Head of Production & Operations

Starlight; Westport (CT); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity (2.5%–5%)

Base salary $70k–$80k

Job summary

Starlight, an early-stage sports video company, seeks a Head of Production & Operations in Westport, CT. You’ll own live event production, vendor management and growth strategy from day one, with 2.5–5% equity and a base salary of $70,000–$80,000.

You’ll recruit field crews, manage logistics and ensure broadcast-quality footage for school sports events as the business scales to 50–75 events annually.

Qualifications

• 2+ years running live event production, field operations or multi-site logistics.
• Experience hiring and managing distributed contractors or crews.
• Hands-on confidence with camera and AV equipment.
• Comfortable outdoors in July and organizing via spreadsheets on Monday.
• Valid driver’s license, clean record, and ability to travel for events.

Responsibilities

• Recruit, onboard and train a national bench of local videographers and event managers.
• Build market structures: event director, transport/logistics, film crew.
• Own equipment lifecycle: purchase, transport, storage, maintenance, replacements.
• Be on site during peak season (2–4 weekends/month).
• Source and close new event partnerships and manage venue requirements.

Skills

Live event production

Field operations

Multi-site logistics

Contractor management

Camera & AV equipment

Travel readiness

Driver's license

Job description

Westport, Connecticut (on-site) | Full-time

JLB Search has been retained by an early-stage sports video and software company to hire its Head of Production & Operations. This is a founding team hire with real ownership of a business line from day one.

About the company

Starlight works with high school sports recruiting events to film them to broadcast standard, giving players and teams better footage for college recruitment. That film goes straight into their recruiting platform, which is used by athletes, club directors and college coaches. They recently closed a seed round and are looking to grow.

They are scaling from a handful of events to 50 to 75 a year, with several events running across different markets on the same weekend. This role is responsible for making that happen.

The role

In season (Summer and Fall) you'll run the events side of the business. In the off-season (Winter and Spring) you'll focus on customer acquisition.

Contractor network

• Recruit, onboard and train a national bench of local videographers and event managers, hired market by market rather than one travelling crew
• Build the structure for each market: event director, transport and logistics, and film crew

Live production

• Own the full equipment lifecycle: purchasing, moving kit between events and regional storage, maintenance, loss and replacement
• Be on site during peak season, roughly 2 to 4 weekends a month
• Manage relationships with existing event operators, and source and close new ones
• Handle venue requirements, COIs and on-site logistics

Platform

• Co-lead go-to-market strategy with the CEO to bring on teams and college coaches

What you'll bring

• 2+ years running live event production, field operations or multi-site logistics
• Experience hiring and managing distributed contractors or crews
• Hands-on confidence with camera and A/V equipment
• Happy to be on a field in July and in a spreadsheet on Monday
• A valid driver's licence, clean record, and ability to travel and do physical setup
• Bonus: a youth or club sports background, knowledge of the lacrosse world, or early-stage startup experience

Package

• Base salary of $70,000 to $80,000
• 2.5% to 5.0% equity (4-year vest, 1-year cliff)
• Annual base increases of 3% to 8%

This is a small team, and whoever takes this on will own a whole business line, not a small part of one.

All conversations are treated in confidence.