Figure 53, a Baltimore-based software company, is hiring a part-time Senior QLab Support Specialist. We are looking for a candidate with both high-level technical expertise in QLab and the ability to provide clear, generous, and friendly support to our customers.
Our flagship product, QLab, is used to control audio, video, and lighting for live performance. (But you, our future teammate, already know that!) All customer support for our products is conducted via email. We are looking for an additional team member to help answer any licensing and technical QLab questions our customers send us.
This position requires 20 hours of work a week, and includes benefits such as a generous paid vacation policy, health insurance, profit sharing after one year, and a SIMPLE IRA with matching contributions. We are a fully remote company. You must be based in the US, with a slight preference for those based in Maryland, New York, California, or Wisconsin.
Much of our success stems from taking care of our customers with exceptional support and responsiveness. We feel grateful for our customers, and we try to keep the principles of patience, gratitude, respect, and expertise driving our interactions with them. Our support team is devoted to problem-solving in a kind and generous spirit. We provide deep technical knowledge, and also bring a curiosity, dedication, and genuine compassion for customers to our work. We often work as a team to solve difficult issues.
While experience with sound is absolutely a plus, we are specifically looking for a candidate with experience in one or more of the following areas:
Lighting
Stage Management
Video
Broadcasting
Product licensing
Required Skills
The successful applicant will have all of the following skills:
Superb writing skills.
Experience with QLab at a moderate or expert level. (At least a year or two of actual hands-on experience with QLab.)
Compassion, empathy, and an ability to convey a friendly and supportive tone via email.
Patience and a pleasant demeanor, with customers and with teammates.
A willingness to learn, adaptability, attention to detail, and problem solving skills.
First-hand familiarity with the process of producing theater — you understand the environment our customers work in and the strains and stresses of that environment. You understand terms like standby, upstage, spike, and strike. You’ve experienced a technical rehearsal. You have (at least) run sound, lights, or video for a show at some point.
Basic macOS administration skills.
Willingness to ask questions and self direct learning in areas where you are not already an expert.
Willingness to learn Figure 53’s complex licensing system and ultimately provide support to customers about that system.
Ability to manage your own calendar, and timeliness.
Ability to maintain focus while working independently and remotely.
Ability to bring renewed energy for repetitive work.
Bonus Point Skills
While no one person will be an expert in all of these things, any of the following skills would impress us:
Professional (or high-level) experience as a technician, designer, director, or stage manager.
Extensive customer service experience, particularly with a written component.
You’ve done technical work for theater in multiple departments.
You’ve used MIDI or OSC to control a show.
You’ve dabbled in AppleScript, or written AppleScripts to control QLab.
If your background is in audio, familiarity with any of the following:
Meyer, d&b, L-Acoustics, or QSC loudspeakers or processing hardware
DiGiCo, Yamaha, Allen & Heath, or Behringer mixing consoles
RME, Motu, Universal Audio, or Focusrite audio interfaces
Dante/AVB
If your background is in video, familiarity with any of the following:
Blackmagic hardware
a solid grasp on the concepts of resolution and frame rate
the uses of and differences between VGA, DVI, HDMI, and SDI
network video systems, such as NDI
live video systems, live camera feeds, camera switching
projectors made by either Panasonic, Barco, or Christie
LED Video walls and controllers
knowledge of what baluns are and how to use them
Matrox/Datapath multi-heads
If your background is in lighting, familiarity with any of the following:
ETC Express or EOS-family consoles
Programming lighting effects or other complex sequences.
reading a lighting plot
Pre-visualisation software like Vectorworks, WYSIWYG, or Capture
Art-Net protocol
USB-DMX devices
If you are a stage manager, experience with the following:
Running many shows on QLab
A working knowledge of QLab programming
Troubleshooting various technical issues in a rehearsal environment
We build our schedule collaboratively as a team. While it is not a requirement, availability and willingness to work mornings (starting at 9am) in the Eastern Time Zone is a plus, as is a willingness to occasionally work holidays & weekends.
Availability during periods which are typically busy for professional theatre: September-early November, February-March
Familiarity and experience with Github
Salary and Benefits
All full- and half-time employees at Figure 53 are paid based on the same annual salary. (Our CEO makes 1.5x the base salary). The base salary is $76,000 for half-time (20 hrs/week) employment.
After 1 year at Figure 53, you’ll receive quarterly profit sharing which is divided based on the length of time you’ve been at the company. Profit sharing is often a significant portion of our compensation.
25 paid vacation days, unlimited unpaid vacation days (with notice and permission), and paid federal holidays plus the week between Christmas and New Years off.
SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with employer contribution matching
Free health insurance for you, your spouse, and your dependents, including an HRA for out-of-pocket spending. Vision and dental insurance are included because teeth and eyes are also part of your body.
Fully remote work.
Figure 53 is committed to building a culturally diverse staff and strongly encourages applications from people of color, women, LGBTQ+, those living with disabilities, or a member of any group that is traditionally excluded from work in the tech sector.
The position is open immediately. We are accepting applications through Friday, June 5th.
To get a sense of our company culture and HR policies, we encourage you to take a look at our handbook.
How to Apply
Please email jobs@figure53.com to apply. Attach PDFs of your resume and a cover letter that demonstrates your relevant experience and interest in the job. If you have any example QLab workspaces you’ve created we’d love to see those too.