Chief Engineer

Sinclair Broadcast Group; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Sinclair Broadcast Group seeks a Chief Engineer to lead TNND's live-production systems, ensuring reliability and scalable operations across broadcast, cable, streaming, and digital platforms.

The role requires hands-on engineering depth, incident leadership, and collaboration with editorial, production, and Corporate technology teams to align workflows with newsroom priorities.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in television news engineering or equivalent live-media environment.
• Experience with Ross OverDrive in live-news environments.
• Experience with Ross XPression Tessera/Tessera One workflows and related graphics.

Responsibilities

• Own operational health and reliability of TNND's live production environment.
• Lead engineering staff, set priorities, and manage on-call coverage.
• Coordinate with editorial, production, and corporate teams to align systems with newsroom priorities.
• Lead incident management, root-cause analysis, and post-incident learning.

Skills

Technical leadership

Incident management

Communication with stakeholders

Live-news operations

Education

Associate degree or higher in IT/electronics/computer science

Tools

Ross OverDrive

Ross XPression Tessera

MOS NRCS integrations

Avid/MAM workflows

Job description

Sinclair's content technology is central to operational excellence and to connecting audiences with trusted news across broadcast, cable, streaming, and digital platforms. TNND is seeking an experienced, technology-focused Chief Engineer to lead engineering for its national news production operation.

This role owns the reliability, performance, scalability, and lifecycle of TNND's live-production and media systems. The Chief Engineer leads the engineering team and turns operational needs into dependable workflows in partnership with editorial, production, operations, and Corporate technology teams. Networking, enterprise monitoring, cybersecurity, and shared-infrastructure decisions are Corporate-led; the Chief Engineer supplies broadcast requirements, supports implementation, and keeps TNND systems aligned with those standards. The successful candidate combines hands‑on engineering depth with calm incident leadership, disciplined planning, and a service‑oriented approach to daily live news.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership and Operational Ownership

• Own the end-to-end technical health and operational readiness of TNND's production environment, with direct accountability for reliable daily live output across an extended and variable schedule.
• Lead, develop, schedule, and set priorities for engineering staff and technical support coverage; establish clear escalation paths and ensure appropriate on‑call response for critical operations.
• Serve as TNND's senior engineering subject‑matter expert and incident leader, coordinating rapid restoration, clear stakeholder communication, and follow‑through during high‑pressure production events.
• Partner with editorial, production, operations, Corporate IT, digital, cybersecurity, facilities, and distribution teams to align technical systems with newsroom priorities; serve as TNND's broadcast liaison for Corporate‑led networking, monitoring, security, and shared infrastructure.
• Translate business and production requirements into documented architectures, standards, operating procedures, project plans, lifecycle roadmaps, and budget recommendations.

Live Production and Control‑Room Systems

• Engineer, maintain, and support the integrated control‑room ecosystem, including cameras and robotics, production switchers, automated production control, real‑time graphics, studio displays, audio consoles and processing, intercom/IFB, teleprompters, tally, routing, multiviewers, sync/reference, video servers, record/playback, encoders/decoders, and contribution/distribution interfaces.
• Administer and optimize Ross OverDrive automated production control for live news, including show and template configuration, rundown execution, device control, graphics/audio/robotics coordination, NRCS/MOS integration, operator workflows, recalls/macros, and tested manual fallback procedures.
• Support Ross XPression Tessera/Tessera One and related XPression workflows for pixel‑accurate, synchronized content across studio displays and video walls, including region mapping, real‑time graphics and data, external video inputs, signal timing, playout control, and recovery procedures.
• Validate software, firmware, control, graphics, and workflow changes in a test or rehearsal process before air; maintain approved configuration baselines and rollback plans.
• Work directly with directors, producers, operators, editors, and graphics teams to improve repeatability while preserving the flexibility required for breaking news and late rundown changes.

Newsroom, Media, and Distribution Workflows

• Maintain dependable integrations among the newsroom computer system (NRCS), MOS‑connected tools, ingest, editing, media asset management, shared storage, archive, graphics, playout, and distribution systems.
• Support live feeds, file‑based media, remote contributors, streaming, and broadcast contribution/distribution workflows, including metadata, timing, caption/data paths, and SCTE signaling where applicable.
• Partner with content and operations teams to strengthen editing, live‑production, field‑gathering, remote‑production, and multi‑platform publishing workflows without compromising on‑air reliability.

Broadcast Systems and Corporate Technology Integration

• Serve as the broadcast liaison to Corporate‑managed technology services: define operational requirements and support implementation and troubleshooting of LAN/WAN connectivity, VLANs, QoS, multicast, routing, DNS/DHCP, secure remote access, identity, and time synchronization under Corporate architecture and policy.
• Support TNND's current baseband SDI and compressed‑IP media workflows, maintaining practical knowledge of applicable contribution, distribution, audio‑over‑IP, and production protocols such as NDI, SRT/RIST, and AES67/Dante where deployed.
• Administer broadcast‑specific Windows, macOS, and Linux systems and applications, coordinating shared‑infrastructure changes involving virtualization, storage, databases, cloud services where applicable, patching, backups, access control, endpoint protection, and security hardening with Corporate IT and cybersecurity.
• Create and maintain accurate signal‑flow drawings, network diagrams, rack elevations, system inventories, configuration records, credentials‑handling procedures, and support documentation.

Monitoring, Reliability, Redundancy, and Disaster Recovery

• Maintain broadcast‑facing monitoring and use Corporate‑approved enterprise monitoring, telemetry, logging, alarming, and reporting tools so engineering and operations have appropriate visibility into system health, quality, and service status.
• Design and maintain redundancy for critical workflows; define recovery priorities with stakeholders; document and regularly test failover, backup, restore, and disaster‑recovery procedures.
• Lead incident, problem, and change management for production technology, including root‑cause analysis, corrective actions, maintenance windows, risk communication, and post‑incident learning.
• Manage preventive maintenance, lifecycle replacement, spares, warranties, software support, service contracts, and vendor escalation to reduce avoidable outages and technical debt.

Projects, Vendors, Budget, and Team Development

• Assess business needs, evaluate solutions and vendors, develop technical requirements, and lead design, procurement, installation, commissioning, documentation, acceptance testing, and operational handoff for capital and workflow projects.
• Develop and manage engineering budgets, forecasts, purchase planning, and expense tracking; present clear options, risks, and lifecycle implications to leadership.
• Build strong vendor and corporate‑technology relationships, manage escalations, and ensure that work performed by integrators and contractors met TNND's technical and operational standards.
• Coach engineers and technical users, create cross‑training and coverage plans, and promote consistent troubleshooting, documentation, safety, and change‑control practices.

Required Qualifications

• Five or more years of progressive experience in television news engineering, broadcast production technology, or an equivalent live‑media environment, including demonstrated technical leadership.
• Hands‑on experience administering or supporting Ross OverDrive automated production control in a live‑news environment, including rundown/NRCS integration, device control, show configuration, and troubleshooting under air‑critical conditions.
• Working expertise with Ross XPression Tessera or Tessera One and XPression‑based graphics/display workflows, including multi‑display playout, synchronization, signal flow, and operational recovery.
• Broad control‑room engineering experience with cameras, audio and video systems, production switchers, graphics, routing, multiviewers, intercom, playback/record systems, encoders/decoders, monitoring, and computing infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of broadcast signal flow, baseband and compressed‑IP media, shared storage, media workflows, and structured troubleshooting, plus sufficient networking and monitoring knowledge to support TNND workflows and collaborate with Corporate technology teams.
• Proficiency supporting Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms and diagnosing hardware, software, network, and workflow failures.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex operational problems, make sound decisions under pressure, communicate clearly with technical and nontechnical stakeholders, and carry corrective work through completion.
• Associate degree or higher in information technology, electronics, computer science, broadcast engineering, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
• A collaborative, service‑oriented leadership style and a consistent commitment to quality, reliability, documentation, and continuous improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with additional Ross platforms such as XPression, DashBoard/CustomPanels, Carbonite or Acuity production switchers, Ultrix/Ultriscape routing and multiviewing, openGear, or Ross Platform Manager.
• Experience with MOS/NRCS integrations, Avid editing and media workflows, media asset management, shared storage, newsroom playout, and multi‑platform distribution.
• Experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other cloud‑native services supporting all‑cloud broadcast or media workflows.
• Experience partnering with Corporate IT and cybersecurity on access, patching, centralized monitoring, endpoint protection, and secure vendor access for broadcast systems.
• Familiarity with applicable FCC requirements, video streaming protocols, SCTE signaling, caption/data workflows, and emerging broadcast standards.
• Relevant Avid (including ACSR), SBE, or comparable broadcast‑technology certification.

Work Expectations

• Ability to work a flexible schedule and participate in on‑call support, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and breaking‑news coverage as operational needs require.
• Ability to work in control rooms, studios, equipment rooms, offices, and other technical spaces and to safely lift and move computers and equipment generally weighing less than 50 pounds, with reasonable accommodation as applicable.

The base salary compensation range for this role is $130,000 to $150,000. Final compensation for this role will be determined by various factors such as a candidates’ relevant work experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location. Full time positions are eligible for benefits that include participation in a retirement plan, life and disability insurance, health, dental and vision plans, flexible spending accounts, sick leave, vacation time, personal time, parental leave and employee stock purchase plan.

EEO AND INCLUSIVITY

Sinclair is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and a drug free workplace. Employment practices will not be influenced or affected by virtue of an applicant's or employee's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

About Sinclair

Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 177 television stations in 79 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel, the premium destination for tennis enthusiasts; and multicast networks CHARGE, Comet, ROAR and The Nest. Sinclair’s AMP Media produces a growing portfolio of digital content and original podcasts. Additional information about Sinclair can be found at www.sbgi.net.

About the Team

The life‑blood of our organization is our people. We have a compelling story, a goal‑oriented culture, and we take really good care of people. How good? Here is a glimpse: great benefits, open‑door policy, upward mobility and a strong desire to see you succeed. Ready to be part of a winning team? Let’s talk.

Please note that this position is not eligible for visa sponsorship, including employer sponsorship for an H‑1B visa, OPT‑STEM employment, etc.