Job Description

About the role

This role owns the planning and engineering of SPTel's customer premises equipment (CPE) and supports access network planning, covering MPLS Ethernet access and PON. It makes sure customer edge and access designs are scalable, secure and supportable, and that they fit SPTel's wider telco infrastructure plans. The role also helps SPTel grow from connectivity into managed services that systems integrators (SIs) have traditionally delivered. It does this by evaluating and engineering CPE-based solutions that can be offered and run at carrier scale. As part of Engineering Planning, the role is also the Tier 3 technical authority for Operations on CPE and access network matters.

Key responsibilities

1. CPE & Access Network Planning and Architecture

Own the CPE and access network roadmap, including capacity, technology refresh and end‑of‑life planning. Keep it in line with the MPLS core, aggregation and PON network plans.
Set reference designs and standard service configurations for how CPE connects to the access network. This covers MetroE (VPLS/Epipe), IPVPN, Internet access and Ethernet over GPON services.
Make sure access designs keep service transparency, resilience and diversity, and that they can be operated by the Network Operations Centre (NOC) and Field Engineering (FE) teams.
Feed CPE and access requirements into CAPEX planning and budget forecasts and support the business cases behind them.

2. Managed Services Solution Engineering

services space. Examples include managed Wi‑Fi/AP, managed LAN, managed firewall/security and other value-added edge services.
Turn customer and product requirements into technically sound, commercially viable solution designs. Support Sales and Product in pre‑sales, tenders and solution reviews.
Define the operating model for each managed service: provisioning, monitoring, change, lifecycle and support boundaries. This lets SPTel deliver at service-provider scale rather than as one-off SI projects.

3. Technology Evaluation, Qualification and Lifecycle Governance

Own the qualification framework for new CPE, AP, firewall and ONT models and firmware. This covers functional, throughput, interoperability and security testing.
Approve platforms and firmware baselines for production, and publish SOPs and onboarding configurations for FE provisioning.
Track vendor end‑of‑sale and end‑of‑support notices, security advisories and vulnerability exposure across the installed CPE and access base. Drive remediation or replacement plans.
Maintain the NMS for CPE and related platforms. Make sure inventory, monitoring and configuration data are accurate and support operations.

4. Tier‑3 Technical Support to Operations

Act as the Tier‑3 escalation point for Operations on CPE, ONT and access network issues.
Lead deep technical fault isolation, including packet-level analysis (e.g., Wireshark), and root cause analysis (RCA) for complex or repeat incidents. Drive permanent corrective actions.
Turn incident learnings into design, configuration or SOP improvements to cut repeat faults and escalations.
Support Operations outside office hours for critical escalations when needed.

5. Vendor and Stakeholder Management

Own technical relationships with CPE and access equipment vendors. This covers bug fixes, feature requests, vulnerability fixes and roadmap alignment.
Work with Product, Sales, Operations, Field Engineering and Core Network teams so that CPE and access solutions are delivered end to end.

6. Reporting and Continuous Improvement

Produce regular management reporting on the CPE and access estate, covering deployment, stock, lifecycle status, faults and risks.
Find opportunities to standardize, automate and lower the cost to serve across the CPE and access portfolio.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or Diploma in Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Computer Science or Information Technology Engineering.
Typically 3-5 years of hands-on engineering experience with CPE, Wi Fi, firewall or GPON ONT in a service provider, vendor or large enterprise environment.
Preferred: CCNA/CCNP and ITIL 4. Vendor certifications (e.g., Nokia, Fortinet) or WLAN certifications are an advantage.
Working knowledge of MPLS Ethernet access (VPLS, Epipe, IPVPN) and PON technologies (GPON XGS PON is an advantage).
Hands-on Layer 1-3 skills across switches, routers and firewalls.
Protocols: VLAN/IEEE 802.1Q/QinQ, NAT, DHCP, DNS, LACP, ACL, VRRP, static routing, OSPF, IS IS and BGP.
Familiarity with vendor platforms such as Nokia, Cisco, Huawei, Fortinet, Alcatel Lucent and HPE/H3C.
Strong analytical and fault-isolation skills, including packet-level troubleshooting.
Takes ownership and thinks in systems. Communicates clearly with both technical and non-technical people, and works well in a team.