About MODUS Super Series
MODUS Super Series is a live televised darts tournament broadcast six days a week, fifty weeks a year, from our purpose-built studio in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Our output is distributed internationally on Pluto TV across the UK, Europe, Canada and Latin America, reaching a global darts audience every single day of the year.
We are a small, ambitious team producing broadcast output at a scale and frequency that few UK production companies attempt. The channel does not go off air.
The Role
Read this part carefully, because it is what makes the job unusual.
This is a hands-on live production role first. You will be a working member of the gallery team, on the rota alongside everyone else, operating the show. We are a lean operation and nobody sits waiting for something to break.
What separates this position from our other studio roles is that you will also own the technical infrastructure behind the channel. We have never had a full-time engineering mind in the building, and we need one. You will be the person who understands the signal chain properly, who fixes what goes wrong, who improves the infrastructure rather than simply maintaining it, and who takes personal responsibility for the technical standard of what goes to air.
In practice that means you will spend most of your contracted hours operating, and the rest engineering. When something fails mid-show you are the person who solves it while the show keeps running. When the show is off air you are the person making sure it does not happen again.
If you want a pure engineering job with no operational shifts, this is not it. If you want to operate and engineer at the highest volume of live output in UK darts, and own the technical standard of an international channel, this is a rare opportunity.
Key Responsibilities
Studio Operations
- Working the live gallery rota alongside the production team
- Vision mixing live output
- Operating audio and lighting desks
- Operating robotic cameras remotely from the gallery
- Operating the replay machine
- Directing live broadcasts, with training and progression provided
- Preparing the gallery ahead of transmission and carrying out shutdown afterwards
- Working to MODUS Super Series broadcast and editorial standards at all times
Technical Ownership
- Owning the end to end streaming and encoding chain, from studio output through to distribution platform delivery
- Owning the gallery technical stack, equipment rack and signal infrastructure
- Diagnosing and resolving hardware and software faults, including live, on air, and under time pressure
- Acting as the point of resolution for any technical failure affecting transmission
- Preventative maintenance, monitoring and technical readiness checks ahead of broadcast
- Owning the technical equipment audit, lifecycle and replacement planning
- Creating and maintaining technical documentation, engineering standards and fault resolution procedures. This documentation does not currently exist and building it is a core part of the role
- Sharing technical knowledge with the wider studio team so that routine issues can be resolved without you
- Liaising with equipment suppliers and technical partners
- Recommending equipment and infrastructure investment to the CEO
Our Technical Environment
Our broadcast chain runs on Haivision Makito encoders, Tellyo (Now Amagi) for cloud production and clipping, and Amagi for playout and distribution. Direct experience of any of these is a strong advantage. We are equally interested in candidates who understand the principles behind that kind of chain, because if you know the principles the specific platforms are learnable.
Essential Skills and Experience
- Live broadcast, streaming or event production experience in a hands-on operational role
- Demonstrable broadcast engineering or technical capability, whether gained formally or on the job
- Working knowledge of encoding and streaming delivery protocols including SRT, RTMP and HLS
- Understanding of IP video and signal infrastructure including SDI, NDI, routing, conversion and sync
- Network configuration and troubleshooting for live video, including switching, VLANs, bandwidth and latency
- Audio and video hardware fault diagnosis and repair
- Confidence operating in a live gallery, or the clear aptitude to be trained to do so quickly
- The temperament to work calmly and methodically while output is live
- Willingness to work unsociable hours, evenings, Saturdays and occasional Sundays as part of a rota
- Excellent written communication, with the discipline to document your own work properly
Desirable
- vMix or comparable software vision mixing platforms
- Windows and Linux system administration in a production environment
- Haivision Makito encoders, Tellyo, Amagi, or comparable encoding, cloud production and playout platforms
- FAST channels, ad supported streaming or OTT distribution
- Comms, intercom and talkback systems
- Studio lighting and electrical systems
- Replay systems
- A technical or engineering qualification or apprenticeship
What We Offer
- A newly created role with genuine technical ownership from day one
- Live broadcast volume that very few UK productions can offer, six days a week, fifty weeks a year
- Direct access to the CEO and Head of Operations and real influence over technical investment decisions
- The chance to build the engineering standard for an international broadcast property from the ground up
How to Apply
Apply through Indeed with your CV and a short covering note explaining why this role interests you. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview at our Portsmouth studio.
Pay: From £32,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
