Optical Network Design & Engineering Manager

Base location: Reading or Havant with hybrid working 2 days per week

Salary: £Competitive dependant on experience + performance related bonus + a range of other benefits to support your family, finances, and wellbeing.

Working Pattern: Permanent Full time with Flexible working options available

As the Optical Network Engineering Manager, you will play a key role in overseeing the planning, design, implementation, and operational aspects of our Optical transmission networks. This role requires a strong technical background, exceptional leadership skills, and the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless deployment and operation of our network infrastructure and services.

In this role, you will be accountable for:

• Team Performance: Accountable for the performance, development, and wellbeing of the Optical engineering team. Setting clear performance objectives, conducting regular 121’s and coaching the team.

• Network Stability: As an operational engineering manager, you will be accountable for the stability and reliability of all commercial Optical network infrastructure. You will proactively take measures to address potential network issues or faults and to ensure minimal service outages to meet relevant SLA and KPI.

• Project Delivery: Ensuring successful and timely delivery of Optical network infrastructure and customer projects/orders in terms of design and deployment activities. Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to overcome challenges to meet project deliverables or milestones, building working relationships.
• Budget Management: Accountable for managing the CAPEX and OPEX budgets for the Optical design and operations domains. Identify opportunities for cost saving initiatives without compromising quality. Work with our finance team to forecast and review as required.

• Supplier Management: Manage and maintain positive supplier relationships, working with our procurement function to ensure cost efficiency with Optical related price book items hardware and software. Explore and input to technology roadmaps and work together with a group of design and architects to set direction. Conduct operational performance reviews against service level agreements and drive improvements with suppliers where required.

You will be responsible for:

• Network Design and Optimisation: Lead a team in designing scalable and cost-effective Optical network solutions, exploring and drive optimisation opportunities and feed into annual CAPEX plan. Ensure alignment with industry best practices and standards. Ensure close working relationships with wider network design and architecture teams and input to network strategy, including SDN orchestration and automation where applicable.

• Operations Management: Oversee day-to-day operations and drive high availability and reliability with the networks, with proactive issue identification and drive rectification. Key decision maker for the domain on change activities. Ensure an effective call out rota is in place to cover the optical domain for all equipment and technologies.

• Team Leadership: Build and lead a skilled team of Optical transmission engineers. Nurture a collaborative and as one team culture between design and operations, encouraging knowledge sharing and professional development. Hold regular team meetings to communicate on key items such as business updates, health and safety updates or security briefs.

• Escalation: As a first level of escalation to the design team and to the tier 3 team, appraise situations and manage down where further escalation is not required. Understand other influencing factors and manage/agree course of action. Where essentially required, support and co-ordinate engineering teams out of hours for operational activities or problems.

• Training: Ensure team training plans compliment the Neos product set and roadmap, influenced by the overarching business strategy. Up skill and develop team members across multiple technologies to ensure agility and efficiency of design and tier 3 teams, to optimise team capability and resourcing against demand.

• Business case input: Input to RFI, ITT and governance gate packs to ensure correct technology is selected and continued savings are delivered to maximise benefit. Create and/or endorse business cases for innovation, new infrastructure, solutions, and system or process improvements.

• Network Risk Management: Regularly assess network risk and implement strategy to negate future risk across the Optical domain, including network security risks where applicable.

• Management Reporting: Produce monthly team and network performance reports, covering resourcing and key SLA or KPI performance metrics, within the Optical domain.

• Health, Safety & Environment: Management responsibility for team safety engagement, understanding, awareness and performance. Challenge any unsafe act and regularly review processes to ensure that projects are designed in accordance with appropriate company procedures and external regulations.

What do I need?

You will need the following skills for this role, although the level of expertise for each will vary.

• Proficient knowledge of Optical transmission network technologies and standards, including DWDM, OTN, SDH and also good knowledge of ethernet/packet networks.
• Specific knowledge with Ciena 6500 or Infinera XTM systems would be advantageous.
• Strong knowledge of optical fibre specifications and design rules.
• Experienced in people management and leadership, within design or operational roles.
• Concise oral and written communication skills to liaise with customers and colleagues up to C level. The ability to translate highly technical information into a simple manner where required.
• Problem solving and management.
• Experience of one or more of the following would be beneficial: Design, operations, integration/test and commissioning experience within optical transmission.
• Excellent knowledge of the telecommunications market and current innovations.
• Have a good understanding of finance (CAPEX, OPEX, Cost of Sale, IRR, TCM, TCV) and commercial modelling to support budget forecasting, quoting, and modelling cost benefits.
• A degree in a relevant field (Telecommunications, IT or Sciences) would be desirable but not essential.
• It is a requirement for this role that you have a full, current driving licence.

Next Steps

All applications should be submitted online, and I'll be back in touch after the vacancy closing date to let you know the outcome. Should you need any further assistance please contact [email protected]