Leading a team with responsibility for revolutionizing the media production industry isn’t easy, but Mark Mills is doing just that. We caught up with him about his role as VP of software development for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the Studio in the Cloud project, and what qualities he wants to see in candidates interested in joining the team.
Mark, tell us a little about what you and your team do at Oracle.
Right now, we’re building a set of services called Studio in the Cloud which will let media production studios run their pipelines in the cloud. Content with cinema quality and feature films need complex workflows with substantial compute, storage, and networking resources. We aim to lift the burden of creating cloud-based production pipelines and bring about the next generation of media production!
Sounds interesting! Can you tell us more about Studio in the Cloud?
Sure! Studio in the Cloud is an incredible opportunity to build a set of services from scratch. Media production is expanding to meet the demand for digital content. The integration of animation, visual and audio effects, and CGI delivers more immersive experiences in everything from short-format content to feature films and long-running episode-based series.
It requires a dedicated set of services built specifically for those workloads—that’s where we come in. The best part is, that we are building something new that’s also making the next generation of media production possible.
How does media and entertainment differ from other industries?
You know, media production and delivery are a lot like other industries that are in transition from traditional on-premises workloads to cloud. They require robust data storage services, low latency networks, and the ability to store and retrieve large data sets.
The biggest differences though are in the highly specialized way in which data is created and used in production pipelines to create an asset. It’s like a factory in the cloud with the product being a digital asset rather than something physical.
What makes Oracle a perfect fit for this industry and its challenges?
We’re well-positioned to enable studio migration to the cloud because we have the necessary foundational components. Things like worldwide presence with cloud regions across the world, substantial compute capacity with support for bare metal, virtual machines, GPU shapes, block, file, and object storage services that scale elastically. Low latency networking is also a strength of ours.
What have you enjoyed most about the project and working at Oracle?
I enjoy that we are advancing the state of the art. Native and from-scratch development are in our DNA in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and we can develop actual cloud-native services—not just integrate existing solutions with a cloud service veneer.
I’ve been able to contribute in a very wide range of roles in the last nine years, from individual contributor to management of global teams. Oracle Cloud is a meritocracy. Control and direction of your career is up to you. There are always opportunities to grow, excel, and take on stretch assignments.
Your team is hiring right now—what kinds of roles are available and what kind of skills do candidates need to show?
We’re on the lookout for full stack developers who can reason about and build multi-tenant systems at cloud scale. Deep domain expertise in media production and media delivery are huge plusses. You should also be able to develop and debug software stacks using modern languages and frameworks that enable rapid development.
Some key candidate qualities would include attention to availability, observability, system resilience, and rapid recovery from failure.
What kind of projects can candidates expect to work on?
People who join our team get to participate in all aspects of system design and leave their fingerprints on solutions. From-scratch development is a big one. Also, in our DevOps engineering environment—teams do the design and implementation work, all validation and test, and operate the service.
You’ll find lots of opportunities to change the way media production and delivery are accomplished. We want to skate to where the puck will be, not where it is! We want to change the game and enable higher efficiency across the media industry.
What are the main growth opportunities for candidates on this project?
You’ll gain domain expertise in media production and media delivery and develop services at the intersection of clustered compute, high-performance storage, and low-latency networking. You’ll also get familiar with integrating AI/ML in ways that accelerate workflows for media companies.
What tips do you have for applicants?
Number one would be to sharpen up your coding skills! We expect developers to be capable of writing high-quality code. You should also apply for roles that reflect your level of expertise and acumen.
It’s also a good idea to develop and fine-tune your ability to answer questions and have interactive technical discussions. Practice and be succinct! Some candidates will spend 15 minutes on a topic that could have been better covered with a shorter response.
Finally, try to answer questions interactively and collaboratively rather than in a long-winded recital. That helps to build rapport with your interviewer.
Do you want to help Oracle create the future of media production as part of our cutting-edge cloud team? Check out our latest opportunities and apply today