DirecTV Looking To Fill 170 Positions In SoCal

EL SEGUNDO (CBSLA.com) — DirecTV is looking for new hires in Southern California.

"I've seen the retention we've had across our team; it only shows me that we're continuing to grow," said Amit Patel, senior product manager of DirecTV's digital entertainment product group in El Segundo.

"Similar to how you have your iPhone and you're able to download apps to your mobile phone, we also enable users to be able to download apps to their television service via DirecTV," Patel said.

Patel and his group partnered with the engineering team on the creation of DirecTV's Fantasy Football App, which allows subscribers to play while watching the game on their TV sets.

"You don't have to be a super tech individual to be a good fit for the organization," he said. "I came from a background in web development, business development and digital strategy."

In 1994, DirecTV emerged from the defense industry in El Segundo. At that time, it was part of Hughes Aircraft, which took advantage of its satellite systems to create the video distribution business we know today.

"We buy content from different providers like CBS. We upload that content to our satellites and then distribute it back down to individual homes," DirecTV's Chief Human Resources Officer Joseph Bosch said.

Today, DirecTV distributes video content via satellite to more than 35 million customers across the United States and Latin America. It employs 4,000 people in Southern California and has 170 open positions, some of which are in West Los Angeles.

"In the twelve years that I've been here, we have over 500 SD channels that we run out of this building. We also have over 200 HD channels that we run out of this building as well," Lisa Shipley said.

Shipley is the director of broadcast operations at DirecTV and oversees a team responsible for monitoring all of the HD and SD programming transmitted via satellite to customers' televisions and mobile devices.

She's currently looking for candidates who embrace change, are curious and current on technology.

"I don't necessarily require that you have broadcast experience to work here... but it's important to be able to balance technology entertainment, and be able to keep a lot of things spinning at any time," said Shipley, whose favorite perk is programming.

"The free programming is phenomenal. To have this product in my home is great," she said.

And you can receive a $1,000 referral fee for recommending a new employee.

"I just recommended two candidates... and they actually found full time opportunities for the both of them," Patel said.

Bosch says prospective candidates shouldn't just apply online, but rather, use social media sites such as LinkedIn to find inside contacts.

"I often look for, how much effort did people put in? Did they go the extra mile to get in the door and talk to us? I think that's a good sign of their work ethic and their potential contribution if they do get hired here," he said.

For more information on employment opportunities at DirecTV, visit its website.