Engineer - Submarine Cable Station Technology Information at MTN

Mission / Core purpose of the Job:

• The Submarine Cable Station Engineer will form a part of a highly skilled group of international and local technical experts who are responsible for operating and maintaining submarine cable assets landing in South Africa. The Submarine Cable Station Engineer will work closely with submarine cable consortium members, international cable stations, international and local network operations centers, marine maintenance contractors and vendors to ensure that the assets are maintained to the highest standards and in accordance with agreed operational and service level requirements.

Key Tasks: 

• Coordinate submarine cable system operational requirements across multiple regions, networks, and cultures
• Carry out preventive maintenance of Submarine Cable terminal station and Data Centre equipment. 
• Perform alarm check, performance monitoring, optical measurement, voltage/current check, adjustments and NMS backup.
• Wet plant monitoring & fault localization
• Land Cable monitoring and arrangements for preventative and corrective maintenance

Perform corrective maintenance on terminal station equipment in coordination with the NOC: 

• Make observations
• Initiate corrective procedures or decide on course of action
• Record all relevant observation and results
• Rectify faults or notify responsible section
• Perform first line equipment repair or notify responsible authority
• Implement dispatch procedure for faulty equipment
• Confirm repair
• Compile report on any failure event
• Maintain and update system maintenance documents
• Implement work orders for new circuit activations in conjunction with the NOC, capacity owner, other stations and local terrestrial network staff.
• Troubleshoot alarms, resolve and/or escalate any abnormality on a daily basis.
• Inventory management of installed and spare inventory.
• Monitor and assist with maintenance activities of suppliers 
• Implement and maintain all interconnectivity/cabling on ODFs based on WOs for MTN and other submarine cable parties. 
• Provide first line maintenance on MTN terrestrial backhaul network equipment at landing station and data centre.
• Implement submarine cable protection and awareness programs.
• Prepare operational reports (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) 
• Perform scheduled system routine procedures and record results in the prescribed manner.
• Implement changes prescribed by the system controlling body in accordance with the system maintenance procedures.
• Ensure accurate interpretation of performance parameters and impairment budgets, and work with the relevant system body/ies and Maintenance Authority to ensure prompt resolution of all impairments.
• Review and update the System Joint System Maintenance Documentations (JSMD) or any other documentation as regards the management and operations of Submarine transmission within agreed deadlines.
• Perform emergency operational procedures at odd hours in event of failures on call-out basis.
• Attend Submarine System training courses
• Ensure that safety procedures are adhered to at all times

Education:

• Technical/Engineering Diploma (Electrical Engineering) – Mandatory
• IT certificate/diploma will be an advantage as additional qualification

Experience:

• 5 years in Telecommunications, with minimum 3 years operational experience of optical fibre Transmission and Interconnection systems - Required
• Experience in international transmission environment - Preferred
• Submarine Cable System operational experience - Preferred
• Exposure to vendor negotiations
• Exposure to cross-functional project teams