Program Manager, Technical Training

Socket.dev; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Image Engineering in Baltimore, MD, seeks a Technical Training Program Manager to lead the design, delivery, and ongoing improvement of training for field technicians, project teams, and emerging leaders. You will partner with the Director of Technical Strategy to ensure the organization builds technical proficiency, safety, and client service excellence.

You will develop structured onboarding, create learning pathways, and maintain training materials across multiple formats, including

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in live events, entertainment technology, audiovisual systems, production services, staging, lighting, video, rigging, or related technical disciplines.
• 3+ years of experience delivering technical training, workforce development, education, coaching, or instructional programs.
• Demonstrated ability to teach both technical concepts and practical hands-on skills.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Experience creating training materials, curriculum, or learning programs.
• Strong organizational and project management capabilities.
• Ability to build credibility with technicians, project managers, and operational leaders.
• Willingness to travel as needed to support field operations and training initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain comprehensive technical training programs for technicians and production personnel.
• Deliver instructor-led, hands-on, virtual, and field-based training sessions.
• Create structured onboarding programs for new technical team members.
• Develop learning pathways and competency matrices for various technical disciplines.
• Design and maintain training materials, videos, guides, presentations, assessments, and certification programs.
• Train existing team members/ subject matter experts to teach training curriculum courses
• Evaluate training effectiveness and continuously improve curriculum based on operational needs and participant feedback.
• Facilitate recurring training events, workshops, and technical development sessions.
• Serve as a champion for team member growth, engagement, and professional development.
• Partner with managers to identify skill gaps and create individualized development plans.
• Coach technicians and emerging leaders to improve technical, operational, and customer-facing skills.
• Support career progression initiatives and internal promotion programs.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and technical excellence.
• Assist the Director of Technical Strategy in standardization of best practices across departments and technical disciplines.
• Support implementation of operating procedures, quality standards, and technical documentation.
• Collaborate with operations, production, and technical leadership teams to identify opportunities for performance improvement.
• Assist in developing training content related to safety, quality assurance, troubleshooting, and operational efficiency.
• Help ensure technicians consistently deliver exceptional client experiences.
• Translate lessons learned from projects into training opportunities and organizational knowledge.
• Promote professional standards that strengthen Image Engineering's reputation for excellence.
• Maintain relationships with manufacturers and industry partners to leverage training and certification resources.
• Conduct regular field observations and project-site audits to evaluate adherence to standards.
• Assess individual technician performance and provide real-time coaching, feedback, and development recommendations.
• Evaluate project execution against established best practices, standard operating procedures, and training objectives.
• Identify gaps between documented standards and field implementation, developing corrective action plans.
• Document audit findings, trends, and opportunities for improvement, providing actionable reporting.
• Measure the effectiveness of training programs by validating skill application and behavioral change.
• Recognize and promote examples of excellence, sharing best practices across teams and departments.
• Collaborate with managers and team leads to reinforce coaching and development plans.
• Support continuous improvement by incorporating field observations into future training curriculum.

Skills

Live events

Audiovisual systems

Training delivery

Curriculum development

Coaching

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Education/Instructional Design/Technical Education or related field

Tools

LMS

Job description

Description

Image Engineering is seeking a passionate and experienced Technical Training Program Manager to lead the development of our field technicians, project teams, and emerging technical leaders. This role is responsible for creating and delivering training programs that improve technical proficiency, operational consistency, safety, professionalism, and client service excellence across the organization.

The Program Manager serves as a strategic partner to the Director of Technical Strategy, ensuring that Image Engineering team members have the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to deliver exceptional experiences for our clients. Through hands-on instruction, coaching, curriculum development, and career development initiatives, this individual will help build the next generation of technical talent while raising the overall standard of execution across the company.

This position blends technical education, field experience, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness. The ideal candidate is an experienced technical educator, trainer, or production professional who is passionate about developing people and advancing a culture of continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Training & Development

• Design, implement, and maintain comprehensive technical training programs for technicians and production personnel.
• Deliver instructor-led, hands-on, virtual, and field-based training sessions.
• Create structured onboarding programs for new technical team members.
• Develop learning pathways and competency matrices for various technical disciplines.
• Design and maintain training materials, videos, guides, presentations, assessments, and certification programs.
• Train existing team members/ subject matter experts to teach training curriculum courses
• Evaluate training effectiveness and continuously improve curriculum based on operational needs and participant feedback.
• Facilitate recurring training events, workshops, and technical development sessions.

Team Member Success

• Serve as a champion for team member growth, engagement, and professional development.
• Partner with managers to identify skill gaps and create individualized development plans.
• Coach technicians and emerging leaders to improve technical, operational, and customer-facing skills.
• Support career progression initiatives and internal promotion programs.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and technical excellence.

Operational Excellence

• Assist the Director of Technical Strategy in standardization of best practices across departments and technical disciplines.
• Support implementation of operating procedures, quality standards, and technical documentation.
• Collaborate with operations, production, and technical leadership teams to identify opportunities for performance improvement.
• Assist in developing training content related to safety, quality assurance, troubleshooting, and operational efficiency.

Client Delivery & Industry Leadership

• Help ensure technicians consistently deliver exceptional client experiences.
• Translate lessons learned from projects into training opportunities and organizational knowledge.
• Promote professional standards that strengthen Image Engineering's reputation for excellence.
• Maintain relationships with manufacturers and industry partners to leverage training and certification resources.

Field Performance Auditing & Quality Assurance

• Conduct regular field observations and project-site audits to evaluate adherence to Image Engineering's technical, operational, safety, and client-service standards.
• Assess individual technician performance and provide real-time coaching, feedback, and development recommendations.
• Evaluate project execution against established best practices, standard operating procedures, and training objectives.
• Identify gaps between documented standards and field implementation, partnering with operational leaders to develop corrective action plans.
• Document audit findings, trends, and opportunities for improvement, providing actionable reporting to the Director of Technical Strategy and department leadership.
• Measure the effectiveness of training programs by validating skill application and behavioral change in live project environments.
• Recognize and promote examples of excellence, sharing best practices across teams and departments.
• Collaborate with managers and team leads to ensure coaching, development plans, and performance expectations are consistently reinforced.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by incorporating field observations into future training curriculum, onboarding programs, and technical standards.
• Serve as an ambassador of Image Engineering's culture of excellence, helping ensure every project reflects the organization's commitment to quality, professionalism, and exceptional client experiences.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in live events, entertainment technology, audiovisual systems, production services, staging, lighting, video, rigging, or related technical disciplines.
• 3+ years of experience delivering technical training, workforce development, education, coaching, or instructional programs.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively teach both technical concepts and practical hands-on skills.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Experience creating training materials, curriculum, or learning programs.
• Strong organizational and project management capabilities.
• Ability to build credibility with technicians, project managers, and operational leaders.
• Willingness to travel as needed to support field operations and training initiatives.

Preferred

• Experience in corporate AV, live events, broadcast, touring, production services, entertainment technology, or systems integration.
• Experience with learning management systems (LMS).
• Experience developing apprenticeship, internship, or technician development programs.
• Bachelor's degree in Education, Instructional Design, Technical Education, Production Technology, Engineering, or related field. Equivalent experience will be considered.