Principal Engineer - System Integration

This is a remote position.

Position Title: Principal Engineer – System Integration

Base Salary: $155,000 to $230,000 annually DOE

Bonus: Target annual bonus

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, flexible spending account, paid sick leave and paid time off, parental leave, quarterly performance bonus, training, career growth and education reimbursement programs.

Ziply Fiber is a local internet service provider dedicated to elevating the connected lives of the communities we serve. We offer the fastest home internet in the nation, a refreshingly great customer experience, and affordable plans that put customers in charge. 

As our state-of-the-art fiber network expands, so does our need for team members who can help us grow and realize our goals.  

Our Company Values: 

• Genuinely Caring: We treat customers and colleagues like neighbors, with empathy and full attention. 
  

• Empowering You: We help customers choose what is best for them, and we support employees in implementing new ideas and solutions. 
  

• Innovation and Improvement: We constantly seek ways to improve how we serve customers and each other.  
  

• Earning Your Trust: We build trust through clear, honest, human communication. 
  

Job Summary

We are seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to serve as a senior technical authority at the intersection of network operations, BSS/OSS systems, and product delivery. This is a Tier 4-level individual contributor and cross-functional leader who defines end-to-end workflows, drives system integrations, and ensures operational readiness for every major product and platform launch.

The ideal candidate brings deep fiber and wireless domain expertise, a track record of measurable

operational and business impact, and the ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, field operations, customer support, product, and technology stakeholders

This is a senior independent contributor role that leads through technical expertise, influence, documentation, operational readiness governance, and cross-functional alignment rather than direct people-management responsibility.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

The Essential Duties and Responsibilities listed below are a range of duties performed by the employee and not intended to reflect all duties performed.

Operational Readiness & Product Launch

·         Own and lead Operational Readiness Testing (ORT) for all consumer, enterprise, and wholesale product launches — defining test stages, tracking defects, and driving closure before general availability.

·         Define system solutions and IT integration requirements for end-to-end workflows across ordering, inventory, CPE management, service delivery, and customer communications platforms.

·         Partner with IT and Service Delivery to achieve and exceed order flow-through targets on new platform stand-ups and system migrations.

·         Develop self-install integrations and workflows for new product types including speed upgrades and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).

Technology & Platform Development

·         Lead requirements definition and delivery for major platform migrations, orchestration stand-ups, and subscriber transitions at scale (100K+ subscribers).

·         Design and integrate diagnostic and self-help tools for field technicians and call center agents, reducing unnecessary escalations and TSC contacts.

·         Collaborate with IT to drive automation improvements across ONT activation, provisioning workflows, and customer-facing IVR/chatbot channels.

·         Partner with Nokia, Calix, Ribbon, and other strategic vendors to identify platform issues, develop solutions, and influence product roadmaps.

Strategic & Financial Leadership

·         Develop business cases and present operational findings to senior leadership and vendor executive leadership, securing platform improvements with measurable multi-million dollar impact.

·         Serve as a Tier 4 SME and escalation resource across multiple operational functions — translating field and agent insights into system enhancements and automation.

·         Contribute to budget management, vendor relations, and cost-reduction initiatives aligned with company financial targets.

Other Duties

·         Performs other duties as required to support the business and evolving organization.

Required Qualifications:

·         High school diploma or GED.

·         Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Engineering, Business, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.

·         10+ years of experience in telecommunications operations, systems engineering, product/technology delivery, BSS/OSS platforms, network systems, or related technical roles within a broadband operator, fiber ISP, telecommunications provider, major carrier, or similar environment. Demonstrated senior independent contributor experience mentoring technical contributors, influencing cross-functional teams, and driving complex technical decisions without direct people-management responsibility.

·         Deep hands-on expertise with fiber and wireless access technologies: GPON, XGS-PON, BPON, FWA.

·         Proven experience with BSS/OSS platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Calix (SMx, Cloud), or equivalent.

·         Track record of leading Operational Readiness Testing (ORT) or Production Validation Testing across multiple product lines simultaneously.

·         Demonstrated ability to define end-to-end system integration requirements and drive delivery with IT engineering teams.

·         Experience designing, overseeing, or improving automation initiatives such as RPA, workflow automation, provisioning automation, IVR/chatbot, diagnostic tooling, AI-assisted support, or other capabilities that reduce manual touch and operating costs. Strong executive and senior-leadership communication skills with the ability to translate technical system decisions into business impact, operational readiness, customer experience, and measurable outcomes for VP-level, senior leadership, field/support, and vendor audiences. .

·         Proven cross-functional collaboration skills across network engineering, IT, field operations, and call center organizations.

Preferred Qualifications:

·         Experience with large-scale subscriber migrations (100K+) between BSS/OSS platforms.

·         Familiarity with in-home networking hardware (ONTs, routers, extenders, SmartNIDs) and CPE management platforms.

·         Background in mobility or field technician platforms (FieldServe/TechServe or equivalent).

·         Experience leading or mentoring engineering and operations teams of 10–20+ people.

·         Patent, invention, or intellectual-property experience in telecom hardware, telecom software, automation, workflow, or systems integration.

·         Exposure to Enterprise & Wholesale (E&W) product lines including Business Fiber and Voice products.

What Success Looks Like

·         In your first 90 days you will have:

·         Mapped all active product lines to their current system integration and ORT status.

·         Identified the top 3–5 operational gaps driving TSC escalations or order fallout.

·         Established working relationships with key IT, field ops, and vendor counterparts.

·         Presented an initial roadmap of system enhancement and automation opportunities to senior leadership.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

·         Ability to work independently and apply sound judgment and reasoning skills to a variety of situations.

·         Ability to multi-task and collaborate effectively with other personnel to meet deadlines.

·         Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, and organizational skills.

·         Ability to work within critical deadlines.

·         Ability to adjust to rapidly changing priorities and schedules.

·         Ability to provide excellent customer service.

·         Senior technical leadership skills with the ability to influence systems engineering direction, mentor technical teams, establish standards, and build alignment without direct people-management authority.

·         Strong analytical and systems-thinking skills with the ability to connect system design, workflow automation, operational readiness, customer experience, cost reduction, and business outcomes.

·         Ability to communicate complex systems, integration, BSS/OSS, launch readiness, and automation decisions clearly and credibly to technical teams, field/support teams, vendors, and senior leadership.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US for any employer. Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for bending, stooping, sitting, walking, or standing for prolonged periods of time; most of time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

Work is performed in an office setting with exposure to computer screens and requires extensive use of a computer, keyboard, mouse, and multi-line telephone system. The work is primarily a modern office setting.

At all times, Ziply Fiber must be your primary employer. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, employees may not hold outside employment nor be self-employed without obtaining approval in writing from Ziply Fiber. In holding outside employment or self-employment, employees should ensure that participation does not conflict with responsibilities to Ziply Fiber or its business interests.

Diverse Workforce / EEO:

Ziply Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. Ziply Fiber will consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, and the presence of a non-job-related handicap or disability or any other legally protected status.

Ziply Fiber requires a pre-employment background check as conditions of employment. Ziply Fiber may require a pre-employment drug screening.

Ziply Fiber is a drug free workplace.