Support Engineer

Every day, Imagine Communications is delivering billions of media moments all over the world — anywhere, anytime and on any device. Imagine Communications delivers innovative, end-to-end media software and networking solutions to over 3,000 customers in more than 185 countries, including the top broadcast facilities and the most technologically advanced sports and live-event venues.

Imagine Communications is looking to hire an experienced and innovative Video Broadcast Support Engineer to join our team supporting mission-critical television transmission systems. This position blends traditional broadcast engineering expertise with advanced IT and IP-based broadcast technologies, ensuring seamless playout operations, superior broadcast quality, and system reliability.

The role is onsite at a customer facility in Randburg, Gauteng, working alongside customer engineers and an integration partner who manage first- and second-line support. You will provide third-line technical expertise, act as the onsite technical liaison between the customer, Imagine's remote engineering and R&D teams, and external vendors, playing a key role in diagnosing, resolving, and preventing complex playout issues.

Key Responsibilities
Playout Operations & Escalated Support

• Provide advanced technical support for playout systems, automation, and transmission chains.
• Assist customer engineers and integration partners in resolving escalated playout and automation issues.

• Diagnose and troubleshoot issues including

• Automation or as-run failures

• Video/audio quality or sync problems

• Operational or media access anomalies

• Support live event operations, redundancy, and failover scenarios as required.

System Health Monitoring & Maintenance

• Perform regular health checks and monitoring of playout systems and underlying infrastructure.
• Identify, analyze, and escalate complex issues requiring vendor or R&D involvement.
• Proactively detect and report irregularities to prevent on-air incidents.
• Implement and maintain Windows and Linux-based systems as well as vendor-specific broadcast platforms.
• Support both on-premises and cloud-based broadcast system operations and maintenance.

Technical Liaison & Communication

• Serve as the onsite subject matter expert (SME) and primary technical interface between the customer, integration partner, and Imagine's remote support and R&D teams.
• Translate and communicate complex technical issues clearly across diverse stakeholders.
• Provide feedback to R&D for configuration optimization, workflow improvements, and operational refinements.

System Testing & Change Implementation

• Support and validate software patches, configuration updates, and system upgrades initiated by Imagine or the customer.
• Verify playout continuity, correct signal paths, and media accessibility post-deployment.
• Participate in planned failover and disaster recovery (DR) tests to ensure system resilience.

Media & Workflow Assistance

• Identify and flag content-related or scheduling issues affecting playout.
• Highlight DVE or metadata-related issues for customer resolution.
• Ensure media integrity and consistency across workflow chains.

Documentation & Reporting

• Maintain a detailed change log of all engineering interventions, outages, and escalations.
• Prepare clear and concise handover notes for Imagine's remote support teams.
• Contribute to root cause analysis (RCA) and post-mortem reviews for major incidents.
• Provide regular technical reports and updates to Imagine management.

Collaboration & Mentoring

• Collaborate effectively with customer and partner teams to ensure system stability and broadcast reliability.
• Provide informal coaching and technical guidance to customer engineers.
• Encourage a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
• Education National Diploma/Degree in Computer Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, or a related field, with relevant industry certifications.

• Experience Minimum of 6 years in a video broadcasting or playout transmission environment.

• Technical Expertise

• Strong understanding of traditional broadcast technologies and modern IP-based broadcast systems.

• Advanced IT skills — including Linux System Administration, Windows Server management, and virtualization.
• Proficiency with containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and other CNCF technologies.
• Working knowledge of networking fundamentals to CCNA level or equivalent.
• Experience with MS SQL and PostgreSQL databases.
• Familiarity with cloud-based broadcast environments and hybrid IT infrastructure.

• Experience with SMPTE ST 2110 standards and IP-based media transport workflows (highly desirable).

• Other

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Team-oriented with strong interpersonal skills.
• Valid driver's license, passport, and own transport (some travel may be required).

Preferred Attributes

• Self-motivated and proactive, with a passion for continuous learning in both broadcast and IT domains.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence.
• Ability to perform under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Leadership and mentoring capabilities within a team environment.

Celebrating difference, together stronger
At Imagine Communications, we don't just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our customers, our employees, our products, and our communities. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect. Imagine Communications is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.