Technical Operations Specialist - Animation

This is a Full Time Job


VIZ Media, the world leader in English-language versions of manga and anime (Japanese comics and animation), is looking for a Technical Operations Specialist to join our Animation Production team. This is a hybrid or remote position. The Technical Operations Specialist will be responsible for and contribute to the management and production of Animation assets for television, home video, and digital life cycles.

The core duties include monitoring and guiding assets end-to-end through production, maintaining accurate guidelines and specifications for asset production, conformance, routing, tracking, and QC of all materials. You will be responsible as a go-to expert and point-of-contact for technical asset needs within Animation Production, working closely with the Production Manager to meet the material needs of all teams for production. The ideal candidate has a strong eye for detail, excellent project management and organizational skills, immense technical prowess, and a passion for post-production and animation.

What you'll do:

• Understand, support, and manage asset production across TV, Home Video (DVD, BD), digital (AVOD, SVOD, TVOD), simulcast, and localization production and distribution workflows.
• Manage, track, and communicate the status and routing of assets along the production and post-production pipelines with vendors, licensors, licensees, and cross-functional teams.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for asset production, conformance, QC, and the content distribution supply chain.
• Contribute and adhere to SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) and best practices to maintain consistency across projects and assets.
• Work closely with other members of the production team to shape, define, implement, and support efficient workflows and communication for department and company needs.
• Communicate, guide, and support vendors to meet asset production specifications.
• Conform, edit, convert, and troubleshoot assets (Audio, video, timed text, metadata, art) to meet various production and distribution needs.
• Own scheduling, delivery, and receipt of assets from vendors and partners daily across multiple projects and IPs under strict deadlines.
• Drive material archiving, backups, screeners, and overall asset organization for long term production needs as well as asset transfers/asset shares to key stakeholders.
• Evaluate, troubleshoot, and validate assets with a high level of detail at receipt to ensure they meet all industry and regulatory standards for broadcast and distribution.
• Maintain detailed records of technical issues and develop solutions to solve ongoing problems that impact production and processes.

The ideal candidate has:

• Minimum 5 years working in post-production, home video & streaming, creative advertising, Media & Entertainment operation environments
• Minimum 5 years of project management, asset management, and QC experience in the Media & Entertainment industry
• Strong production knowledge and experience with video, audio, metadata, and timed-text (subtitles, closed captions, forced narratives, SDH) technical specifications and formats
• Expert knowledge of common interchange formats and codecs (DNxHD, ProRes, .MXF, etc.)
• Proficiency in Post-Production editorial tools and services (Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve)
• Proficiency in Subtitling/Caption & QC software (EZTitles, CaptionMaker, OOONA, Switch)
• Experience with industry delivery tools and cloud-based asset management systems (Aspera, MediaShuttle, Flow Capture, Frame.io or similar)
• Knowledge of EST, AVOD/SVOD, and streaming platform requirements (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, iTunes, etc.)
• Interest in latest trends and technologies in post-production, with an emphasis on innovation and efficiency
• Experience working with/at authoring houses, post-production facilities, creative agencies, and/or Media & Entertainment studios in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
• Knowledge of post-production standards and practices related to broadcast and streaming
• Proficiency with productivity and collaboration tools (i.e., Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, Slack, Enchant, Asana, or similar)
• Strong project management and prioritization skills, able to effectively multitask and work under extremely tight deadlines
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in Film Production, or equivalent experience, with a record that demonstrates suitable preparation for this position

Additional preferred skills:
• Ability to speak, read, and write in Japanese
• Familiarity with anime and manga titles

Work Environment & Schedule

Location: The Technical Operations Specialist position is open to candidates local to the San Francisco Bay Area or remote candidates within California, Oregon, Texas, or New York. If local to the Bay Area, the Technical Operations Specialist will be expected to work onsite 1 day per week at our San Francisco office. If working remotely, the Technical Operations Specialist should expect to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area a few times a year.

Schedule: This is a Regular Full-Time position with core hours of 10 am to 4 pm Pacific Time with some flexibility in scheduling outside core hours.

Compensation: $70,000 - $85,000 annually, depending on experience, with additional variable compensation