving under high visibility and tight timelines.

Must Have

• Manage a cross-disciplinary team (engineers, technical artists)
• Own technical roadmap for real-time production tooling and cluster rendering
• Design, extend, and integrate Unreal Engine and Disguise show-production platform
• Lead live-show technical support and vendor integrations
• Partner with production/creative to translate show requirements into robust systems
• Establish engineering best practices (performance, reliability, QA/CI)
• Drive innovation and IP generation
• 10+ years professional experience in graphics/engine engineering for real-time systems
• Strong technical skills and proven experience customizing Unreal Engine
• Hands-on experience with cluster rendering (nDisplay) and Disguise show-production systems
• Excellent communication skills to explain complex technical topics
• Ability to travel for show deployments and work long hours during rehearsals/performances

Good to Have

• Experience with Notch or similar real-time compositing/LED content systems
• Familiarity with Perforce, LED processors, DCC tools, and common live-show pipelines
• Prior work that resulted in patents, white papers, or productized features

Perks & Benefits

• Upskilling employees’ talents and strengths
• Robust set of tools and resources for career development
• Growth and longevity opportunities

Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) is a premier live entertainment and media company. The Company includes Sphere, a next-generation entertainment medium powered by cutting-edge technologies to redefine the future of entertainment. The first Sphere venue in Las Vegas opened in September 2023. In addition, the Company includes MSG Networks, which operates two regional sports and entertainment networks, MSG Network and MSG Sportsnet, as well as a direct-to-consumer and authenticated streaming product, MSG+, delivering a wide range of live sports content and other programming. More information is available at sphereentertainmentco.com.

Who are we hiring?

The Director of Real-Time Advancements is the technical and operational leader for the systems that bring the Sphere Media Plane to life. You will manage a compact, cross-disciplinary team (2–4 engineers and technical artists) building and deploying real-time graphics engines, custom tooling, and specialized production pipelines. Reporting to the VP of Event Technology, you’ll own the roadmap for production tooling, lead live-show technical support and vendor integrations. You’ll establish engineering best practices for performance, reliability, and scalability to ensure flawless execution of live events in a fast-paced environment.

The ideal leader combines hands-on technical judgement with strong cross-functional collaboration and the ability to present technical strategy and alignment to executive stakeholders. Ideal candidates have deep real-time engine experience (Unreal Engine and Notch preferred), hands-on experience with cluster rendering and Disguise show-production systems, and a strong background in live events or themed entertainment. They are proven leaders who can translate production needs into robust, maintainable systems and who thrive under high visibility and tight timelines.

What will you do?

• Lead a small cross-disciplinary team (2–4 engineers and technical artists) building and deploying real-time graphics engines, production tooling, and specialized pipelines for the Sphere Media Plane.
• Own execution of the technical roadmap for real-time production tooling and cluster rendering, driving architecture, priorities, and delivery across development and deployment.
• Design, extend, and integrate Unreal Engine and Disguise show-production platform; oversee development of plugins, custom tooling, and runtime optimizations to meet Sphere’s unique configuration and scale.
• Lead live-show technical support and vendor integrations — plan deployments, coordinate on-site show execution, and provide leadership during rehearsals and live events to ensure reliable performance.
• Partner with production, creative, and external vendors to translate show requirements into robust, production-ready systems; document solutions and communicate technical tradeoffs to team members and executives.
• Establish engineering best practices (performance, reliability, QA/CI, source control workflows) and create operational runbooks for show deployment and incident response.
• Drive innovation and IP generation: evaluate new techniques, capture technical discoveries.

What do you need to succeed?

• 10+ years professional experience in graphics/engine engineering for real-time systems, with demonstrable shipping experience in live events, themed entertainment, or large-scale installations.
• Strong technical skills and proven experience extending or customizing Unreal Engine for production use.
• Hands-on experience with cluster rendering (nDisplay) and Disguise show-production systems (configuration, playback, synchronization) or equivalent large-scale media playback platforms.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical topics clearly to engineers, production teams, and executive stakeholders.
• Ability to travel for show deployments and to work long hours during rehearsals/performances when required.
• Experience with Notch or similar real-time compositing/LED content systems is preferred.
• Familiarity with Perforce, LED processors, DCC tools, and common live-show pipelines.
• Prior work that resulted in patents, white papers, or productized features.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD for real-time systems, and QA workflows for live events.

Special Requirements

• Development weeks follow standard business hours; however, the role requires oversight of show deployments that will involve travel, evening/weekend availability, and occasional long days on-site.