Senior Manager, AV Engineering

Job Title

Job Description

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Manager, AV Engineering is a senior technical and people leader responsible for the strategy, design, and operational delivery of enterprise audiovisual systems across People Inc.'s office locations (New York, Des Moines, Birmingham, and others). This role leads a team of AV engineers and owns the end-to-end AV lifecycle — from long-range roadmap and capital planning through implementation, ongoing operations, and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate brings deep, hands-on expertise designing and deploying AV solutions in complex, multi-site enterprise environments, combined with the leadership maturity to manage and grow a high-performing technical team. They are equally comfortable developing a multi-year AV architecture, negotiating vendor contracts, overseeing a major conference center buildout, and running a structured team operating rhythm.

The Senior Manager, AV Engineering is a key partner to IT Infrastructure, Network Engineering, Platform Support, Facilities/Real Estate, and the Events team — and serves as the internal subject matter expert and escalation point for all AV-related strategy and operations.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

TEAM LEADERSHIP & PEOPLE MANAGEMENT — 30%

• Leads, develops, and retains a team of 3+ AV engineers; sets clear expectations, provides ongoing coaching, and creates an environment of accountability and growth

• Owns all aspects of the team's performance management cycle, providing continuous feedback throughout the year, including goal-setting, mid-year and annual reviews; partners with HR on compensation, promotions, and workforce planning

• Sets team norms, reporting cadences, and escalation paths

• Models and reinforces a high-accountability, service-oriented, and solutions-first culture within the team and across IT

AV STRATEGY & ARCHITECTURE — 30%

• Develops and owns the AV Engineering roadmap, aligned to the company's real estate, hybrid work, and technology strategy

• Leads the evaluation, selection, and implementation of AV technologies across conference rooms, auditoriums, video walls, digital signage, and video collaboration platforms

• Architects enterprise AV solutions across a range of environments — executive conference rooms, auditoriums, open collaboration spaces, video walls, event venues, and multi-site office locations — with a focus on scalability, reliability, and user experience

• Establishes and enforces AV design standards and reference architectures across all office locations; ensures new buildouts and refreshes adhere to enterprise standards

• Leads CapEx planning and drives delivery of major AV infrastructure programs including video wall replacements, conference room densification and refresh programs, digital signage platform migrations, and multi-site AV standardization

• Evaluates emerging AV technologies and makes informed, business-case-backed recommendations for adoption

• Operates with a high degree of autonomy; escalates to SVP for strategic alignment and budget approvals

OPERATIONS & DELIVERY — 25%

• Accountable for the uptime, performance, and user experience of all AV systems across the enterprise, including Zoom Rooms, Crestron/DM control systems, video walls, digital signage (SCALA), and room scheduling platforms 

• Oversees AV production and technical support for executive events, company all-hands, special activations, and client-facing events; ensures the team delivers a consistently high-quality experience

• Manages complex, concurrent AV construction and restack projects in partnership with Facilities, Real Estate, and external contractors; maintains project visibility and stakeholder communication

• Develops and maintains operational processes for incident management, change management, and continuous improvement; uses data to identify and address systemic issues

• Partners with Network, Endpoint and other IT teams on AV equipment requirements 

VENDOR & FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT — 15%

• Owns relationships with AV vendors, integrators, and SaaS providers; manages contracts, SLAs, and renewals

• Manages CapEx and OpEx budgets for AV Engineering; oversees purchase orders, asset tracking, and budget reporting

• Conducts hardware and software evaluations; provides recommendations and business cases for technology investments

• Ensures asset inventory is current and accurate

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Audio/Visual Technology, Digital Media, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience

• Industry certifications preferred (e.g., CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I, Crestron Certified Programmer, Extron AV Associate)

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive AV engineering experience, with demonstrated depth in designing and deploying AV solutions in complex, large-scale, or multi-site enterprise environments

• 3+ years in a people management role with direct reports; proven track record of building and developing technical teams

• Significant experience owning and delivering CapEx programs from business case through commissioning

• Experience working across a diverse portfolio of AV environments, including executive spaces, auditoriums, video walls, digital signage networks, and event production

• Prior experience in a matrixed, cross-functional IT organization preferred

Technical Knowledge & Skills

• Expert-level knowledge of enterprise conference room and auditorium AV systems, including Crestron/DM control and distribution systems, video conferencing platforms (Zoom Rooms, Microsoft Teams Rooms), and VC hardware (DTEN, Poly, Logitech, Cisco)

• Hands-on experience designing and supporting video wall systems and controllers (e.g., Christie, Datapath), digital signage platforms (e.g., SCALA, Appspace), and room scheduling systems (e.g., Teem, Robin, Crestron Scheduling)

• Strong command of AV signal distribution: DM/HDBaseT, Dante/AoIP, NDI, SDI, and fiber transport

• Deep understanding of AV networking: PoE design, VLAN segmentation, IP provisioning, 802.1x, multicast, and QoS for AV traffic

• Proven experience in live event and broadcast production environments: cameras, professional video switchers (e.g., Analog Way, Barco), streaming/encoding platforms, and live event workflows

• Ability to produce and interpret complete AV design documentation: signal flow diagrams, rack elevations, structured cabling drawings, control system logic, and as-built documentation

• Proficiency with ITSM and project management tools (Jira, Confluence, or equivalent); experience managing an AV engineering backlog and sprint cadence

• Comfortable engaging technical and non-technical stakeholders — Facilities, Events, Finance, HR — and representing AV Engineering in IT leadership forums

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Strategic thinker who can translate business needs and real estate plans into a coherent, forward-looking AV technology roadmap

• Skilled people leader: inspires trust, develops talent, addresses performance issues directly, and retains top performers

• Exceptional project management discipline: manages scope, budget, schedule, and stakeholder communication across multiple concurrent workstreams

• Vendor management expertise: negotiates contracts, holds vendors accountable to SLAs, and builds productive long-term partnerships

• Strong executive presence and communication skills; able to present recommendations and project status clearly to IT leadership and business stakeholders

• Positive, highly collaborative work style; models professionalism and accountability for the team, as well as, high ownership in a matrixed environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Travel: ~15% (multi-site coverage including Des Moines, Birmingham and Los Angeles)

• This role is based in New York, NY (225 Liberty Street) with a hybrid work arrangement per company policy

• Occasional evening or weekend availability required for events and critical system maintenance

It is the policy of People Inc. to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, the Company will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodation requests can be made by emailing [email protected].

The Company participates in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For further information about the E-Verify program, please click here: https://www.e-verify.gov/employees

Pay Range

The pay range above represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position and may change in the future. Actual pay may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to work location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of People Inc's total compensation package for employees. Other compensation may include annual bonuses, and short- and long-term incentives. In addition, People Inc. provides to employees (and their eligible family members) a variety of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, unlimited paid time off (PTO), adoption or surrogate assistance, donation matching, tuition reimbursement, basic life insurance, basic accidental death & dismemberment, supplemental life insurance, supplemental accident insurance, commuter benefits, short term and long term disability, health savings and flexible spending accounts, family care benefits, a generous 401K savings plan with a company match program, 10-12 paid holidays annually, and generous paid parental leave (birthing and non-birthing parents), all of which may vary depending on the specific nature of your employment with People Inc. and your work location. We also offer voluntary benefits such as pet insurance, accident, critical and hospital indemnity health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance.