AV Operations Engineer

Job Overview

GW Information Technology (GW IT) provides empowering tools and caring support for all members of The George Washington University (GW) community. We are focused on driving digital transformation and innovation to enable the academic and operational excellence of our students, faculty, staff, and researchers. At GW IT, we are committed to cultivating a team culture that values diversity, inclusion, respect, and collaboration and invests in each team member to grow in their technology and career skills.

As the AV Operations Engineer on the Audiovisual Design and Collaboration Spaces team, you will report to the Manager of Audiovisual Design and Engineering. Our team is focused on providing a more stable technology service by increasing the capabilities of our AV support team, and providing enterprise-grade audiovisual solutions by working collaboratively with all support and engineering entities both internal to GWIT and also the university at large. This is an Individual Contributor position at the university who works under limited supervision to apply subject matter knowledge to complete various assignments and projects varying in complexity.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates with the technology support center personnel as a trusted partner in the support and maintenance of the current audiovisual infrastructure by serving as the primary point of contact for incident escalations to Tier 3. Works with technicians to resolve issues both remotely using our remote management capabilities, and on site.
• Performs advanced functions to maintain full operational status of collaboration technology. This includes evaluation of issues escalated from front-line and intermediate support personnel, conducting signal flow analysis, testing cables, testing audiovisual systems, documenting system changes, repairing classroom technology hardware.
• Leads AV outage response and problem management efforts working to identify root problems and resolve systemic problems occurring in the environment. Documents resolutions for future reference.
• Organizes vendor repairs and Return Material Authorizations.
• Trains support staff and senior technicians on remote monitoring and management platforms, audiovisual system troubleshooting, testing and configuration, and departmental best practices.
• Coordinates and leads efforts for Continuous Improvement (CI) projects by identifying requirements, allocating, configuring, and installing equipment.
• Able to configure devices, including DSP’s and control system components. May perform system commissioning, and maintain the data and documents of record.
• Maintains up-to-date firmware in the audiovisual environment. Keeps up-to-date on product software and firmware releases. Tests firmware releases in the development environment before updating the production environment.
• Researches emerging audiovisual technologies and converts research findings into functional proofs of concept that can be evaluated by the AV Design and Collaboration Spaces team.
• Produces accurate records of AV equipment inventory, including serial numbers and maintenance history.
• Establishes positive working relationships with other IT teams, Facilities Management, and academic departments.

Performs other related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.

Minimum Qualifications

Qualified candidates will hold a Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate area of specialization plus 2 years of relevant professional experience, or a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant area of study. Degree must be conferred by the start date of the position. Degree requirements may be substituted with an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts for people unfamiliar with those concepts while avoiding jargon.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage small projects and report project/task status and problems/mitigations to upline management.
• Working competency in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and Autodesk applications.
• Industry Certifications: AVIXA CTS, CTS-I or CTS-D.
• Preferred Product Certifications: AMX, Biamp, Crestron, Extron.
• Understanding of Zoom support, Zoom Rooms and Cisco WebEx.
• Demonstrated ability to apply basic network-based troubleshooting techniques.
• Able to apply basic project management principles and workflows.
• Able to occasionally climb ladders and work from heights of 15 feet.

Job Details

Campus Location: Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.

College/School/Department: GW IT

Family: Information Technology

Sub-Family: Audiovisual Technology

Level: Level 2

Full-Time/Part-Time: Full-Time

Hours Per Week: 40+

Work Schedule: Monday – Friday 9am-5pm with occasional evening hours as needs require.

Will this job require the employee to work on site? Yes

Employee Onsite Status: Hybrid

Telework: Yes

Required Background Check: Criminal History Screening, Education/Degree/Certifications Verification, Social Security Number Trace, and Sex Offender Registry Search.

EEO Statement

The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.