Designation:

Senior Engineer: Decoder Workflow SI Lead

Category:

Technology

Level:

Senior

Closing date:

27 Oct 2024

Position Type:

Permanent

Location:

Multi Choice Technology

Job Description:

The Multi Choice Group is a multinational media and entertainment group headquartered in South Africa, Dubai and the Netherlands with principal operations in pay television, video entertainment, advertising and content security. Brands within the Group include DStv, GOtv, Super Sport, M-Net, DStv Media Sales, Showmax and European-based content security leader Irdeto. We’re proud to say we serve 20 million subscribers across more than 50 African markets, with a successful history of identifying and adapting to industry trends, allowing us to continuously deliver the best in entertainment.

By joining our passionate and creative team, you can help us achieve our objectives of expanding our pay-TV and SVOD (Subscription Video On demand) subscriber bases, improving advertising sales, spearheading cutting-edge technology, supporting local content and providing an exceptional customer experience.

Join Africa’s most loved storyteller!

Purpose of the Position
This position is an opportunity for a chance to lead a team of highly specialized backend engineering team responsible for keeping decoder operational systems functional.

• Provide technical and team leadership for the Systems Integration team with individual contribution responsibility to integrate the E2E satellite network operator components.
• Collaborating with architects to design and deliver STB features and solutions for business requirements.
• Process improvement initiatives for integration of STB and headend software components
• Training, coaching, mentorship, succession planning, recognition and retention planning

Key Performance Objectives

Governance and Compliance

• Ensure enforcement of the Company processes and policies with team members
• Adherence to the milestone driven hybrid process & policies applicable to the Decoder Development team.
• Develop, enhance & enforce development processes & policies with team members and 3rd party software component vendors.

Operational Delivery

• Individually responsible for delivering on project requirements, system and sub-system software integration of enterprise-wide headend software solutions using internally created and/or off the shelf components.
• Formulation of the SI line function strategy
• Asset management & procurement.
• Process improvement initiatives for integration of STB and Head End software/hardware components.
• Complete management of the team including training, coaching, mentorship, succession planning, recognition and retention planning.
• Resolution of resource conflicts related to team members and equipment.
• Resolution of SI line function issues and concerns and coordination.
• Team budget planning, recons & purchase orders.
• Functional cost and tax related data management and reporting.
• Team building & engagement.
• Team recruitment, selection, performance management and disciplinary actions.
• Assigning team members to project teams.
• Grooming & execution of the SI line function backlog: Identifying, developing and maintaining of tools to automate, improve & support the SI line function.
• Integration strategies & dependency mapping for the various work packages of the release.
• Enforcement of the Company processes and policies with team members
• Adherence to the milestone driven hybrid project & CFT process & policies

Qualifications

• B.Sc (Electronic and/or Computer Engineering) or B.Eng (Electrical Engineering)

Experience and Technical Competencies

Required Experience of:

• 8+ years of experience in E2E satellite network operations managing backend operations for decoder platforms.
• 4+ years of experience in operator components integration and technologies (including STB), working through the design, development, testing, release cycle and software delivery.
• Leadership / management experience
• Experience of performance management and driving team efficiencies
• Knowledge of employee relationship regulations/laws
• Knowledge of industry wide best practices of processes, integration techniques and tools for embedded platforms and backend systems.
• Experience in Web technologies and scripting languages
• Experience in database design and management tools
• Sufficient knowledge of security & software compliances regulatory requirements
• Sufficient experience with IT infrastructure and networking
• Exposure to finance, procurement and budgeting systems
• Sufficient knowledge of project management
• Proficiency of SDLC tools, e.g. IBM Jazz, Jira, HP Quality Centre
• Strong knowledge of mentoring and leading technical teams
• Strong knowledge of various SDLC methodologies like Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid, Dev Ops etc.
• Strong knowledge in vendor management for local and global resources.
• Strong knowledge of satellite operator E2E network components and security requirements.

Technical Competencies:

• DVB (e.g. DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-T, DVB-H, DVB-IP), MPEG, H.264, H.265, UHD, HDR, File compression techniques.
• Strong knowledge of STB software stack components and architecture.
• Preferred to have knowledge of Irdeto Middleware.
• Understanding of Satellite Tx/Rx including satellite.
• Exposure to digital modulation systems such as QPSK, 8PSK, QAM etc.
• Conditional Access systems knowledge.
• Hands on experience with Irdeto CA and CCA systems preferred
• Dolby Digital Systems.
• Knowledge of encoders, transcoders, schedulers, modulators, scramblers, key servers, EPG etc.
• Understanding of encryption, decryption, multiplexing.
• Strong understanding of IP networking and protocols e.g. HTTP, FTP, WS, FTP, UDP, UPn P.
• Video Streaming and Control Protocols (TCP/IP, UDP, RTP, RTMP, Multicast handling, RTSP, DIAL, SSDP, HTTP)
• RF signal distribution systems (including LNB, Di SEq C, Unicable/SATCR switches, etc).
• Database management systems e.g. Oracle, my SQL, SQLite, etc.
• Implementing solutions with regulatory, compliance and certifications associated with security, network, wireless and RF standards.