Core Network Delivery Engineer

at  Vodafone

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES AND DECISION OWNERSHIP:

• Detail planning, low level design, configuration and integration with mobile and fixed interconnected operators
• The life cycle management of the systems under the remit of the Voice Core domain
• Acceptance of hardware and software in the network in respect of business functional requirements and operational suitability
• Integration testing of new technologies and services inter-acting with suppliers, Operations, Security, Regulatory and other group functions
• Collaboration across all stakeholders to ensure timely delivery of functionality and quality in projects taking appropriate decisions where Voice Core are the lead Domain.

CORE COMPETENCIES, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• competence in collaboration, problem solving, and applied thinking based on evidence and data
• designing telecommunication networks based on a sound knowledge of architectural principles.
• evaluating solutions in respect of long and short term goals, customer experience, cost and network complexity
• Ability to work across multi-functional and cultural boundaries to transform ways of working to better deliver results and change

MUST HAVE TECHNICAL / PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

• Degree qualified
• At least 2 years professional experience in Telecommunications
• Expert in the engineering of core mobile networks for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies
• Strong knowledge of communication principles and protocols operating at all layers of the protocol stack linked to 3GPP standards
• Solid understanding of virtualization (VMWare) and containerization (Kubernetes)
• Experience of and solid understanding of transport and networking technologies including routing and switching protocols (ie. BGP / ISIS / OSPF); load balancers, firewalls and IPv4/6
• Scripting expertise is preferred (Power CLI, Powershell, Python, …)

Integrate Voice Core technologies and functions into the VF-IT network, according to the strategy, goals and approach of the Voice Core domain. The role is accountable and responsible for the Engineering lifecycle from Requirements through Design, Test, Acceptance, Integration and Deployment as well as the fit between Design and In Service Performance.

There is a technology focus on 2G/3G/4G and 5G core network functions as associated with:

• Customer data repositories including HLR, HSS, EIR, AUC, SCCPR, CUDB, CSDB, UDR, UDM, CCDM, CCSM systems
• Signalling Network Functions including: SS7 & Sigtran STP / SGW, DRA, DEA, SCP
• IP Multi Media Systems including: TAS, CSCF, SBC/SBG/BGF, MRF, AFG, ENUM/DNS
• Mobile switching Centres including TSC, MSC, MGW

The deployment of many of these network functions uses virtualized and containerized technology and some expertise in vertical integration with the VMWare Telco Cloud Platform components – vCloud Director, vSphere, NSX-T, Teco Cloud Automation and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is expected.
The role will define the low-level design and support the engineering and development of the VF-IT Voice Core Network guaranteeing the highest level of quality, availability and robustness to meet customer expectations; Perform local integration tests for new software and for new network elements, granting the end to end integration including interconnect to the other mobile and fixed operators within the relevant country, and ensuring synergies and harmonization can be achieved across the Opcos.