Network Operations Senior Advisor (Network Operations)

Job Posting Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Position Objective:

The Senior Advisor serves as the principal strategic and technical sounding board to the VP of Network Operations. Orchestrating operational excellence across all network domains and drive the transition from a complex legacy infrastructure to a future-state, zero-touch architecture – targeting TM Forum Autonomous Network Level 4 (ANL 4) maturity and a modernized, unified NOC.

Job Description & Responsibilities:

• Act as the primary trusted advisor to the VP of Network Operations on long-term strategy, operational risk management, and technology lifecycle investments.
• Evaluate and translate emerging technological trends (e.g., 6G readiness, advanced edge computing, network slicing) into actionable, high-yield operational roadmaps.
• Advise on the governance of operational frameworks across the entirety of the operator’s footprint to ensure alignment with global standards and corporate KPIs.
• Provide strategic direction and operational efficiency oversight across eight core domains:
• Mobile Network: Next-gen RAN, vRAN, OpenRAN, and multi-generation (4G/5G/5G-Advanced) core alignment.
• Fixed Network: FTTx, GPON, and next-generation fixed access operations.
• Transport Network: IP/MPLS, Optical (DWDM), Segment Routing, and microwave backhaul optimization.
• Core & Cloud Network: Cloud-native network functions (CNFs/VNFs), telco cloud infrastructure (OpenStack, Kubernetes), and hybrid-cloud operational paradigms.
• IT Operations: Alignment of corporate IT infrastructure, workplace tech, and data center operations with network functions.
• Cybersecurity: Embedding DevSecOps into network operations, ensuring infrastructure resilience, threat mitigation, and strict regulatory compliance.
• OSS/BSS: Transforming legacy Operations and Business Support Systems into agile, microservices-driven architectures.
• AIOps Strategy Formulation: Define the overarching AI/ML roadmap for Network Operations to move toward predictive, generative, and closed-loop autonomous operations.
• AIOps Implementation: Drive the deployment of Artificial Intelligence for AI Operations (AIOps) platforms to ingest vast streams of telemetry data across Fixed, Mobile, and Cloud networks for real-time anomaly detection and predictive scaling.
• Generative AI & LLMs in Ops: Evaluate and pilot Generative AI applications (such as LLM-powered network assistants) to accelerate Tier-1/Tier-2 engineering troubleshooting, synthesize complex RCA (Root Cause Analysis) logs, and automate routine configuration scripts safely.
• Data Governance for Networks: Collaborate with Chief Data Officers/IT to establish robust data pipelines, ensuring clean, structured, and real-time network telemetry data is available to train and mature AI models.
• AI Governance & Explainability: Ensure AI/ML and closed-loop automation decisions remain auditable and explainable (XAI), preserving engineer trust and regulatory compliance as autonomy increases.
• AI Capability Upskilling: Act as a change agent to foster an AI-first mindset across the engineering workforce, advising the VP on the talent and skills gap required to operate a cognitive network.
• Lead the transformation of the NOC from siloed, domain-specific monitoring into a unified command center, consolidating EMS/NMS, service assurance, and orchestration tooling across Fixed, Mobile, Transport, Core, Cloud, and IT domains.
• Define and continuously optimize the NOC’s tiered support structure (Tier 0 automated remediation through Tier 3 specialist escalation), shifting resolution through automation, runbooks, and AI-assisted diagnostics.
• Drive AI/ML-based event correlation, event de-duplication, and noise reduction, ensuring NOC engineers focus exclusively on actionable, service-impacting events.
• Own the end-to-end Major Incident Management process, including rapid triage, cross-domain war-room coordination, executive communication, and post-incident root-cause and problem management.
• Ensure 24/7 operational resilience through effective staffing model, shift patterns, and escalation matrices that sustain continuous, around-the-clock network assurance aligned with contractual SLA commitments.
• NOC-SOC Integration: Partner with the Cybersecurity function to align NOC monitoring and incident-response workflows with Security Operations Center (SOC) processes, ensuring unified visibility into service-impacting and security-impacting events.
• Progress the NOC toward TM Forum Autonomous Network Level 4 (ANL 4) — highly autonomous, closed-loop operations — with measurable maturity targets across priority domains.
• ANL Level 4 Transition: Architect and drive the migration from manual/reactive troubleshooting to Autonomous Advanced Operations Model Level 4 (Intent-driven, highly autonomous closed-loop operations).
• Zero-Touch Self-Healing: Recommend, design, and champion AI/ML-driven initiatives to achieve predictive maintenance, automated anomaly detection, and automated root-cause analysis (RCA) to enable a self-healing infrastructure.
• OPEX Optimization: Identify structural inefficiencies across domains and execute modernization programs that significantly reduce operational costs while boosting Network Quality of Experience (QoE).
• Energy & Sustainability Optimization: Drive AI-based optimization of RAN and site power usage to cut energy cost, reduce emissions, and improve operational efficiency.
• Align all operational transformation workflows, information models, and open APIs with TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) - including eTOM, SID, and the Functional Framework to enable vendor-agnostic interoperability and support zero-touch, AI-ready operations.
• Enforce and mature the FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) model through modern, automated tooling.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, or a strictly related technical field is required.
• A Master’s Degree (M.Sc. or MBA) is highly preferred
• Minimum of 20 years of progressive experience within the Telecommunications or closely related ICT sector.
• At least 5 years in a similar executive advisory capacity, or a senior management role within a Tier-1 telecom operator.
• Documented history of leading large-scale network transformation, automation, or modernization initiatives that yielded measurable OPEX savings or reliability gains.
• Deep understanding of complex network ecosystems (Fixed, Mobile, Transport, Core, IT, Cyber).
• Demonstrated experience leading or transforming a large-scale, 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC), including tiered escalation models, major incident management, and modern NOC tooling (EMS/NMS, ITSM/ticketing, alarm correlation, AIOps platforms).
• Comprehensive knowledge of TM Forum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) — including eTOM, SID, and the Functional Frameworkand traditional FCAPS infrastructure management.
• Comprehensive knowledge of AI/ML applications in telecom operations (AIOps), network virtualization (NFV/SDN), and orchestration engines.
• Industry certifications and memberships (e.g., PMP, ITIL, TOGAF, CCIE, or equivalent) are considered a plus
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to distill highly technical, fragmented architectural issues into clear, risk-managed business cases for C-suite executives and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to balance immediate operational fire-fighting with the long-term vision of proactive and zero-touch autonomy.
• Strong adaptability and a drive for continual improvement.
• Experience in time management and task prioritization.
• Excellent verbal and written English; Arabic is an advantage.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to perform under pressure without compromising quality.