Desktop Systems Specialist I - ILM Vancouver
Job Summary:
This position is fully on-site, meaning the employee must perform their work in person at our Vancouver studio. The role may also require on-call or occasional work outside of normal business hours.
Who We Are
Industrial Light & Magic, founded in 1975 by George Lucas, has crafted some of the most iconic moments in motion picture history. From Star Wars to Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, The Avengers, theme park rides and interactive experiences, ILM continues to expand the possibilities of what visual entertainment can be.
Position Summary
ILM’s Desktop Systems Specialists are at the core of our daily operations and service delivery by working closely with our creative and administrative teams, in a fast-paced and intensely collaborative film production environment, across studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Sydney, and Mumbai.
This position performs a large variety of IT duties related to operational assistance and projects for all aspects of the ILM Vancouver studio. We encourage you to have a broad understanding of software and hardware technology and to embrace learning new technologies!
The Desktop Systems Specialist is comfortable operating in a multifaceted environment of ambiguity and constant change, and should possess the ability to work independently whilst also collaborating and coordinating with other teams.
What You'll Do
- Participate in day to day operations and issues, where you handle your own set of tickets and tasks.
- Help make sure that our studio production environment is well-supported and able to meet deadlines, by always looking out for blockers and any critical patterns across reported issues.
- Continuously evolve and improve our operations and processes with a view to achieve higher effectiveness and efficiency.
- Help manage our inventory and assets and proactively make sure that stock and resources meet the forward-looking needs of the studio, and process or request orders as needed.
- Provide input on team processes around research, testing, documentation and selection for new hardware and software and help us assess the success and fit of existing solutions against new technology.
- Supervise and follow-through on repairs and maintenance with vendors and partners.
- Participate in projects to change our studio infrastructure and facilities including migrations, upgrades or deployments, and set a standard for the rest of the team.
- Proactively create and maintain high-quality documentation.
- Deliver scripting and automation as needed e.g. using Ansible, Bash, Python, PowerShell or similar.
- Work may require you to lift equipment or boxes up to 25lbs and work at different levels and hard-to-reach places, e.g. when installing or maintaining desktop or server installations and cabling.
What You Bring
- A degree in a technical field or min. 2 years equivalent professional experience that demonstrates a passion and interest in all things software and hardware.
- Experience navigating a multi-OS environment including Linux, Windows and macOS, with a high degree of confidence in at least one of those.
- Personal or professional experience with high-performance hardware configurations and a passion for how to optimize for performance.
- Curiosity about technology, especially, specifically as it applies to visual effects and games production. An understanding of GPU technology is beneficial.
- Effective use of time and aspiring to balance and prioritize multiple concurrent requests, while also maintaining a high standard in service delivery and follow-through. Asking for help when needed.
- Exceptional customer service skills, delivered with a professional and courteous demeanour.
- Effective and efficient communications skills to break down and explain highly technical issues to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Previous experience in visual effects, gaming or similar creative studio environments would be phenomenal. Proven experience with white-glove support for clients, creative leadership and VIPs is also useful.
- Comprehensive experience and understanding of how to build, maintain and fix hardware and software for desktops, laptops and tablets including associated peripherals and accessories.
- Industry certifications or other evidence of self-improvement and learning in a technical domain would be useful in this role.