Production Design Engineer

NBCUniversal is seeking a Design Engineer based in New York who brings deep technical expertise and strong cross-team leadership. This role is responsible for conceiving, designing, and delivering scalable broadcast systems from the ground up, while also supporting reliability and operations as needed to ensure long-term system performance.

You will lead conceptual system design efforts, translating operational requirements into robust SMPTE 2110 architectures, and collaborate closely with CAD engineers, vendors, clients, and internal stakeholders to move systems from idea to execution. While design leadership is the primary focus, hands-on involvement in configuration, validation, and operational support is expected to ensure systems perform exactly as designed.

In addition, this role will serve as a technical leader and mentor, guiding engineers through design decisions, project scope, and technical reasoning to create clarity and alignment across teams. The ideal candidate thrives in complex, hybrid broadcast environments and naturally bridges design, implementation, and operations. Strong communication, sound engineering judgment, and the ability to translate high-level concepts into executable plans are essential.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Act as the technical design lead for broadcast and live production systems, with a primary focus on SMPTE 2110 IP-based architectures.

• Own system-level design thinking, including conceptual architecture, signal flow, bandwidth modeling, redundancy strategies, and future expansion planning.

• Translate high-level design concepts into clear and actionable direction for CAD engineers, covering connectivity, cabling standards, signal formats, control paths, and network topology.

• Design and support SMPTE 2110 environments, including routing, PTP timing, multicast architecture, and resiliency models, with hands-on experience in platforms such as Evertz EXE and Magnum.

• Maintain and integrate hybrid infrastructures, balancing modern IP systems with baseband and legacy routing environments.

• Partner with production, operations, and engineering leadership to plan system upgrades, expansions, and long-term technical roadmaps.

• Research, evaluate, and recommend emerging technologies and products, working directly with vendors to validate performance, interoperability, and design fit.

• Provide reliability-focused engineering support through system configuration, troubleshooting, and escalation of complex issues impacting live production.

• Help define best practices for system documentation, monitoring, redundancy design, and long-term sustainability.

• Serve as a technical authority and point of contact for clients, internal teams, and leadership, communicating clearly across both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Deep experience designing and supporting production facility broadcast systems in professional television environments.

• 7+ years of experience in television broadcast or live production environments, with demonstrated growth in technical scope and responsibility.
• Advanced hands-on experience with SMPTE 2110 IP-based production environments, including routing, multicast architecture, PTP timing, and system design tradeoffs.
• Experience with leading broadcast platforms and ecosystems such as Sony, Evertz, Calrec, Ross, and various other broadcast systems.
• Familiarity with legacy baseband routing systems and transition strategies to IP-based architectures.
• Strong understanding of computer networking fundamentals and IP-based media transport protocols.
• Experience with software-defined broadcast systems and modern, IP-driven production workflows.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, and annotating designs using AutoCAD or similar CAD tools for complex broadcast environments.
• Dante Certifications or demonstrable experience 
• Cisco ACI Certification or comparable data center networking experience.
• Demonstrated experience working in hybrid baseband and IP environments and translating conceptual designs into executable implementation plans.
• Understanding of the 24/7 nature of News, Sports, and Entertainment operations, including support expectations for live and mission-critical systems.
• Demonstrated ability to guide team members by clearly communicating project scope, technical reasoning, and goals to ensure alignment across teams.
• Systems-level mindset with experience developing conceptual designs, signal flows, and infrastructure architectures for new builds or major expansions.
• Proven ability to translate operational and creative requirements into scalable technical designs, including bandwidth planning, signal formats, control paths, and future growth considerations.
• Working knowledge of broadcast-adjacent systems, including audio, control, graphics, replay, intercom, and robotics.
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals as they apply to broadcast and production systems.
• Comfort acting as a technical lead and escalation resource, able to guide others and operate independently without constant oversight.
• Experience engaging with vendors, clients, and internal stakeholders to evaluate products, validate designs, and plan deployments or system expansions.

Required Soft Skills: 
• Highly detail-oriented and organized, with a natural curiosity for how complex systems interact across hardware, software, and network layers.
• Strong documentation practices, including the ability to clearly communicate designs, changes, and operational impacts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Willingness and ability to learn and evaluate new production technologies, workflows, and tools.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining strong collaboration and consistently meeting deadlines.
• Proactive and adaptable, with the ability to prioritize effectively in fast-paced environments with shifting demands.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including weekends, overnights, and holidays when required to support live production.
• Ability to remain calm, focused, and effective under pressure, particularly during live events and high-impact operational situations.

Additional Requirements:

• Required On-Site: This position is required to be performed full-time from an NBCUniversal-designated worksite.

This position is eligible for company-sponsored benefits, including medical, dental, vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks. Learn more about the benefits offered by NBCUniversal by visiting the Benefits page of the Careers website. 

Salary range: $110,000 - $130,000 (Salary only) 

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].