Job Description
Poa! internet is the fastest growing and highly innovative ISP in Kenya. The company was founded in 2014 with a vision to provide internet in every home in Africa. At poa! We believe by empowering people, we can actively drive digital inclusion in these markets. We deploy a cost-effective internet service in Kenya, with the aim of providing affordable access to content and Internet to low-income members of society.
We are growing very fast to cover the rest of Kenya and eventually Africa. It is envisaged that the success of the business will grow to over 150 networks across East Africa. It is from this background that we seek prospective candidates to fill the role of IP Network Planning and Optimization Engineer
At Poa, we pride ourselves on being a values-driven company and we love working with values-driven employees. Poa's vision is “Internet in every home in Africa”. To achieve this vision, we live by our values, captured in the acronym, We CONNECT. At Poa, we: Create a better world for the people we serve, Open our eyes to problems and opportunities, Never stop learning never stop moving forward, Name it, own it, solve it, Engage with the bigger picture even in the details, Care about each other and Tujienjoy kazini.
Mission Statement for the Role:
Plan, design and optimize a cost effective and reliable IP network ensuring the best QoS possible for our customers in line with the business strategy..
Overall Responsibility:
The role has responsibility to ensure IP network plans and dimensions according to commercial/business requirements and the rollout plan & license obligations. You shall provide input for the design of new technologies and services in accordance to poa! business strategy. End-to-end capacity planning will be key while also doing efficient plans for new network areas and expand coverage to uncovered areas within where we serve.
Financial:
Minimize cost of network implementation by ensuring that the design produces the highest efficiencies in every implementation.
People:
Key Internal Relationships are Customer Experience, Customer Implementation, NOC, SMC, Network Infrastructure, Platforms and Architecture.
Key SMART Results for A-Player
• Lead a team of growing IP engineers by providing a point of escalation on any needed technical support and taking ownership of tasks as needed- End 2023
• Design, Build and Support Core Network with capacity to support 100K customers - Q3 2023
• Carry out post-installation reviews of all new DPs performance through latency and other relevant tests and prepare IP performance test reports -Q2 2023
• Maintain and update any documentation to show existing and new IP network designs and implementation of the overall network from the core to customer end -Q2 2023
• Define, categorize and shape customer IP traffic to ensure higher priority traffic is optimal at all times and maintain this onwards- Q3 2023
• Configuration management and optimization of new core devices to ensure that they are all as per design and best practice configuration requirements. Keep overall IP-related network complaints below 5% and average latencies to CPEs are below 30ms - Weekly
• Level 2 technical support service to the Network support team on complex Customer complaint troubleshootings which require IP Network planning or optimization solutions within the agreed ticket SLA. Weekly reports on network performance and IP network incident RCAs- Weekly
• Recommend and test new technology and IP network improvements that helps ensure 99.9% service availability- Q2 2023
• Generating core link performance reports and coming up with optimization plan to ensure they are within optimal operating values that ensure each customer gets a minimum 1.7MBps download- Bi-Weekly
• Perform data driven capacity planning for existing and future networks in coordination with commercial and customer facing teams and ensure minimum 20% overhead capacity availability for the entire core from Data Centre to Network Edge as per defined thresholds- Bi-Weekly
Level of Management Experience Required (Mandatory & Nice to Have)
Mandatory - proven experience as a team lead providing level 2 technical support
Department stage of development where this role sits
Prepare for Scale / Systemization / Team Building / Management and Motivation
Key Competencies Criticality (H, M, L)
• Knowledge of IP design fundamentals in an ISP environment-H
• Solid understanding of IP Network Planning, Optimization and Network Performance principles-H
• Competency in IP Traffic analysis (latencies, jitter, IP routing, IP assignment etc.) and troubleshooting, convert it into actionable insights-H
• Competency in IP network design systems and tools e.g. GNS3, Packet Tracer, EVE-NG, Visio, Lucid-H
• Must have experience to handle wireless broadband networks with knowledge and experience in working with Network Monitoring and troubleshooting applications such as UBNT UNMS(now UISP), PRTG, Wireshark and/or other custom/open source tools etc-M
• Must show critical analytical thinking with the ability to capture faults and chances of improvement in a quick manner-H
• Must possess explicit team engagement capabilities with a great desire to always continue learning-H
• Must possess key third party supervisory skills with a results focused culture-M
• Must possess advanced knowledge of mikrotik routing and switching, firewall, services and troubleshooting preferred. Advanced knowledge in other network vendor equipment will be considered-H
• Must be an optimistic individual with a to do attitude and an initiative taker-H
Mandatory Criteria if Any with no exceptions to hire.
• Bsc. Degree in Telecommunications or related field.
• Knowledge of WISP IP network planning & optimization or other relevant training.
• At least 3 years’ experience in IP Network planning & optimization within an ISP/enterprise environment.
• Excellent understanding of WISP KPI/KQI definitions and calculation methods.
• Strong communication skills Strong analytical skills and high attention to detail