Pipeline Technical Director, AYON & Data I/O

Role overview

Experience in pipeline TD, data I/O, or production engineering roles at a VFX, animation, or post studio, or on productions where data I/O was yours to run. On-set or virtual production experience where data I/O was live. You work alongside the pipeline lead and the lead technologist, and you are the link between implementation and what productions need. The role grows with the studio, with a path to senior and lead responsibility.

What you'll do

• Administer the production backbone across shows: project setup, anatomy and naming conventions, users and permissions, and status workflows.
• Own data I/O for every show: ingest, transcode, QC, packaging, and delivery to client spec, on the dates productions depend on.
• Run and refine the publish workflow artists use to get approved work into the system.
• Keep the production database clean and reconciled: versions, links, and metadata that hold up at delivery.
• Set up new shows in the pipeline, from folder structure and task assignment through handoff to coordinators and artists.
• Support the pipeline lead and the lead technologist on integrations with the DCC and review tools artists use daily.
• Document how the pipeline works so it outlives any one person's memory.

What the employer is looking for

• Hands-on experience administering AYON or OpenPype: project setup, anatomy, permissions, and publishing.
• Experience in pipeline TD, data I/O, or production engineering roles at a VFX, animation, or post studio, or on productions where data I/O was yours to run.
• Delivery-spec literacy: codecs, color pipelines, naming, and the discipline of getting it right every time.
• Python for pipeline scripting and comfort with REST APIs.
• A working understanding of how shots, bids, and task assignments move through a production.
• Comfort configuring a pipeline to a studio's own standard, with the understanding that every studio pipeline is its own.
• Los Angeles preferred, with on-site availability.

Preferred qualifications

• ftrack or ShotGrid administration alongside AYON.
• Experience with review tools and DCC integrations (OpenRV, Nuke, Maya, Resolve).
• On-set or virtual production experience where data I/O was live.
• USD familiarity.
• Exposure to generative AI production workflows.