Sr Media Data Specialist

The Skywalker Sound Development Group is seeking skilled and detail-oriented Media Data Specialists to join our initiative to collect, organize, and prepare high-value audio and video data for use in research and media technology development. This role is essential in building the foundational datasets that power next-generation tools for soundtrack processing and content creation.

Ideal candidates will bring deep familiarity with professional audio production practices, especially within Avid Pro Tools environments, and have experience handling multitrack sessions, stems, and processing plugins in a structured and reproducible manner. You will work closely with researchers, data scientists, and software engineers to curate audio assets that reflect real-world industry workflows.

This role is considered Hybrid, which means the employee will work 2-3 days onsite at our Nicasio, CA office and occasionally from home.

What You'll Do

• Collect and curate diverse, high-quality audio, video and metadata content from media production workflows, including audio music, dialogue, and effects stems, as well as timed text and video information.

• Organize and label multitrack Pro Tools sessions with attention to project structure, plugin usage, and creative intent.

• Preprocess and format audio files to meet technical standards for data ingestion, ML model training, and evaluation.

• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to define dataset requirements for multiple simultaneous development projects.

• Document session structures, processing chains, plugin metadata, and session provenance for reproducibility.

• Identify and isolate audio artifacts, effects, or processing chains that may enhance or detract from model learning.

• Track data lineage to support versioning for evolving datasets used in iterative training pipelines.
   

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor's Degree preferred or professional audio technician certificate

• 5+ years of experience in audio post-production, music editing, or related work in the media and entertainment industry.

• Proficiency in Avid Pro Tools, including session management, routing, and plugin workflows.

• Deep understanding of soundtrack construction, including dialog, music, FX stems, and mixing conventions for localization & international dubbing.

• Strong organizational and file management skills, with attention to audio asset naming, metadata tagging, and hierarchical session structures.

• Familiarity with basic signal processing concepts and plugin behaviors (EQ, dynamics, reverb, etc.).

• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with technical and research-focused colleagues.

• Clear and precise communication skills for documenting audio data and workflow notes.
   

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on film or television post-production soundtracks.

• Familiarity with plugin automation and offline/batch rendering practices.

• Understanding of AI/ML concepts as they relate to audio data preparation.

• Experience with version control systems and collaborative platforms such as Git or Aspera.

• Familiarity with media asset management (MAM) systems and metadata standards in post-production.

• Experience with timed-text metadata and sidecar files.

• Knowledge of multichannel and immersive audio formats (5.1, 7.1, Dolby Atmos).

• Familiarity with scripting (bash, Python, etc.) and general automation
   

The hiring range for this position in Nicasio, CA is $103,100 to $138,200 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.