Audiovisual Hardware Engineer

Audiovisual Engineer

About the Department:

The Information Technology Services Department is responsible for enterprise technology operations for the City of Alexandria. ITS provides technology services and solutions to City departments to enhance service delivery. ITS aligns its work with City needs by providing leadership, resources, expertise, and products that enable departments to better serve the City’s residents, businesses, and visitors. ITS resources support initiatives funded through the multi-year Information Technology Capital Improvement Plan (IT/CIP) to improve the overall technology landscape. The City of Alexandria’s ITS Department has been a Top Ten National Finalist in the Digital Cities Award program for over the past 19 years.

An Overview

The Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) is seeking an Audiovisual Hardware Engineer with a history of supporting, troubleshooting, and maintenance of conference room A/V technologies. This position will support Council meetings and special events in a hybrid onsite/offsite environment. This position directly supports the City’s virtual collaboration platform integrations, currently Zoom for public meetings and Microsoft Teams internally, and on-prem conference room technologies. This includes operating, maintaining, installing, configuring, repairing, and upgrading A/V products while also ensuring optimal performance and integration with other systems such as Crestron, Extron, Polycom, and Zoom/Teams rooms. The A/V Engineer will analyze and resolve A/V issues in a timely and accurate fashion, as well as support user needs where required.

This position is distinguished by its focus on A/V troubleshooting assistance for conference rooms and implementing Council A/V best practices. A/V Engineers are responsible for monitoring site performance and up-time through ongoing customer communication, recommend and initiate process improvements to maximize operational efficiency, and support a variety of advanced projects and tasks related to A/V needs. This is a full-time position with overtime. It is expected that this position will work a minimum of two evenings a month and one Saturday in support of public meeting events. This position reports to the ITS Audiovisual Technology Program Manager.

The Opportunity

As an Audiovisual Engineer you will be an important team member of the Information Technology Services (ITS) Department. Examples of duties include:

Provide end-user training to City staff on the operation of various A/V and video conferencing technologies

Assist in developing long-term strategies and capacity planning to meet future A/V equipment and IT infrastructure technology needs

Perform onsite analysis, diagnosis, and resolution of complex A/V hardware/software problems in Council Chambers and recommend and implement corrective solutions

Provides a wide variety of expert-level and professional advice and assistance in audio visual systems field to include requirement gathering, scope of work development, testing and reviewing future solutions, and providing guidance and recommendations for audio visual procurements

Take ownership of and manage audio visual related system integration projects including coordinating with staff, room owners, general contractors and audiovisual vendors, and other trades

Support the on-prem installation and maintenance of audiovisual systems with a focus on integrating on-prem solutions with virtual meeting platforms

Maintain complete and accurate as-built documentation of system installations

Proactively conduct sound, visual, and performance quality checks on audio visual equipment, and contact vendor support to ensure all systems are properly maintained, and maintain best practices for security and manufacturer update compliance

Receive and respond to incoming tickets regarding A/V and video conferencing equipment/software issues, and occasionally requiring work to be completed outside normal business hours

Provide virtual meeting (Zoom) administration – assign licenses, analyze, and implement security settings, configure and optimize configuration settings, reporting metrics, and assist with third party integrations

Perform virtual meeting support for key stakeholders from scheduling meetings, inviting participants, training meeting participants, supporting closed caption and translation third-party services, performing sound and video checks, recording, assisting attendees and panelists and providing in-meeting troubleshooting

Complete training and certificate programs from manufacturers, software platform providers and industry associations

Performing other duties as assigned

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Four-Year College Degree; strong technical background; completion of college-level courses in information systems or business administration; three (3) years of progressive responsibilities in IT field; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

One (1) year of A/V architecture design. This includes architectural design, operating, maintaining, installing, configuring, repairing, and upgrading A/V products. Candidates should be able to gather system requirements, maintain up-to-date standards, and work with vendors to procure and install solutions. Three (3) years of hands-on experience with audio visual systems and general information technology experience. This should include experience resolving complex audiovisual system technical issues quickly, performing quarterly maintenance, and ensuring systems are operational through daily testing and monitoring. The preferred candidate will clearly demonstrate an advanced knowledge of audiovisual solutions, and show demonstrated experience with virtual/hybrid collaboration training, security best practices, and solutions.

Notes

The position requires a valid vehicle operator license issued by state of residence, a security background check, and an ability to be on-call and work after-hours assignments in support of City government.