Media Assets Manager

Description

Position Summary: The Media Asset Manager operates and manages the KEXP Media Library and Archives. They lead the development and implementation of a shared vision for the KEXP Media Library and Archives in support of the KEXP mission. The Media Asset Manager is the primary person responsible for maintenance and improvement of KEXP’s organization-wide media asset management system (MAM) and ensuring long-term access to and preservation of KEXP created audiovisual materials.

Essential duties include, but are not limited to:

• Operates and maintains an organization-wide media asset management (MAM) system, currently Dalet. Ensures preservation of, and access to, a 400+ terabyte footprint of over 150,000 hours of audio assets, 10,000 hours of video assets, and 150,000 photographs.

• Supports multiple points of the asset lifecycle for audio, video, photos, and documents by developing and implementing policies, processes, procedures, and workflow solutions for Programming, Production, Business Support, and other departments across the organization.

• Develops and manages physical, born-digital, and reformatted media workflows. Manages KEXP Media Library and Archives assets, including their acquisition, licensing, cataloging, preservation, access, discovery, and use.

• Leads on day-to-day MAM operations, user ticket resolution and issue troubleshooting, reference services, metadata management, documentation of workflows and systems, reporting and analytics, and governance responsibilities.

• Manages all Library and Archives projects, including arrangement and description, outreach and acquisitions, and phased migration of media assets and metadata from legacy systems into MAM system. 

• Administers KEXP MAM software and ancillary MAM software and services from initial planning to future upgrades and eventual replacement. Assists TechOps team in the support, integration, and shut-down of related legacy software.

• Implements and maintains MAM integrations and components, including storage systems, search platform, audio-over-IP network, broadcast playout and automation, MAM web application, CMS, video transcode engine, audio distribution platforms, craft editors, video publishing platform, metadata schemas, authority control metadata sources, and custom software APIs. 

• Works collaboratively with Technical Operations, Software Development, and MAM vendor(s) to troubleshoot technical and integration issues and ensure that the deployment of systems meets functional contract requirements.

• Collaborates with outside vendors and internal teams and stakeholders to develop and coordinate system integrations such as traffic, website, and podcast publishing services.

• Adopts a user-centric approach working with all relevant KEXP departments to create clear and detailed case studies, user stories, and acceptance criteria for development of MAM software, services, workflows, features, and integrations. Monitors, analyzes, and reports on MAM statistics and return on investment.

• Develops and maintains MAM user onboarding materials, user training classes, train-the-trainer programs, and wiki articles to support adoption of MAM-leveraging workflows and solutions. Provides MAM help desk support for users. Creates and enforces access control lists. Works with users to develop and design customized MAM workspaces and workflows on a per-team basis.

• Recruits, trains, supports, and manages a team of volunteers to assist with media and metadata processing.

• Develops and manages KEXP preservation programs, including both analog and digital media preservation and pre- and post-digitization activities such as physical logistics, metadata preparation, file packaging, quality control, and media ingest.

• Maintains and updates KEXP retention policies including storage estimations, media and metadata retention guidelines. Supports immediate and future needs by storing and providing access to digital assets. Produces and coordinates production of derivatives and duplicates from original production media, including digital preservation masters, production mezzanine media, and access formats.

• Establishes policies and procedures to assist Programming and Production staff in ensuring organizational standards around media containers, codecs, and metadata.

• Acts as liaison to, and ensures interoperability with, external partners and pursues new relationships with additional external rights-holders, retailers and music discovery systems; collaborates with programming staff and other key personnel to foster positive relationships with external partners aimed at acquiring external digital content and exploring opportunities for cooperative collection development.

• Assists in proposal preparation for external funding for digital preservation projects.

• Researches and advises KEXP on security plans against threats to the digital and physical collections.

General Organizational Responsibilities:

• Maintains thorough understanding of KEXP organizational policies, including employee handbook, procedures, expense reporting, and payroll submission; follows policies and leads by example.

• Actively participates in our culture of philanthropy, which honors the important role our donors, volunteers, business and community partners play in the life of KEXP. Collaborates across teams and departments to steward donors on behalf of KEXP and actively seeks opportunities to integrate philanthropy into their role within KEXP operations, programs, and projects.

Supervision Received: Position reports to Director of Engineering.

Supervision Exercised: Supervises Library and Archives interns and volunteers.

Education & Experience: Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA accredited program and three or more years of related professional experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job as listed above.

Position Qualifications

• Knowledge and application of best practices, principles, and standards and systems common to the information science and audiovisual preservation fields.

• Professional experience with project management.

• Ability to create concise, accurate, and easy to understand documentation, policies, and reports for a wide variety of audiences.

• Skilled in active listening, questioning, comprehension, and articulation, especially as it relates to troubleshooting of hardware, software and workflow related situations.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with people of diverse backgrounds, including staff in both technical and non-technical roles.

• Working knowledge of a wide variety of audiovisual formats, with an emphasis on digital file-based audio and video formats and an understanding of basics like bit depth, sample rate, chroma subsampling, codecs, and file containers.

• Ability to analyze and enforce quality control for a variety of audiovisual codec/container combinations.

• Knowledge of digital preservation strategies for audiovisual media.

• Working understanding of relational database management. 

• Experience developing, testing, monitoring, and continuously improving scripts, macros, or micro-services using shell scripting.

• Demonstrated ability to systematize workflows and automate processes.

• Skilled in technology troubleshooting and issue resolution, including professional experience providing user support and ticket resolution for media asset management, or similarly complex systems. 

• Strong problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work in multiple operating systems.

• Knowledge of rights management issues as they relate to audiovisual collection management.

• Professional experience managing long term storage planning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional experience as primary system administrator or product owner for an organization-wide media asset management system.

• Understanding of FRBR conceptual model, PBCore metadata standard, MLA’s Music Discovery Requirements II, ANSI/NISO Z39.19 standard, DACS content standard, and EAD markup language.

• Experience managing use and administration of hierarchical NAS, SAN, and LTO storage systems.

• Demonstrated experience managing complex time-based media transcodes in automated workflows.

• Experience with tools such as FFMPEG, MediaArea suite, Bagit Standard, and hex editors.

• Experience researching and repairing issues with audiovisual media.

• Basic knowledge of SQL and Python.

• Experience with data integration projects.

• Experience managing server-side technologies, including Apache Solr and Apache Tomcat.

• Familiarity with git or other distributed version control systems.

• Basic understanding of networking technologies.

• Familiarity with audiovisual heritage safeguarding, production, preservation, digitization, and handling guidelines.

• Familiarity with assessment tools like the Audit and Certification of Trustworthy Digital Repositories (ISO 16363:2012),  National Digital Stewardship Alliance Levels of Digital Preservation Assessment, and the Preservation Self-Assessment Program.

• Familiarity with the DAM Maturity Model and understanding of best practices for determining digital asset management system return on investment metrics.

• Working familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, including Premiere Pro and Audition craft editors.

• Working experience with hardware virtualization environments (e.g., VMWare).

Physical Requirements: Long periods of being in a stationary position; operating a computer and other office equipment; frequently moving to/from various work areas; frequently communicating by phone and email; frequently remaining in a stationary position during meetings, discerning meeting content, expressing oneself, and exchanging accurate information; occasionally moves supplies and/or equipment weighing up to 20 pounds.

Working Conditions: Primary location in typical business office environment, with occasional meetings and event attendance at a variety of off-site locations. This position is eligible for up to 60% remote work.

Compensation & Benefits: This full-time, exempt position includes an annual salary range of $75,000 - 80,000, as well as a generous benefits package which includes medical/dental/vision coverage (premiums 90-100% employer paid), retirement plan with matching, vacation starting at three weeks per year plus holidays and sick leave, and much more.

KEXP is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and empowering workplace. We believe that having staff, interns, and volunteers with diverse backgrounds enables KEXP to better meet our mission and serve music-loving communities around the world. We recognize that opportunities in radio and other creative industries have historically excluded and continue to disproportionately exclude Black and Indigenous people, people of color, people from working class backgrounds, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people. We strongly encourage individuals with these identities to apply.

Please submit your resume and a cover letter to apply.  If you experience technical difficulties with your application, please email jobs@kexp.org for assistance.

Closing Date: September 11, 2022

Salary Description

$75,000 - 80,000