Senior Manager: IP Core at Liquid Telecom South Africa

To be responsible for the management of the Liquid Telecoms National IP/MPLS Core Network which includes the planning, design, implementation and Operations of Core Infrastructure and Core Services functions.

This position includes driving the IP Core Network strategy, creating and maintaining policies to achieve desired architecture, providing technical specification of hardware and software and related costing of the IP Core Network to meet customer requirements. The position includes developing and maintaining processes and systems and the management of contractors and outsourced vendors to support the design, plan, build and operate model. The role is responsible for managing maximum possible service availability, maintaining capacity and performance of the IP Core Network and customer services

Minimum Requirements

Formal Qualifications Required

• Degree/Diploma or equivalent experience in Engineering and/or Networking.
• Cisco(CCIE) and or Juniper(JNCIE) certification advantageous

Job Related Experience Required

• 6 - 8 years experience in a similar or related environment and 4 of which should be in Managerial position
• 4 - 7 years experience in telecom / IT environment of which four years working directly in the area of telecommunications technology and or Internet Service Provider
• 2 - 3 years yxperience in Telecommunications (mobile) will be an added advantage

Key Outputs

Operationalize The Business Strategy

• Drives the Business IP Strategic Plan to advance IP Core Network strategic goals and objectives and to promote revenue, profitability and growth as an organization by:
• Oversees IP Core Network Engineering functions to ensure all network infrastructure is planned, installed and commissioned to meet customer services within the required timelines. The following equipment is part of the IP Core network infrastructure and services design:
• Service Provider Core includes MPLS P-P (Provider to Provider) Routers and MPLS P-PE (Provider to Provider Edge) Routers
• Core Services includes the IPT (IP Transit), Internet Peering, DIA (Internet Access), IPE (Internet PE), TPE (Telephony PE), SPE (Services PE) routers.
• Data Centre infrastructure includes Data Centre active network elements including the ACI platform
• Plans, develops and implements strategies for IP technologies for revenue generating products and services.
• Ensures continued assessment of the network and plans for the current and future network needs
• Manages the capacity planning of the IP Core network to ensure no stop sales due to capacity constraints and initiate any corrective measures thereby ensuring no capacity issues.
• Manages the availability planning of the IP Core network to ensure network availability and initiate corrective measures thereby ensuring no repeat failure.
• Manages the quality of the IP Core network to ensure no operations issue regarding design, planning and implementation of deliverables.
• Ensures that all audits conducted will be clear and no findings are associated with capacity, availability, financial or project processes
• Ensures remediation activities are done and reported on any audit findings
• Creates IP Network plans that are aligned to the Sales Plan and manage the Annual Operating Plan process in close coordination with Sales, Marketing, Products and Finance organisations
• Ensures specification of all new IP technologies towards the requirements of the Procurement process
• Ensures that all services within sphere of control is maintained
• Ensures that appropriate support is given within the presales area
• Creates, reviews and revises LTSA IP Core Network Engineering strategic processes so as to maintain engineering standards and compliance.
• Review IP Core Network Capacity and Availability reports (Annual, Monthly, Weekly, Daily) and financial statements to determine progress and status in attaining objectives and revise objectives and plans in accordance with current conditions.
• Ensures that business value management within area of control is maintained and optimised
• Ensures projects or initiatives for area of accountability are appropriately assessed in terms of cost/benefit analysis and aligned to business objectives.
• Costs for area of accountability are managed appropriately i.e. contained within agreed budget, variances accounted for and justified and continuous review of cost / benefit and return on investment for resources and processes.
• Ensures all activities are accurately recorded.
• Monitors and managed activities undertaken and savings delivered.
• Works with internal teams, contractors and out sourced vendors to produce the most efficient way to implement solutions and services
• Ensures that for all new planning of services and Core infrastructure activities, intellectual property (processes and systems) remain the ownership of LTSA.
• Ensures LTSA IP planning teams have the capability of planning on all IP planning systems.
• Ensures transformation from existing to new optimised processes and systems to meet faster planning, installation and service provisioning.

Management of the Business Unit

• Develops business plans in line with the business unit goals and objectives in order to assist in achieving the overall organizational objectives.
• Recognises areas for internal improvement and develops plans for implementation.
• Ensures that the business unit objectives are met through effective capacity and performance management and measurement.
• Manages the Integrated Planning forecasts and requirements from sales or products to ensure designs are completed and projects are timeously executed, where necessary, to ensure seamless interaction between departments.
• Creates and Maintain Business continuity processes for different scenarios
• Creates and Maintain Business continuity for IP Core Network Engineering

Core IP Operations: Transition and Transformation

• Develops and ensure IP Core Operations processes and procedures are followed to achieve a Mean Time To Restore (MTTR) that meets or exceeds industry standards and meets customer Service Level Agreements.
• Manages & oversees escalations of IP TAC Level 0 to Level 4 to ensure quick resolution of Incidents, major events and ensure that the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and escalations are provided within the agreed time allocated and SLA.
• Manage escalations with contractors and outsourced vendors.
• Manages IP Outsourced Contracts with third party providers and vendors to ensure performance in accordance to Industry standards and Service Level Agreements
• Manages and ensures all IP Core NMS systems are up to date (application software and inventory) and accessible for monitoring/reporting of network element status. Ensure all NMS are backed up.
• Ensures process and system transition to LTSA. Ensure transformation to optimised systems and processes and ensure intellectual property resides with LTSA

Support Sales & Product Development, SD to provision new customers & Customer retention

• Strategic Initiative - AOP achieved within range. Working with internal and external teams to support revenue generating & revenue assurance activities.
• Works with Solution Architects to create and vet solutions and provide recommendations.
• Assists Service Delivery with Service planning and Customised solution configurations
• Manages the provisioning processes and systems to ensure quicker service delivery.

Optimise Network, Improve customer Experience, Integrated Planning Alignment

• Ensures improvements in the design and planning of Core network to improve customer experience. Ensure implementation of integrated plan and optimisation projects to enhance revenue, capacity, growth initiatives.
• Ensures One Network initiative. Integration of AS30844 and AS36937 Networks. (Autonomous Systems). Interact and support the LTG teams to maintain high standards across the group to ensure seamless connectivity across Africa and all other IP Points of presence.
• Drives projects to optimize customer services incorporating customer improvement plans to improve customer experience.
• Maintenance projects: Ensures Network stability by eliminating single points of failure and reducing end of life infrastructure.

Financial Admin Management

• Financials of Network Engineering: IP Core
• OPEX: Budget, plan and manage the expenditures and costs against delivered and realized benefits. Ensure spend is within the planned AOP.
• CAPEX: Budget, plan and manage the expenditures and costs against delivered and realized technical or strategic benefits. spend is within the planned AOP
• Ensure technical motivations, budget, PR, and PO approvals done on time.
• Technical and Financial Administration
• BU authorisation of payment of OPEX on time and within budget
• Reporting on financials weekly, monthly, quarterly, H1, H2

Human Resource Management

• Ensures that all human resources are appropriately managed in terms of performance and development including performance management and career development initiatives
• Management of relationships between line of business and the various business partners to deliver superior service.
• Maintains and manage various stakeholder relationships externally to ensure best practice in terms of delivery.
• Provision of expertise to lines of business to ensure the timely resolution of all queries and requests
• Leads interactions with internal and external auditors to deliver on favorable outcomes.
• Manages staff to achieve the overall departmental objectives
• Mentoring (including training thereof) of all direct reports in line with their performance management objectives
• Manages costs associated with staff such as overtime, allowances, leave and training, to ensure they meet requirements set out in policy as well as those directed in order to meet organizational objectives