7 Houdini Systems Administrator Jobs Hiring Near You

Summary:

Cosm is looking for a Senior Systems Administrator to keep our creative infrastructure running — render farms, remote VFX/post workstations, and large-scale media asset management and archival systems, alongside the broader storage, network, and compute environment that supports them. This is a hands-on role covering local and cloud systems as well as employee workstations, with primary focus on the high-performance infrastructure our creative and production teams depend on daily.

We're looking for someone methodical and detail-oriented under pressure, organized enough to manage complex systems independently, and collaborative enough to work cross-functionally with production, creative, and IT teams.

This role may require nights and/or weekends for scheduled maintenance, deployments, and emergency response, and requires the ability to maneuver around a server room and lift up to 50 lbs, with or without reasonable accommodation. This is a hybrid role based in El Segundo, CA, with a minimum of 3 days per week on-site.

Temporary Position: This is a six-month temporary assignment supporting Cosm. The selected individual will be employed and paid by a third-party staffing partner.

Responsibilities:

• Perform system imaging, software deployment, patching, and OS hardening across servers, virtual infrastructure, and remote workstations (Windows, Mac, Linux).
• Administration of render, storage, network, and virtual infrastructure devices and core services (e.g. AD, DNS, DHCP).
• Monitor and optimize performance and security for real-time creative workflows and high-speed data transfer.
• Support and optimize industry-standard creative applications (e.g., Nuke, Resolve, Cinema 4D, Houdini) for artists and production teams.
• Develop and maintain automation/scripts to reduce manual administration overhead.
• Manage backup and disaster recovery for critical media assets and pipeline infrastructure.
• Provide Tier 2 assistance with multi-site ticket escalations and incident resolution that may include on-call rotation.

 Experience:

• Education: BS/BA in a technical field Is preferred but overall experience will be considered.
• Experience: 5+ years in infrastructure/system administration, preferably in media production, animation, or VFX environments.
• Expert knowledge of Windows, Mac, and Linux administration; comfortable in terminal/shell environments across all three.
• Experience with system imaging and deployment tools (e.g., WDS, WSUS, SCCM/ECM, PDQ Deploy).
• Scripting/automation proficiency: PowerShell, Bash, or Python.
• Advanced understanding of remote access protocols/platforms used in creative pipelines (e.g., HP Anyware, Parsec, Splashtop, Jump Desktop).
• Hands-on support experience with VFX/post creative tools (Nuke, Resolve, Cinema 4D, Houdini, or similar).
• Advanced understanding of high-performance unstructured storage, compute, and networking (protocols, architectures, and models relevant to media workflows).
• Intermediate to advanced understanding of hyper-converged virtual infrastructure
• Render farm administration experience (e.g., Thinkbox Deadline, AWS Deadline Cloud, RenderMan).
• Familiarity with system monitoring platforms (e.g. LogicMonitor, Grafana)
• Familiarity with AWS services (e.g. S3, EC2, VPC)
• Familiarity with network configuration management tools (e.g. Cisco Prime, Arista CloudVision, Aruba Central, Ruckus SmartZone)

Preferred Experience:

• Working knowledge of Windows and Apple device management platforms (e.g. Intune, Apple Business, JAMF Pro)

The hourly pay range for this position in California is $60.00–$70.00. The hourly rate offered will depend on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other relevant factors.