Desktop Support Engineer

Flying Bark Productions is a dynamic and innovative animation studio dedicated to pushing the boundaries of character animation and storytelling. We are working on exciting projects such as Avatar: The Last Airbender feature film, Netflix's Ghostbusters animated series and Stranger Things animated series, as well as our production Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan.

Location: Los Angeles
Job Type: Full-Time
Department: Information Technology
Reports To:  IT Manager / Head of Studio

About the role:

The IT Desktop Support Engineer is a vital member of our technology team, ensuring uninterrupted support for artists, coordinators, and production staff in a high-performance, creative studio environment. This role involves the setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting of workstations, software applications, and core infrastructure systems across Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. You’ll help streamline user onboarding, maintain system health, and participate in ongoing process improvement efforts to support the fast-paced demands of media production workflows.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

Support & Troubleshooting

• Provide responsive Level 1 and 2 helpdesk support across Windows  and Mac OS environments.
  
• Troubleshoot desktop hardware, operating systems, peripherals, network connectivity, and application-level issues.
  
• Provide technical assistance for Visual Effects applications including Nuke, Maya, Houdini, After Effects, and Tractor.
  

System Management & Deployment

• Install, configure, and manage desktop systems, maintaining image consistency and reliability across the studio.
  
• Apply regular patches, security updates, and configuration changes in line with operational standards.
  
• Monitor and maintain system health across both artist workstations and render nodes.
  

User & Access Management

• Manage user onboarding and offboarding processes in accordance with IT policy.
  
• Create and manage user accounts using Active Directory, ensuring access permissions are appropriately assigned and documented.
  
• Maintain accurate OU structures, user groups, and access policies.
  

Infrastructure & Network Support

• Support networking systems including switch configuration, static IP allocation, VLAN management, DNS and DHCP troubleshooting.
  
• Assist with infrastructure maintenance involving storage systems (FreeNAS), backup storage, and render node clusters.
  
• Participate in performance monitoring and capacity planning across workstations and supporting infrastructure.
  

Documentation & Asset Management

• Maintain up-to-date asset inventories for all hardware and software resources.
  
• Contribute to technical documentation, standard operating procedures, and DevOps internal wikis.
  
• Track license usage and ensure compliance with software licensing agreements.
  

Backup, Security & Operational Support

• Coordinate and validate backup routines using Bacula, BareOS, or equivalent tools.
  
• Support physical security and studio access control systems.
  
• Ensure endpoint systems are correctly tagged, monitored, and maintained for optimal performance and security compliance.
  

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with IT and DevOps teams on infrastructure upgrades, testing, and new tool integrations.
  
• Identify inefficiencies and proactively recommend and implement system improvements.
  

Participate in other IT or technical initiatives as needed.

About you:

Professional Experience

• 2–4 years of desktop support or helpdesk experience, ideally in a Media, VFX, Animation, or Post-Production environment.
  
• Experience supporting Windows, Mac workstations in a production environment.
  
• Familiarity with render pipelines or high-throughput computing environments is beneficial.

Education

• Degree or diploma in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field preferred.
  
• Industry certifications such as CompTIA A+, Microsoft MCP, RHEL, or CCNA are a plus.
  

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Linux OS such as RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux.
  

• Familiarity with floating license servers such as FlexLM or RLM.
  
• Working knowledge of Layer 2/3 networking including VLANs, subnetting, and basic switch configuration.
  
• Basic scripting ability in Bash, PowerShell, CMD, or Python.
  

Why work with us?

• We work on some of the coolest projects in the industry! Check out our website: Flying Bark.
• We have cake days, a dedicated culture club, and regular studio social events!
• Love dogs? You’ll often see some of our furry companions around the studio.
• We offer a hybrid working approach, with flexible work-from-home days.
• Career development is a priority for us, and we provide ongoing training and support opportunities.
• Our employees rave about our inclusive and welcoming culture—everyone is celebrated here!

Salary Range: $57,865.60 - $60,000.00