Director, Media Operations & Distribution

Company Description

NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and streaming, and bring to life through our theme parks and consumer experiences. We own and operate leading entertainment and news brands, including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBC Local Stations, Bravo, USA Network, and Peacock, our premium ad-supported streaming service. We produce and distribute premier filmed entertainment and programming through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Studio Group, and have world-renowned theme parks and attractions through Universal Destinations & Experiences. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Our impact is rooted in improving the communities where our employees, customers, and audiences live and work. We have a rich tradition of giving back and ensuring our employees have the opportunity to serve their communities. We champion an inclusive culture and strive to attract and develop a talented workforce to create and deliver a wide range of content reflecting our world.

Comcast NBCUniversal has announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company ('Versant') comprised of most of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025.

Job Description

Versant Media is seeking a highly experienced and strategic Director, Media Operations & Distribution to lead all operational aspects of content delivery for our premium News, Sports, and Entertainment programming across linear channels, affiliate partners, and Direct to Consumer (DTC) OTT platforms. This role is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, timing, and readiness of our content from signal acquisition through final distribution, with a focus on maximizing reliability, compliance, and operational efficiency in high stakes live and on demand environments.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Distribution Operations & Reliability

• Live Event Execution: Lead broadcast and streaming operations for high-profile live news, sports, and entertainment programming, overseeing critical distribution packages (e.g., major sports league content) to ensure uninterrupted broadcast delivery.
• Signal Acquisition & Transmission: Oversee technical feed acquisition and management, leading the adoption of modern transmission workflows (e.g., satellite, SRT, and ZIXI) and implementing integrated backup systems to minimize risk and manual intervention.
• Disaster Recovery: Own the ongoing operational readiness and management of the disaster recovery system and associated content operations to maintain high-availability broadcast and streaming services.
• Technical Compliance: Direct the implementation and technical alignment for broadcast and digital triggers, including SCTE-35 and SCTE-224, and coordinate with engineering teams on platform rollouts (e.g., EVERTZ).

Content Workflow & Compliance

• End-to-End Content Flow: Manage the complete content lifecycle, from signal acquisition and scheduling to content formatting and final delivery for linear channels, VOD, and international partners.
• Affiliate & Vendor Liaison: Serve as the primary operational liaison with affiliates and vendors, swiftly resolving delivery issues, blackout enforcement, and scheduling discrepancies for high-profile content.
• Compliance & Documentation: Lead the creation and publication of essential documentation, including SOPs, technical specifications, and blackout policy guidelines, ensuring all staff, vendors, and affiliates adhere to strict operational standards.
• Content Formatting: Oversee the proper formatting of outbound content for VOD and international partners, managing requirements around file transcoding and technical specifications.

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Workflow Optimization: Continuously assess and lead major efficiency initiatives to improve team performance, reduce redundancies, and transition legacy operations (e.g., physical tape stock elimination) to fully digital workflows using tools like Aspera, Signiant, and SFTP.
• Strategic Planning & Development: Convert high-volume, dynamic requirements (e.g.,