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Job description / Role
A. ROLE & CONTEXT
Purpose:
Manage & control the operation & maintenance activities of Base station Subsystem & UTRAN networks to ensure uninterrupted GSM & 3G services with excellent quality all over the country.
Manage the GSM & 3G project implementation activities for new network elements to cover capacity & coverage requirement with optimum use of manpower and capital resources.
Context:
BSS & UTRAN Networks are the Radio Networks providing all GSM & 3G services to end customers & maintaining the quality & availability of these services & extending it to new customers will contribute in increasing the generated revenue & customer satisfaction, which will lead to loyal customers unwilling to switch over to new imminent GSM & 3G operators in Qatar
B. ROLE ACCOUNTABILITIES
Overview
To ensure high network availability by reducing mean time to repair, preparing contingency plans for disaster recovery & providing redundant devices/cards where necessary.
To enhance Network quality by monitoring the implementation of the annual preventive maintenance plan
Ensure that all network health reports or observations generated by OMC-R or Optimization team are being actioned & cleared in the shortest time
Manage & control the operational activities of BSS network such as spares level, Faulty items return repair cycle, un-cleared fault dockets, planned outages, etc
Manage the project Implementation activities & ensure smooth handover for new sites & take corrective actions to meet project deadlines
Approve planned outages for network elements upgrades, re-configurations or fault clearance as per the outage authority rules while ensuring that outages are performed in a smooth & clean way in order to minimize the GSM service interruption as much as possible
Monitor the implementation & timeline plans for new projects in which different parties are involved, i.e., vendors, contractors, transmission dept, etc. for Key customer solutions
Take technical decisions for issues related to Radio network hardware dimensioning in all GSM/UTRAN project Technical committees while evaluating tenders, SOW , change orders & through technical negotiations (i.e. revising & approving final B.O.Q)
Ensure that all GRN (Goods receive note), PAC (Provisional acceptance certificate), RFS (Ready For Service certificate), Asset adjustment & Asset transfer note for major projects are being released on time
Define strategical engineering rules for network deployment for the optimum use of resources
Ensure that all Radio Network Assets are being capitalised as per finance rules & regulations & on time
Support National special events & optimization requests that require GSM, UMTS coverage & capacity
Revise & approve implementation plans for Major contracts prepared by vendors for deployment of new elements in GSM & UTRAN Radio network .
Monitor & follow up the site build work flow & work progress with vendors, contractors and Q-Tel's building & real estate departments.
Approve & revise proposed solutions for hardware re-configurations to solve unexpected demands in traffic for festivals, summits, etc...
Approve additional work to be carried out by vendor (i.e. change orders) to carry out requests for coverage & capacity requirement received from optimization team
Prepare the capital & operation budget & monitor the actual expenditure and taking appropriate action with undesired variances
Create performance measurement system for Radio network team which is linked to objectives set to each individual & prepare development & annual training plan which are in-line with corporate targets
Providing managerial and professional direction to the subordinates.
Mentor, coach, guide & motivate work force to support Radio Network operational & project implementation activities
Analyse current processes & propose enhancement to improve work flow within the section & with peer departments
Preparation of various weekly/monthly reports relating to staff and achievements in the section.
Costs & Profitability
Role holder is in charge of preparing operational & capital budget for the Base station system networks & controlling it within approved limits.
The role holder is in charge asset capitalization, impairment & write off for Radio Network assets which is normally 70% to 80% of the whole GSM & UMTS investments.
The role holder is indirectly involved in cost savings as he will be taking decisions related to hardware dimensioning during the technical negotiations , tenders & change orders to ensure that design submitted by vendors is not over dimensioned (i.e. matching the ordered hardware & with the targeted design)
The role holder has an important role in capturing the revenue generated in national special events by re-allocating special mobile radio stations to the event locations to cater for the increased traffic & capacity requirements
Like most of the other managerial positions, financial targets are a part of the yearly targets which includes
mainly the following:
1-Ensuring that new sites are put on service on time so that revenue expected is achieved.
2-Reducing network outages & enhancing the time to repair a faulty station to restore the GSM & 3G services & minimise revenue lost.
Customers
Internally:
Role holder has significant interface with other departments in Q-Tel such as Transmission, Building, Power & AC, External planning, DC power, Network Management, Planning & optimisation, Network switching & GPRS,....,
The only internal customers that services are provided for, are Network management and planning & optimization teams.
The main areas for the internal customers lies in:
1- clearing all faults, outages, alarms, performance degradation,... etc reported from network management & optimization teams
2- carrying out all the recommendation for network rearrangement or new installation for key customer complaint forwarded from optimization team
The most complex requests come from optimization team for clearing key customer complaints such as Diwan Amiri or Wajba Palace where it is mandatory to liaise with multiple teams from inside & outside Q-Tel and control the execution in those sensitive VIP areas in a perfect way & on time.
Its worth mentioning that dedicated teams from other department are supporting the role holder as cross functional organization especially from building & transmission departments, moreover experts form existing vendors are reporting on daily basis as part of the operational team where as complete teams from vendors are dedicated for carrying out the ongoing GSM expansion & UMTS project and reporting the all their activities as part of the project implementation.
Externally:
Role holder has significant dealing with Q-Tel's wireless vendors, contractors, consultants & Key customers.
The major interaction with external customers is with Key customers for three main areas:
1-Coordinating the Site build & installation of new sites
2- Responding to key customer complaints for bad indoor coverage by installing new equipments as per the planning team recommendations.
3- To liaise with all key customers in high rise building & big complexes in advance to coordinate the installation of GSM & 3G equipment in their premises to provide proper GSM & 3G services before the building is ready for commercial use
Business orientation
The main business issues/challenges are:
1-Prepare for the forthcoming competition in GSM & 3G fields in Qatar by other operators.
2-Prepare for 3G deployment & Asian games in 2005 & 2006
3-Reduce the dependence on operational support provided by vendors' experts
4-To complete the formation of BSS & 3G team & trying to keep them in one piece
5-Obstacles in new site acquisition while dealing with ministry of municipal & Agricultural Affairs.
The main actions being taken are:
1-All internal & external processes are being looked at.
2-Future plans are being prepared including contingency & redundancy plans
3-All internal & external work flows are being automated through ready made software packages
4-Creative solutions are being explored & implemented to overcome limitation imposed by governmental regulation & other external entities.
Planning & Organising
Mainly the role holder needs to organise his own time & others whom considered as part of the resources of this section as listed below
The role holder has to plan the following:
Annual operational, capital, vehicles, furniture, office equipment & PC budgeting requirement
Annual development & training plan
Annual leave plan
Annual preventive maintenance plan along with the required manpower resources
Annual targets for individuals along with performance measurement system
Implementation plans for key customers projects
Career development plan for fresh Qatari graduates
The resources which lie under the role holder responsibility are:
1-Manpower
a-Currently the head count is 38 with six Senior Eng reporting directly (i.e. grade C4B) & to the role holder, however a proposal has been sent to the board to raise the Head count up to 52 (with three heads reporting to the role holder) to support 3G & Falcon projects
b-Cross functional teams from other departments
c-Vendor experts reporting directly to personnel in this section
d-Vendor project managers along with their complete teams reporting to the role holder for project related activities
2-Assets
Test equipment, tools, vehicles, mobile communication units, PC, Mobile Telephones, etc
& Radio network assets (i.e. managing, organising & controlling of those resources)
Note: the senior Eng titles reporting to the role holder are the following:
1- Motorola BSS Senior Eng.
2- Alcatel BSS Senior Eng.
3- BSS Implementation Senior Eng.
4- UTRAN Implementation Senior Eng.
5- Siemens UTRAN Senior Eng.
6- Alcatel UTRAN Senior Eng.
Problem Solving
The nature of this position demands a great deal of problem solving skills & techniques due to the huge number of parties involved in carrying out the activities related to installing new sites which is mainly coordination, aligning different tasks from different parties reporting to different managers to achieve one common goal, moreover frequent obstacles are the new tasks not covered by contracts signed with vendors, sensitivity while dealing with key customers, dealing with many contractors & trying to implement the plans according to the schedules, obstacles imposed by governmental bodies for site acquisitions, lack of co-operation from supporting cross functional departments ,..etc
The above are just examples of the challenges facing the role holder on weekly basis. Therefore it is mandatory for the role holder to foresee future obstacles & scenarios and propose ways & processes to overcome those problems before they happen.
The role holder has a major role in solving the above mentioned obstacles through communication, negotiation, customer care, creative thinking & problem solving skills.
Communicating, negotiating & influencing
The communication is one of the most complex tasks for the role holder due to the diverse areas he has to deal with including key customers, further more working in a cross functional organisation in the project area demands a person with high skills in communication & influencing
communicating & negotiating with the vendors for clearing obstacles while running project activities is a mandatory & very often practiced. This covers issues which pops up during implementation for things which has not been covered in the contracts or for urgent unplanned activities
There are two main domains for which communicating, negotiating & influencing are practiced:
1-Technical domain
The role holder has to be to technically competent in his area in order to negotiate the proposed hardware & plans by vendors during new contracts or even the proposed work flow for executing maintenance work or installing new elements, moreover he has to be knowledgeable to some extent in the supporting team functionalities such as Transmission & OMC-R in order to negotiate & influence those teams to support him in his operational & project plans.
2-Coordination domain
In this area the role holder has to use his communication, customer care & negotiation skills to facilitate, compromise & coordinate between different parties to meet the scheduled tasks. This includes using his authority as a section head in this domain during negotiation such as allowing other parties to book over time in his cost centre,...etc.
The role holder very often communicates with key customers, vendors, consultants, contractors & other departments in Q-Tel through written & verbal communication directly
The role holder is the facing entity with all issues related to radio networks to the vendors
The influence the role holder has on his team including all the resources is considered critical as it affect both the operational & project activities
Requirements
C. EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum Experience & Essential Knowledge
Minimum of 10 years of communication experience out of which, the last 4 years is in managerial position & preferably in wireless environment
Minimum Entry Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Communication Engineering or equivalent
D. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Enhancing the period required for installing new sites & micro cells for key customers on Air.
Increase Network availability by reducing down time (outage) for GSM & 3G services related to BSS & UTRAN elements through preparing & implementing contingency & redundancy plans
Expedite the re-allocation of mobile trailers to provide GSM & 3G coverage & capacity in areas having special events
Reduce the total number of network faults per year
Enhance network quality by carrying out proper preventive maintenance plans on time
Implementing Process improvement in all aspects of operational & project work flows.
Enhance the competency of team members by implementing staff development plans
Reducing the dependency on the operational support provided by vendors' experts, henceforth reducing operational expenses.
E. KEY RELATIONSHIPS & DECISION MAKING
Reports to
Manager GSM Engineering, Wireless
Network
The role holder should build two types of networks:
1-Formal network comprises of vendors, consultants & contractors.
2-Informal network comprises of key contacts in other departments & external customers
The second one will help in overcoming obstacles, overriding normal routine procedures, enhance work processes, reduce the time to get the work done & achieve business goals.
Team working, coaching, guiding
The role holder is responsible for promoting team work, motivation & coaching in most of the cases; however in special circumstances (i.e. when dealing with VIP) a closer follow up will be there.
Teams involved are split into two parts internally & externally.
The main involvement is looking at the work processes & trying to improve it, further more coaching is one of his main tasks.(i.e. involvement in day-to-day operations is 20%, projects 30% & development & coaching 50% of the role holder time)
Coaching is primarily implemented into two areas:
1-Technical coaching by sharing the knowledge with the team members, stimulating them for enhancing their knowledge & at the end empowering them
2-Management skills coaching by guiding the team members to the best techniques in managing their time, their activities & their subordinates.
Decision making authority
Financial authority is as per Q-Tel's N-4 level set limits, whereas in the technical side, Role holder has the right to approve outage requests affecting GSM & 3G services for complete sites , approves project implementation plans, takes final decisions for B.O.Q for all radio equipment ordered in projects & change orders, approves the release of GRN & PAC for major projects to release vendors payments, approves additional works to be carried out by vendors, approves the annual operation & maintenance plan, takes decisions related to BSS & UTRAN networks operations to enhance network quality, approves proposed solutions for hardware network configurations to fulfil unexpected traffic demands, takes technical decisions to restore the services for major unplanned outages related to GSM & 3G Radio networks and approves the final acceptance of new GSM & 3G sites.
Note: an outage means loss of all GSM & 3G services., where as new sites corresponds to increase revenue & better service
Business impact of role
The decisions taken by the role holder affects (directly or indirectly):
1-GSM & 3G services.
2-Revenue generated.
3-Cost savings
4-Customer satisfaction & Q-Tel's Image as a service provider
5-Network quality.
Note: the impact on all the above has been detailed in this profile in different paragraphs
F. SKILLS
Technical & non technical
Transmission basics
OMC-R basics
Outside plant & External planning basics
GSM Interfaces basics
Processes & work flow analysis skills
Communication skills
Team leader ship & coaching skills
Time management
Decision making
Customer care
Cross functional project related skills
Other Skills
Problem solving skills
Negotiation skills
Analytical skills
Computer skills
About the Company
Ooredoo, formerly known as Qatar Telecom (Qtel), is a leading international communications company delivering mobile, fixed, broadband internet and corporate managed services tailored to the needs of consumers and businesses across markets in the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia. As a community-focused company, Ooredoo is guided by its vision of enriching people’s lives and its belief that it can stimulate human growth by leveraging communications to help people achieve their full potential. Ooredoo has a presence in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, the Maldives and Indonesia. Ooredoo’s shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.