How to hire an audio/video engineer

How to hire an audio/video engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step audio/video engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an audio/video engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new audio/video engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an audio/video engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The audio/video engineer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an audio/video engineer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an audio/video engineer that fits the bill.

   This list presents audio/video engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Audio/Video Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Audio/Video Engineer	Broadcast and sound engineering technicians set up, operate, and maintain the electrical equipment for radio programs, television broadcasts, concerts, sound recordings, and movies.	$25-64
   Master Control Operator	A Master Control Operator executes and supervises the quality and accuracy of the transmission of radio and television programs. They also record and document various video feeds.	$13-44
   Remote Broadcast Technician	A remote broadcast technician is responsible for setting up electronic equipment that controls signal strength, audio quality, and video quality. As a remote broadcast technician, you will operate equipment for streaming live events, control audio equipment to ensure sound quality, and maintain standard sound level during television and radio broadcasts... Show more	$4-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Crestron
   • Polycom
   • IP
   • Autocad
   • Troubleshoot
   • System Design
   • AMX
   • Control Systems
   • Video Conferencing
   • Video Production
   • Teleconferencing
   • Projection
   • Av/Vtc
   • LCD

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
   • Pre-Wire and retrofit wires and equipment.
   • Work with both Vizrt and Photoshop to make 3-D graphics.
   • Lead engineer for all custom Telepresence room solution, hard ware and software.
   • Convert recordings from analog or hard digital media CD and MD to digital files.
   • Take audio given and process it using your DAW (ProTools knowledge is preferred).

   More audio/video engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your audio/video engineer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An audio/video engineer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, audio/video engineers' average salary in mississippi is 49% less than in virginia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level audio/video engineers 60% less than senior-level audio/video engineers.
   • Certifications. An audio/video engineer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an audio/video engineer's salary.

   Average audio/video engineer salary

   $85,179yearly

   $40.95 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level audio/video engineer salary

   $54,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average audio/video engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Virginia	$119,258	$57
   2	New York	$108,155	$52
   3	California	$107,675	$52
   4	Texas	$94,941	$46
   5	Pennsylvania	$84,409	$41
   6	District of Columbia	$84,298	$41
   7	Florida	$84,035	$40
   8	Minnesota	$78,891	$38
   9	Illinois	$77,135	$37
   10	Maryland	$76,719	$37
   11	Massachusetts	$76,211	$37

   Average audio/video engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Two Sigma	$114,823	$55.20
   2	Deutsche Bank	$108,895	$52.35
   3	Rosendin Electric	$101,211	$48.66
   4	MathWorks	$98,278	$47.25
   5	Multimedia	$88,240	$42.42	3
   6	TechDigital	$86,931	$41.79
   7	The Custom Group of Companies	$85,565	$41.14
   8	TriTech Software Systems	$84,137	$40.45
   9	Spectrum	$83,584	$40.18
   10	Prospero Productions	$83,139	$39.97
   11	avworkshop	$83,110	$39.96
   12	Bridges SI	$80,859	$38.87
   13	Carnegie Mellon University	$71,512	$34.38	2
   14	Cutter	$60,629	$29.15

4. Writing an audio/video engineer job description

   An audio/video engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an audio/video engineer job description:

   Audio/video engineer job description example

   The workplace is getting more distributed. Over the last decade, the biggest advances in productivity have come from new full stack, collaborative tools that manage distributed work. Code has Github. Design has Figma. What about meetings?
   
   The most important stuff in every company is happening in meetings. But our meeting tools were designed in an era when meetings were almost always in person. Today's meeting tools let you see and hear each other. That's it. Vowel is a full stack meeting OS that actually helps you have better meetings, collaborate more effectively, and surface insightful team metrics and trends.
   
   Our team has strong experience starting and running VC-backed companies. Our investors include the same VCs who invested in leading software companies, including Stripe, Twilio, Airtable, Carta, Plaid, and Lever. Plus, our users love Vowel. We won Product of the Day, Product of the Week and the 2020 Golden Kitty Award for ⛱ Remote Work tool of the year on Product Hunt.
   
   We are actively seeking a Senior Audio/Video engineer who will be responsible for implementing key features across our platform, including real-time audio and video streaming, network / infrastructure management and optimization, scaling our SFU and signaling infrastructure, and key RTC features across our web, mobile, and desktop apps.
   
   Ideal candidates are naturally curious and self-aware, have a positive attitude, and are excited to learn new skills. Additionally, having empathy, being self-motivated, and a keen interest in mentoring other engineers (as well as an openness to feedback from others) are also important criteria for candidates.
   
   What you'll do Work closely with other engineers to implement and architect new AV features Manage and monitor the production infrastructure to ensure optimal network performance and call quality Work directly with leadership and other key team members to scale the Vowel platform across desktop and mobile browsers, as well as native mobile and desktop clients You will help scale the team as the company grows Help coordinate new releases
   
   What we look for Strong familiarity with the internals of the JVM, including debugging and profiling Solid understanding of web-rtc, as well as relevant browser standards and concepts Experience using Java, Scala, Kotlin or Javascript, Typescript, React and Redux.Solid understanding of RTP, ICE, VOIP, TURN, and RTC networking fundamentals Familiarity with SFU architecture Advanced experience developing for cloud platforms, such as AWS or Google CloudFamiliarity with test-driven and continuous integration approaches to improve code quality and team collaboration Experience developing, supporting, and scaling a distributed, high-performance, high-traffic SaaS Platform
   
   Extras we'd love to see Familiarity with React-Native and native mobile app development Familiarity with audio and video codecs, such as Opus, AAC, VP8, VP9Familiarity with the Chromium / web-rtc codebase, as well as emerging standards, such as WebCodecs and InsertableStreamsExperience testing and debugging webrtc performance using webrtc-internals Experience developing multithreaded, asynchronous systems Experience using Docker and Kubernetes
   
   BenefitsFully remote post-covid; work from anywhere that makes you most productive and fulfilled Flexible Time Off; work with your manager to build a schedule that allows you and your family to be at your best Medical, dental, and vision insurance Remote office setup stipend
   Vowel embraces diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer open to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, Veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right audio/video engineer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your audio/video engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit audio/video engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with audio/video engineer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new audio/video engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect audio/video engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an audio/video engineer?