Experience: 10-15+ years in telecommunications, with at least 5 years in a senior architecture role focused on network automation, orchestration, or emerging RAN technologies.
SMO & Orchestration Mastery (Must-Have): Deep expertise in Telco Service Management & Orchestration. Strong understanding of ETSI MANO, ONAP, or similar frameworks, and practical experience with FCAPS, VNF/CNF lifecycle management, and service orchestration.
RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) Expertise (Must-Have): Authoritative knowledge of the O-RAN Alliance architecture for the RIC (both Non-RT and Near-RT). Must understand the A1 and E2 interfaces, the role of rApps and xApps, and the data models involved. Practical experience with a RIC platform (e.g., from VMware, Juniper, or open-source) is a massive advantage.
Telco Cloud Foundation: Strong knowledge of the cloud-native infrastructure (Kubernetes, Docker) and networking (CNI, service mesh) required to support a disaggregated RAN and RIC. You understand the unique challenges like real-time kernels, NUMA, and SR-IOV in a telco context.
Nice to Have:
Closed-Loop Automation Experience: Demonstrable experience designing or troubleshooting automated control loops in a telco network. You must be able to think in terms of sense, analyze, decide, and act for network functions.
Vision & Communication: Ability to translate highly complex concepts like RIC and SMO into clear business value (e.g., This is how we reduce your OpEx by 30%) for a CTO/CIO-level audience.
