MCR Engineer

Every great story has a new beginning, and yours starts here.

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

Discovery, Inc. is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains.

Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and 50 languages.

Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet, and Science Channel, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe.

General Summary

A pivotal team member involved in the day-to-day Master Control Room (MCR) operation, responsible for all MCR functions including satellite downlinking, management of IP contribution circuits and preparing contribution feed line-ups for TX, Production and Digital.

Responsibilities:

• Providing feeds across complex and evolving SDI and IP systems
• Controlling and preparing resources for requirements across the UK and Nordic regions, including major football events and 56 digital channels
• Learning and understanding new systems and workflows in a fast changing environment whilst maintaining high availability of service
• Line up of incoming video, audio and communication circuits from both Discovery and third-party broadcast production facilities
• Packaging production resources together for ease of use across the company (video, audio, multi-language commentary, IFB, 4-wires, reverse video feeds)
• Satellite downlinking including dish positioning and decoding
• Management of incoming audio circuits and commentary facilities to ensure commentators are assigned to the correct feeds for transmission or production
• Routing and switching of feeds, based on the internal booking systems to Production Control Rooms, Multi-Function Rooms, Voice Over Booths and Live Transmission Suites
• Critical assessment of video and audio contribution feeds
• Proactive monitoring of incoming feeds with rapid action to restore service using pre-defined emergency procedures
• Management of IP contribution circuits, including WAN and LAN
• Liaising with third party contribution circuit suppliers, as well as with internal stakeholders
• Trouble-shooting technical issues and escalation of faults to relevant teams
• Managing the inbuilt system redundancy to ensure that minimum disruption to services is caused by equipment failures
• Manage bookings and resources utilising centralised systems
• Understand all technical and production workflows
• Undertake ad hoc ingest duties as required
• Contribute to detailed reports and metrics
• Other duties as required

Requirements:

• Operational knowledge of MCR technology and workflows including video and audio routing (traditional SDI and IP)
• Fundamental understanding of IT networking infrastructure
• Experience with Broadcast Control Systems, ideally BNCS (using Packaging and direct routing) and Nevion Video IPath
• Experience with a wide range of video standards including HD.
• Understanding of video and audio timing.
• Detailed operational knowledge of tools used to diagnose issues with video and audio feeds, including waveform monitors and audio monitoring units.
• Operational knowledge of professional satellite contribution equipment including dish position controllers, spectrum analysers, transport stream analysers, receivers and decoders.
• Familiarity of a wide range of contribution standards such as J2K and H264.
• An understanding of the requirements of other operational areas including Ingest, Playout and Production facilities
• A proactive approach, determination to achieve the goals of the team and department, able to identify and prioritise problems and offer alternate solutions
• Agile in understanding new workflows and how they integrate with existing systems
• The ability to work well under pressure in a live transmission and production environment
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong team player and solid interpersonal skills

The MCR is operational 24/7/365 and as such, this role is shift work based on a 40 hour working week which will include nights, weekends and public holidays.

How We Get Things Done…

This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/  along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

The Legal Bits…

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law.

If you’re a qualified candidate and you require adjustments or accommodations to search for a job opening or apply for a position, please contact us at recruitadmin@wbd.com.