Information Technology Manager

Founded in 2013, Refuge is an award-winning visual effects studio specializing in realistic characters, creatures, and immersive worlds for film and television. With locations in Portland, Oregon, Vancouver, BC, and Los Angeles, Refuge values collaboration, determination, and artistic excellence in visual storytelling.

We support major studios and streaming platforms and operate under the highest security and infrastructure standards in the entertainment industry.

Refuge is seeking a full-time, on-site Information Technology Manager to lead and scale our IT infrastructure and team.

This role will oversee studio-wide technology operations across production, render, storage, networking, virtualization, and security systems. The IT Manager will manage a small internal IT team while maintaining a high-performance, secure, and reliable technical environment for artists and production staff.

This is a leadership role in a growing studio, requiring both strategic thinking and hands‑on technical expertise.

• Design, maintain, and optimize high‑speed data networks for large‑scale media file transfer
• Manage multiple segmented and secure network environments to ensure maximum content protection
• Architect, manage, and maintain Proxmox‑based virtualized server infrastructure
• Manage and maintain storage systems including Synology and TrueNAS environments
• Oversee render nodes and render farm infrastructure
• Manage and optimize render management systems such as Deadline
• Ensure uptime, redundancy, monitoring, and performance across all studio systems
• Plan and scale infrastructure to support company growth

• Maintain and enforce security protocols aligned with major studio requirements
• Prepare for and manage security audits from leading content partners (e.g., Disney, Sony, Apple, Amazon, HBO)
• Configure and maintain Watch Guard firewall systems, including policy management, VLAN segmentation, VPN configuration, and traffic monitoring
• Oversee MFA, VPN, endpoint protection, access controls, and identity management
• Maintain segmented secure networks for compliance and content isolation
• Manage backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity plans
• Ensure compliance with industry‑standard security frameworks and audit processes

• Support artist workflows and production software, including:

• Support secure remote workstation systems for artists
• Administer and maintain Rocket.
  
  Chat for internal communications, user management, permissions, and system reliability
• Collaborate with pipeline and production leadership to improve workflow efficiency

• Lead, mentor, and manage a small internal IT team effectively
• Set clear priorities, performance expectations, and accountability standards
• Propose, implement, and manage new processes and systems to improve operational efficiency
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend strategic improvements
• Develop documentation, standards, and best practices
• Manage vendor relationships and technology budgets

• 5+ years of experience managing IT infrastructure in a high-performance production or creative environment
• Proven experience leading and managing technical teams
• Strong knowledge of high-speed networking, secure network segmentation, and large file transfer optimization
• Experience managing virtualized environments (Proxmox preferred)
• Experience administering Synology and/or TrueNAS storage systems
• Experience configuring and maintaining Watch Guard firewalls
• Experience supporting render farms and distributed compute environments
• Experience preparing for and maintaining top-tier studio security audits
• Knowledge of cloud services, hybrid environments, and secure remote workstation support
• Strong problem-solving skills and proactive mindset
• Excellent communication and leadership skills
• Experience in visual effects, animation, post-production, or entertainment technology strongly preferred
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field preferred