Technical Assistant, Level I

This is a Full Time Job


The Technical Assistant I (TA) is responsible for providing front line rendering and data management support for ILM VFX Production teams and the facility. TA's are also responsible for managing storage by wrangling data through archiving, removing data and following resource management best practices. The TA team ensures full utilization of the render farm during their shift and communicates as technical issues affecting the throughput the farm arise.

What You'll Do
• Prioritize overnight renders. Coordinate processor allocations with Production Engineering & Show Production teams. Balance processor demands within show, between shows, and as a share of facility pool
• Responsible for reporting issues with frames post render to the digital artists and CG Supervisors and work to find a solution
• Work to ensure full resource utilization during the night. Manipulate priorities to ensure that renders are completed by next business day. Report any machine problems or general issues that hinder the completion of renders to the appropriate department
• Monitor disk usage for the facility, with a particular focus on individual shows, and on a shot-by-shot basis within those shows. Coordinate show storage needs on a long-term basis with Digital Resource Manager
• Work with the Digital Resource Manager, CG Supervisors and Production Engineering team to ensure show follows proper data management procedures
• Prioritize, manage, and maintain archive of show data, including creation of archival backups for shows, maintenance of archive database, storage and retrieval of physical media for recent show archives. Fulfill all data restoration requests, including archival research to locate requested data
• Responsible for maintaining and updating department tools. Work closely with Production Engineering to ensure that code is clean and well maintained
• Participate in development projects; write production and pipeline scripts and tools as required to support ongoing technology efforts

What We're Looking For
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Film Production or equivalent degree.
• 1-2 years relevant work experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively interact with diverse personalities
• Proven ability and experience working well on teams
• Strong time management skills; Ability to multi-task and prioritize
• Aesthetic eye and/or artistic background highly desired
• Familiarity with film and video post-production and/or computer graphics techniques highly desired
• Proven ability to work autonomously and in team settings.
• Highly motivated
• Strong problem solving skills
• Ability to adapt to a high pressure, fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Ability to work shift hours as required
• Proven Knowledge of and experience with Mac, Linux & Windows operating systems.
• Strong scripting language (e.g. Python, Perl) and programming language (e.g. C/C++, Java) is a must.
• Knowledge of, and experience with, 3D animation software (e.g. Maya) highly desired.
• Database knowledge preferred (e.g. Oracle, Redis, MongoDB, Cassandra)
• Knowledge of networking, tape backup systems, hardware a plus
• VFX, Feature Animation, or Episodic production experience a plus

JoinILM

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $41,000 to $51,300 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.
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