Solutions21 has a requirement for a Senior Broadcast Systems Engineer / SDI-to-IP Migration Lead, someone who understands how a live sports facility works end to end and can work alongside IPFM specialists. The person will own the broadcast workflow and legacy-integration perspective, and is not expected to replace the IP network architect.
Reports to: SVP - Technology Delivery
Role purpose
Solutions21 has a requirement for a Senior Broadcast Systems Engineer / SDI-to-IP Migration Lead, someone who understands how a live sports facility works end to end and can work alongside IPFM specialists. The person will own the broadcast workflow and legacy-integration perspective, and is not expected to replace the IP network architect. We are looking for a senior broadcast engineer with hands‑on experience designing, commissioning and supporting SDI/baseband production facilities, who is experienced in SDI router migrations, live‑event signal flows, synchronization, production switchers, replay, multiviewers, audio, graphics and MCR/playout. The candidate should have participated in SDI/IP coexistence or ST 2110 migration projects, working with network and control‑system specialists to validate workflows, gateways, operational cutovers and rollback. The candidate must be able to trace a production issue from source through router, gateway, mixer, program chain and transmission, and explain its impact to both broadcast operators and IP engineers.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead or Co‑lead Broadcast Workflow & Legacy Integration
- SDI current‑state discovery and signal‑flow validation.
- Production workflow and concurrency requirements.
- SDI/IP gateway workflow validation.
- Broadcast timing and endpoint checks with timing engineers.
- Video, audio, ANC, replay, tally and MCR acceptance.
- Cutover, confidence monitoring and SDI rollback.
- Interface with the IPFM Team led by IPFM experts who will:
- IP fabric topology, routing and multicast design.
- NBM configuration and network capacity implementation.
- Fabric telemetry and network fault isolation.
- PTP network distribution design.
- Network configuration and automation.
- Network‑side change and rollback.
- Shared Responsibilities
- The simultaneous‑flow matrix, end‑to‑end acceptance tests, failure scenarios and Day‑2 troubleshooting procedures, developed jointly with the IPFM experts.
- Neither team should develop these independently.
Measures of Success
- Verified SDI signal‑flow diagrams and router I/O database.
- Broadcast endpoint and workflow inventory, including non‑video dependencies.
- Production source–destination and simultaneous‑use requirements for the IPFM team.
- SDI/IP gateway mapping and comparison test results.
- Broadcast acceptance criteria for video, audio, ANC, timing, replay, monitoring and MCR.
- Shadow‑production, cutover and SDI rollback runbooks.
- Broadcast operations training and troubleshooting guidance.
Qualifications & Experience
- SDI Facility Engineering
- Designed or supported large SDI router systems, crosspoint databases, tie‑lines, patching and signal naming.
- Produced and maintained end‑to‑end signal‑flow diagrams and router I/O inventories.
- Worked with HD and UHD production formats, embedded audio and ancillary data.
- Understands how to trace and test a signal through acquisition, production, monitoring and MCR.
- Managed live‑facility changes without interrupting channels or events.
- Live Sports Production Workflows
- Direct experience with cameras and remote feeds, vision mixers, replay/slow‑motion, graphics/keyers and multiviewers.
- Understands program, preview, auxiliary, clean feed and international‑feed workflows.
- Can identify which sources must be available simultaneously—including feeds required for replay ingest, monitoring and recording, not just sources currently on air.
- Has worked with production directors, technical directors, replay teams, audio operators and broadcast engineering during live events.
- Timing, Audio & Ancillary Signals
- Strong knowledge of black burst, tri‑level sync, reference distribution and facility timing.
- Practical understanding of the transition to PTP/ST 2059, sufficient to collaborate with the IP timing specialist and validate endpoint behavior.
- Experience checking embedded audio, channel mapping, commentary/language routes and lip‑sync.
- Experience validating required ANC data, timecode, captions/subtitles where applicable, and other workflow‑specific metadata.
- Understands tally, intercom and camera‑control dependencies, including those that may not be apparent in the principal video signal‑flow drawing.
- SDI/IP Gateway & ST 2110 Integration
- Commissioned or tested SDI‑to‑ST 2110 gateways in both directions.
- Can compare a gateway path with the direct SDI path for format, latency, picture, audio, ANC, timing and operational behavior.
- Understands the broadcast implications of separate ST 2110 video, audio and ANC essences.
- Familiar with ST 2022‑7 A/B protection, endpoint requirements and practical failure testing.
- Can read an SDP and work with NMOS/control specialists, without necessarily being the NMOS architect.
- Migration, Commissioning & Acceptance
- Led or contributed to current‑state discovery and broadcast endpoint inventories.
- Built test plans for shadow production, production‑island migration and channel/studio cutover.
- Defined known‑good SDI paths, cutover checks, rollback triggers and rollback procedures.
- Executed acceptance tests involving vision mixers, replay, multiviewers, audio, gateways, program chains and MCR.
- Supported multiple live events following a major system change and handed over usable operating procedures.
- Relevant Project Experience
- A strong CV should describe what the candidate personally did, not merely name a broadcaster or technology.
- Examples:
- Broadcast Migration Lead — (Broadcaster / facility), (dates): Mapped (number) SDI router inputs and outputs across (studios/channels). Identified timing, audio, ANC, tally and control dependencies. Led SDI/IP gateway commissioning and side‑by‑side comparison of direct SDI and ST 2110 paths. Authored studio cutover and rollback runbooks. Supported (number) live events during shadow and post‑cutover operations.
- Senior Live Production Systems Engineer — (Facility), (dates): Integrated cameras, production switchers, replay servers, multiviewers, graphics, audio consoles and MCR. Maintained signal‑flow documentation, performed fault isolation during live events and coordinated changes with production operations.
- The quantities and outcomes should be verifiable in interview or references.
Must Have
- 10+ years in broadcast systems engineering, including live sports production and major facility upgrades.
- Hands‑on experience designing, commissioning and supporting SDI/baseband production facilities.
- Participation in SDI/IP coexistence or ST 2110 migration projects alongside network and control‑system specialists.
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