Senior Process Manager

Transport Surveillance L3 / SME 
Key Responsibilities

Transport Surveillance and Restoration

• Monitor and analyze alarms through Assure1, ZDAF, vendor EMS/NMS and Salesforce.
• Perform L3 troubleshooting across DWDM, CWDM, OTN, SDH/SONET, Carrier Ethernet and optical backhaul networks.
• Troubleshoot LOS, LOF, AIS, RDI, OTU/ODU defects, BER/FEC errors, optical-power degradation, communication failures and repetitive alarms.
• Analyze Rx/Tx power, span loss, OSNR, Q-factor, BER/FEC, protection status and performance counters.
• Identify whether the fault resides with the network element, fiber span, card/port, OSP, field cabling, power, software or upstream/downstream network.
• Coordinate restoration with Transport Engineering, IP Network, Field Operations, OSP, Event Management and vendor teams.
• Support traffic rerouting, protection switching, circuit grooming, cross-connect validation and emergency restoration.
• Lead technical troubleshooting during major outages, bridges and war-room discussions.
• Review noisy nodes, repetitive alarms and Top-Talker spans and recommend permanent corrective actions.

TAC and Advanced Technical Support

• Act as the internal escalation point for complex incidents that cannot be resolved by L1/L2 Transport teams.
• Collect and analyze:
  • Device and system logs
  • Alarm histories
  • Software and firmware versions
  • Card and controller status
  • Configuration differences
  • Crash, process or communication logs
• Identify known software defects, hardware compatibility issues and platform limitations using OEM documentation and release notes.
• Validate software upgrade paths, hardware compatibility, licenses, storage, configuration backups and rollback readiness.
• Recommend software upgrades, patches, configuration changes, card replacement or RMA based on technical findings.
• Support failed software upgrades, partial card upgrades, controller synchronization issues and rollback activities.
• Review and validate MOPs, pre-checks, post-checks, rollback plans and maintenance-window readiness.
• Open and manage technical cases with Ciena, Nokia, Infinera, ADVA/Adtran, Cisco or other OEM TAC teams.
• Provide complete logs, topology details, impact analysis and troubleshooting evidence to OEMs.
• Track vendor TAC cases until a permanent resolution, patch, workaround or hardware replacement is delivered.
• Support testing and validation of vendor-recommended fixes before implementation in the production network.
• Maintain a knowledge base of known defects, workarounds, upgrade recommendations and recurring platform issues.

Technical Skills

Technologies

• DWDM, CWDM, OTN, SDH and SONET
• ROADM, WSS, EDFA/Raman amplification
• Transponders, muxponders and optical line systems
• OTU/ODU mapping and Carrier Ethernet services
• Optical power, span loss, OSNR, BER, FEC and Q-factor
• Protection mechanisms such as 1+1, SNCP/MSP and OTN/ROADM protection

Platforms

Hands-on experience with at least two of the following:

• Ciena 6500, RLS or Waveserver
• Nokia 1830 PSS
• Infinera optical platforms
• ADVA/Adtran FSP 3000 or FSP 150
• Cisco NCS optical platforms

Tools and Systems

• Assure1, ZDAF, Netcool or equivalent alarm-correlation tools
• Salesforce, ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM platforms
• Ciena MCP/OneControl, Nokia NSP/WaveSuite and equivalent vendor EMS/NMS
• Linux/Unix and CLI troubleshooting
• TL1, SNMP, NETCONF or RESTCONF
• Wireshark and log-analysis tools
• Basic Python, SQL, PowerShell or automation knowledge preferred

Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or diploma in Electronics, Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, IT or a related discipline.
• 5–8 years of Transport/Optical NOC experience for an L3 Engineer.
• 8+ years for an SME/TAC-level role.
• Strong experience supporting carrier-grade telecom or ISP networks.
• Experience handling major incidents, software upgrades, vendor escalations, RCA and field coordination.
• Ability to work independently in a 24x7 rotational environment.

SME and Leadership Expectations

• Mentor and coach L1/L2 Transport engineers.
• Review troubleshooting quality, restoration decisions and RCA accuracy.
• Conduct technical training and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Develop SOPs, MOPs, troubleshooting guides and escalation playbooks.
• Present recurring issues, platform risks and improvement plans to management and stakeholders.
• Maintain detailed technical records for future troubleshooting and operational continuity.

Key Performance Indicators

• Accuracy and timeliness of alarm validation and fault isolation
• Restoration and escalation turnaround time
• Reduction in repetitive and noisy alarms
• Quality of TAC case submissions and vendor follow-up
• Software-upgrade and rollback success rate
• RCA and permanent-fix completion
• Investigation-backlog reduction
• Technical ticket and documentation quality
• Improvement in L1/L2 capability through coaching
• Reduction in repeat platform, software and hardware incidents

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on L3 Optical Transport Engineer with TAC-level troubleshooting capability, able to restore live services, analyze complex software and hardware failures, manage OEM escalations and drive permanent resolution of recurring network issues.