Support Engineer: Specialized Engineering Services at MultiChoice

Purpose of the Position:

• To work under guidance of a mentor or senior colleague research, define, specify test- and measurement procedures for verification testing and commissioning of transmission infrastructure and consumer hardware. Under guidance of mentor or senior colleague research and implement unique engineering solutions to operational issues and consumer complaints including system reliability, radio frequency interference and hardware deficiencies.  Implement and execute internal test- and verification process for new consumer products.  Contribute measurement results to and input to “go”/ “no-go” recommendations for business on the production and deployment of new devices.
• Support senior colleagues and team outputs through liaison with amongst others Irdeto, infield support, field services, repair centres and vendors and track device performance in the field, research and analyse failure trends, interrogating remedial action and revision of product specifications accordingly. 
   

Key Performance Objectives

Tasks

End-to-end system design and testing

• Implement and execute test plans for broadcast system end-to-end testing being accountable for business decisions and outcomes based thereon;
• Under guidance of mentor or senior colleague research, define and structure test plans for broadcast system end-to-end testing in support of overall network operations and quality assurance of services delivered to MultiChoice subscribers;
• Under guidance of mentor or senior colleague research, define and structure test plans for performance testing of amongst others DVB-T/H, DVB-T2 and DVB-S/S2 systems and devices and being accountable for resulting processes, recommendations and business decisions made thereon;
• Under guidance of mentor or senior colleague ensure deployment, commissioning and operational handover of test- and measurement systems and broadcast infrastructure
• Implement and follow standard operating procedures, maintenance- and using commissioning reports, application notes and user guides
• Support system-level fault finding and testing across multiple functional teams, services and products

With the support of a mentor or senior colleague analyse and interpret DVB transport streams and associated Service Information to ensure quality of services to customers and escalation and resolution of any deviations;
Specialist radio frequency engineering and measurement

• Under the supervision and guidance of a mentor of senior colleague research, plan and conduct electromagnetic compatibility testing and Radio Frequency interference measurement
• Under the supervision and guidance of a mentor of senior colleague research and implement Radio Frequency interference mitigation measurement and procedures
• Under the supervision and guidance of a mentor of senior colleague, define and implement specialist RF test and measurement solutions for in-house testing, consumer product development and transmission site engineering
• With support of a mentor or senior colleague, plan, execute and analyse field measurements in various countries to inform and validate critical business impact with regard to coverage planning systems and support and services marketing

Hardware development and performance validation

• Under supervision research and contribute to the development of consumer devices POCs and associated performance specifications
• Implement test systems, procedures to verify device performance and inform business decisions on production and implementation thereof
• Execute measurement and test campaigns and provide input to business decisions and quality assurance of consumer device hardware and customer service

Inter Department Liaison

• Support and debug test issues and field issues as they arise from in-field support
• Provide support various QA activities and teams on all decoder and peripheral hardware related technologies
• Support with MultiChoice software System Integration on triage and lab testing when required
• Assist with the review of “Fault Reports’ submitted by the QA teams in order to implement improvements in future designs
• Contribute to projects and provide technical support for projects of launching new hardware products in consultation with mentor or senior colleague
• Support future devices team with test and measurement expertise and insights in development of concepts, technical specifications and products

Manufacturing facility audits

• Visit vendor factory before planned mass production to inspect / audit factory process with respects to goods inspection, change request process, QA, production build validation etc.
• Contribute to device verification testing during the respective test cycle.
• Assist with inspection and testing of samples from manufacturing line, to ensure build quality

Test Facilities and Procedures

• Implement test facilities required for in-house verification testing
• Under guidance of mentor or senior colleague maintain test- and measurement labs, systems and equipment to ensure uptime and that test cycles are met
• Contribute to development and implementation of innovative and cost effective measurement techniques and processes that are technically sound and result in improvement of customer service and longevity of products and customer satisfaction
• With guidance from Mentor or senior colleague troubleshoot and restore test- and measurement systems to ensure reliability and availability;

Regulatory support

• Track and engage regulatory activities, reading and reviewing regulations and frequency spectrum plans and develop an understanding of the sector and its working with a view to providing future input on technical aspects as requested by Regulatory Affairs  and represent MSS and MAL on various industry advisory groups
• Track engagements with local regulatory departments with regards to current and upcoming regulations, standardization, certification and letters of authorization,
• Advise on any risk that needs to be mitigated from a regulatory standpoint

Research and Consultancy

• Guided by mentor of senior colleague conduct independent desktop research into telecommunications-  and broadcast engineering subjects including new transmission systems and standards and related market developments to serve as core reference source of information for business decisions and provide guidance on technology strategy, trend analysis and skills demands;
• Follow industry trends in the video entertainment industry including tending device and access technologies and systems with a view of application thereof in the business and offering insights thereon for business decisions
• Track and review RF safety management and regulation and provide input to revisions of the internal policies accordingly.
• Contribute to standardisation processes
• Keep abreast of latest developments in electronics manufacturing technology and quality management systems

Market Intelligence

• Scan services and activities on strategic satellite platforms for information across the region for insight and business decisions
• Scan services and activities on DTT platforms and services for insight, whitelisting, lab testing and business decisions
   

Qualifications Essential:

• NH Diploma in electrical / electronic engineering or associated field

Qualification Preferred:

• Diploma / Degree (BTech) / Degree (BSc) in electrical / electronic engineering or associated field
   

Professional Registration:

• Registered or currently applied for registration as Candidate Engineer (BSc) / Candidate Engineering Technologist (BTech) / Candidate Engineering Technician (Diploma) with the Engineering Council of South Africa; (ECSA)
• Student Member of ECSA recognised institution such as the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)
   

Experience

• Relevant experience or qualification in research and development engineering role or similar
• Completed experiential training required for completion of diploma / degree
• Demonstrable interest and capabilities in electronic engineering appropriate final year project, repair and fault finding, app development

 High level of MultiChoice-relevant technology operations knowledge;

• Training- and development plans, structure of the sector legislative requirements, sector specific training programmes;
• Professional engineering bodies and institutes, professional registration, continued professional development programmes;
• Engineering best practices including:
• Basic understanding of electromagnetic compatibility and ability to independently apply in appropriate test and measurement systems;
• High-level knowledge of and insight into radio frequency principles including propagation, link budgets, building penetration losses, receiver performance, single frequency networks;   
• Basic insight in test- and measurement procedures for radio frequency measurements;
• Basic knowledge of and practical insight into frequency planning, international coordination and the workings of the International Communications Union
• DVB project and family of DVB standards
• Basic knowledge and insight into how the standards are developed and the workings of the DVB project office;
• Basic knowledge of DVB-SI and ability to analyse, identify and report deviations from the norm;
• Basic knowledge of DVB quality measurements (ETSI TS 101 290);
• Satellite systems and broadcast distribution including:
• DVB-S and DVB-S2;

Terrestrial systems and network integration including:

• ISDB-T, CMMB, DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-H;
• MPEG-2 and MPEG-4;
• Active broadcast equipment, both for receive and transmit purposes;
• Passive broadcast equipment as deployed throughout the terrestrial value chain.
• Basic insight into Head-end configuration and conditional access systems including:
• Encoding, multiplexing and conditional access.
• Regionalisation, SI augmentation and physical layer pipes in DVB-T2
• Monitoring and troubleshooting broadcast network health;
• Basic computer literacy;
• Introduction to multi-discipline engineering best practice;
• Insight into the pay TV industry and competition across multiple platforms;
• Analogue and digital TV systems and spectrum management;
• Commissioning procedure implementation and optimization;
• Basic knowledge of National- and international standardisation processes and recognised standards institutes; 
• SABS
• ETSI
• ISO
• Developing written/verbal communication-, problem-solving-, analytical, and organizational skills.
• Developing ability to communicate with customers (internal and external) in a professional manner

Behavioural Competencies

• Accountability
• Teamwork
• Delegation
• Interpersonal Support
• Perseverance
• Motivating
• Prioritisation
• Analytical Thinking

Technical Competencies

• Project Management
• Research
• System Design
• System Testing
• Stakeholder Management