Senior AV Consultant

Senior AV Consultant

Location: Washington D.C. - Hybrid
Department: AV Consulting and Engineering
Reports to: Principal, Rodrigo Ordonez
Employment Type: Full-time

Position Summary

Salas O’Brien is seeking a senior AV professional to join our team as a Senior AV Consultant – Design Operations & Quality. This role is designed for an experienced industry leader who can contribute directly to AV systems design and project delivery while also helping strengthen the processes, coordination, and quality practices that support consistent project outcomes.

The position combines technical consulting, design review, production support, mentoring, and operational improvement. The successful candidate will work closely with project teams and leadership to resolve technical issues, improve design and documentation quality, establish repeatable workflows, and help build greater confidence with clients and internal stakeholders.

This is an opportunity to have a meaningful influence on both project execution and the continued development of our AV consulting practice.

Key Responsibilities

AV Consulting and Engineering

• Provide senior-level technical input on complex AV, broadcast, and technology systems.
• Support project teams with system concepts, equipment selection, design development, documentation, and technical problem-solving.
• Review designs and deliverables for technical completeness, constructability, coordination, and alignment with project requirements.
• Help identify and resolve issues that may otherwise create downstream impacts during bidding, construction, commissioning, or client review.
• Contribute to project specifications, narratives, equipment schedules, diagrams, details, and bid package development.
• Participate in client, design-team, contractor, and vendor coordination meetings as appropriate.
• Support the development of practical, consistent, and technically defensible solutions.

Design Production and Deliverable Quality

• Assist with the preparation and review of AV design and construction documents.
• Establish appropriate review points throughout the project lifecycle rather than relying solely on final-stage quality checks.
• Help ensure deliverables are coordinated across disciplines and consistently communicate the design intent.
• Review project packages before issuance and help teams address gaps, inconsistencies, and errors.
• Support the creation and refinement of templates, checklists, standards, and other tools that improve production efficiency and quality.

Process and Operational Improvement

• Evaluate current project workflows and identify opportunities to reduce errors, rework, missed coordination items, and communication gaps.
• Help define and document repeatable processes for project initiation, design development, internal review, client review, bidding, construction administration, and closeout.
• Develop practical quality-control and quality-assurance procedures for AV consulting projects.
• Help clarify roles, responsibilities, handoffs, decision points, and escalation paths within project teams.
• Facilitate lessons-learned discussions and help translate project experience into improved standards and practices.
• Work with leadership to establish useful measures of project quality, consistency, responsiveness, and delivery performance.
• Support implementation of process improvements in a practical way that teams can adopt and sustain.
• Help identify training and mentoring needs across the design and engineering group.

Team and Client Support

• Serve as a senior technical and process-oriented resource for project managers, consultants, designers, and field personnel.
• Mentor less-experienced staff and help develop their technical judgment and project delivery skills.
• Promote clear, timely, and professional communication across internal teams, clients, contractors, and other project stakeholders.
• Help project teams anticipate client concerns and address them before they become larger project issues.
• Build trust through consistent follow-through, sound technical judgment, and reliable project practices.
• Contribute to the continued growth and maturity of Salas O’Brien’s DC team AV consulting capabilities.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will include:

• More consistent and coordinated AV design deliverables.
• Fewer avoidable errors, omissions, and late-stage corrections.
• Clearer expectations and handoffs between project participants.
• Improved internal review and quality-control practices.
• Better alignment between project teams and client expectations.
• Stronger technical support for complex or challenging projects.
• Improved confidence among clients and internal leadership in the team’s ability to deliver.
• Practical processes and standards that are adopted by the broader team.
• Continued development of staff capability, accountability, and confidence.

Qualifications and Experience

• Significant experience in the professional AV, systems integration, broadcast, or related technology industry.
• Strong understanding of AV system design, integration, installation, commissioning, and project delivery.
• Demonstrated technical credibility with complex AV systems and the ability to evaluate design decisions.
• Experience reviewing drawings, specifications, equipment selections, system architecture, and project deliverables.
• Experience identifying root causes of project issues and developing practical corrective actions.
• Demonstrated ability to establish or improve workflows, quality-control procedures, documentation standards, or project delivery practices.
• Strong communication, mentoring, coordination, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to work effectively with technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Ability to balance high-level judgment with sufficient attention to detail.
• Experience with CAD, BIM, AV documentation, or related production tools is valuable. The role does not require the candidate to be the primary day-to-day production resource, but an understanding of design documentation and production workflows is important.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, architecture, or a related field is preferred, but equivalent industry experience will be considered.

Preferred Attributes

The ideal candidate will be:

• Respected and trusted within the AV industry.
• A practical, process-oriented problem solver.
• Comfortable mentoring others and constructively challenging existing practices.
• Able to move between strategic discussions and detailed technical review.
• Focused on preventing problems rather than simply correcting them after the fact.
• Comfortable working in an evolving organization with an opportunity to help shape standards and practices.
• Skilled at building alignment among people with different experiences, approaches, and technical perspectives.
• Motivated by improving both the quality of the work and the experience of the people delivering it.

Compensation & Benefits:  

The expected base salary range for this role is $120,000 - $165,000 USD per year. Actual compensation will be determined based on a number of factors including skills, experience, qualifications, and location. 

This role is also eligible for performance-based bonuses and a comprehensive U.S. based benefits package, including: 

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance 

• 401(k) with company match 

• Paid time off and company holidays 

• Wellness programs and employee assistance resources 

• Professional development support 

For more information, visit our full benefits overview here. 

Equal Opportunity Employment Statement 

Salas O’Brien provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, or local laws. Salas O’Brien will accommodate the disability-related needs of applicants as required by law.

Third-Party Agency Notice 
Salas O’Brien does not accept unsolicited resumes from external recruiters or agencies. We only work with approved partners engaged directly by our Talent Acquisition team for specific searches. Unsolicited submissions will not be eligible for placement fees.