Senior Director of Engineering

Who We Are / Company Summary:

Skywire Networks/Xchange Telecom is one of the most active and fastest growing Internet and Network Service Provider in New York City with more than 2,000 lit buildings, 50 neighborhood hubs and relays, and a near-net footprint exceeding 350,000. We sell Ethernet Private Lines, Internet Services and hosted voice services to both businesses and residential clients at speeds ranging from 10mb to 10gb. Skywire Networks/Xchange Telecom addresses the problem of poor fiber density in NYC in a multitude of ways by leveraging various edge technologies including Fiber and Fixed Wireless Access.

Position Summary:

The Senior Director of Engineering is responsible for leading and scaling the engineering organization, successful planning and execution of design, testing, documentation, and delivery of innovative, high-quality products and systems.  This role plays a key leadership role in technology strategy, network architecture, resource planning and scheduling, product development and engineering design, product testing and qualification.  The director will lead network planning and capacity management and maintenance of all network components supporting the fixed wireless and fiber network infrastructure to ensure an reliable, optimized and efficient network.  The director collaborates with sales, field operations, IT, security, stakeholders and suppliers to align product and network strategies with business objectives and growth.

What You Will Do / Key Responsibilities:

• Define and own network architecture strategy for fixed wireless access (FWA) including RF access, microwave, transport/backhaul, IP core, and edge.
• Ensure high availability, scalability, and QoS across the network balancing cost-efficiency with quality, reliability, and performance.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of engineers and technical staff responsible for designing solutions, expanding and maintaining the fixed wireless access network and hubs
• Engage and collaborate with suppliers to evaluate, test, and select hardware and software products/solutions, meeting cost and market requirements to drive sales growth
• Direct the selection and deployment of radios, antennas, routers and management platforms (e.g. Juniper, Ubiquiti, etc.), cables, power, and enclosures.
• Establish and drive best practices in HW/SW development, design, power, and RF engineering, testing, creating engineering design documentation (physical design, cabling, power, grounding, etc.) and deployment.
• Ensure compliance with telecom environmental, regulatory, and safety standards and understanding of impacts on networks.
• Collaborate with Sales, Project Management, Operations, Quality, and NOC teams to align priorities and ensure timely project delivery.
• Develop and maintain internal engineering standards and documents (test cases, test plans, design documents, BOM, and procedures) surrounding network configuration, client configuration, network management, and service level design.
• Create test plans/reports and conduct lab and field testing of various technologies, assessment of systems in all phases of the end-to-end design, engineering, deployment process, research/analysis/testing, and evaluation of new and existing products.
• Establish and track KPIs around costs, uptime, latency, throughput, deployment velocity, and customer experience to ensure efficiency, quality, and accountability.
• Collect and analyze network capacity data to forecast fiber capacity exhaustion and initiate projects to proactively address capacity constraints.
• Collaborate with sales, field operations and construction teams to plan new coverage areas and service expansion based on sales opportunities
• Direct end-to-end technology lifecycle – from spectrum strategy, design, and network rollouts to optimization and end-of-life product retirement (discontinued availability).
• Manage capital and operational budgets for network infrastructure and upgrades.
• Create and manage engineering budget staffing, and resource allocation
• Lead engineering team to diagnose and resolve routing issues, congestion problems, and hardware and software failures.
• Manage cost savings program and optimize and consolidate hubs and data centers
• Oversee network monitoring, capacity planning, and fault management using tools like SolarWinds
• Evaluate and assess new technologies and tools to improve productivity and technical capability

Qualifications:

Education/Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, or related field preferred (Master’s or MBA preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in network engineering including at least 5 years in a leadership capacity at a telecom or broadband provider
• Proven track record managing fixed wireless networks and hybrid backhaul environments, including last mile, across multiple locations and cloud environments

Technical Expertise:

• · Deep understanding of wireless technologies (e.g. Fixed Wireless, IP/Ethernet, SAAS, ,5GHz, CBRS, mmWaveLTE, and microwave line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight links), routing and switching, and hybrid transport networks (fiber + wireless), VPN technologies, and voice switching.
• · Strong IP networking background (IPv4/IPv6, OSPF, BGP, MPLS, VLANs, NAT, QoS, etc.), SDWAN, and WIFI.
• Strong knowledge of engineering design, test, and documentation processes.
• Experience working with Tier2/3 ISP environment using Juniper, Cisco and/or Nokia routing hardware.  In depth knowledge on Domain Name Service policies and Address management.
• Knowledge in network security best practices; develop and maintain Acceptable Use Policy for IP Network, Firewall and Filtering policies.
• · Experience in integrating OSS/BSS platforms, including provisioning and monitoring systems
• Familiarity with SD-WAN implementations supporting IPSEC, split routing, virtual routing, policy-based routing and forwarding.
• Knowledge with Metro Ethernet products and solutions.
• Scripting and Automation including knowledge of scripting languages and python.
• Strong background with GIS based mapping systems.
• Voice Switching, Meta Platforms

Leadership & Soft Skills:

• Strong organizational, project management, and analytical skills
• Strong business acumen with ability to align technical vision to market positioning and revenue growth
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to balance field realities with executive strategy and timelines