Sound Engineer (Durban)

We are looking for an in-house sound engineer to record, direct, edit and produce radio adverts. 

The first set of questions 1-10 directly below, only require brief answers. The second set of questions 1-10 require more detail. 

No CV will be reviewed if the below 20 questions are not answered in your job application. Please use your knowledge and experience to answer the skills questions. This will help us understand your approach to real world audio production tasks. 

1. Have you studied sound engineering/editing or design?
2. Have you worked in a recording studio before?
3. Have you worked with voiceovers?
4. Have you created radio adverts? (examples)
5. What editing software are you familiar with?
6. What is your biggest strength as a sound engineer?
7. What is your biggest weakness as a sound engineer?
8. Do you work well under pressure, meeting deadlines?
9. Do you have a good understanding of music genres and target audiences?
10. Where do you reside? This position is in Morningside, Durban

1. Sidechaining

• Explain what sidechain compression is.
• Describe a practical example of how you would use sidechaining in a voice-over or radio advertisement production.

• What is gain staging?
• Explain how proper gain staging affects the overall quality, clarity, and headroom of a production.

• Briefly explain the purpose of:
• Compression
• Equalization (EQ)
• Limiting
• When would you typically use each during a voice-over production?

• While recording a voice-over, you notice the audio is clipping.
• What steps would you take immediately to resolve the issue?
• What measures would you implement to prevent clipping from happening again?

• Explain the importance of microphone placement when recording voice-overs.
• How do microphone distance, angle, and room acoustics affect the final recording?

• Walk us through your typical workflow for producing a professional radio advertisement—from recording the voice-over to delivering the final mastered audio.

• Which DAW(s) do you primarily use?
• What microphones, audio interfaces, and plugins do you regularly work with for voice-over and radio production?

• How do you deal with unwanted background noise, mouth clicks, plosives, sibilance, or room echo in a voice-over recording?

• What loudness level do you typically master a radio commercial to, and why?
• How do you ensure the final mix meets broadcast standards without sacrificing clarity?

• Please provide 3–5 examples of radio adverts or voice-over productions you have completed.
• Briefly describe your role in each production.

Thank you for taking the time to apply for this position. Should you be successful in securing an interview, we will contact you within 2 weeks of applying. If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks of application, please consider your application unsuccessful this time.