Long Haul Network Development Project Manager

Responsibilities

• Work as part of a cross-functional team to identify, qualify, develop and creatively solve new long haul route opportunities.
• Critically assess and qualify route requirements (routing, fiber counts, ILA spacing, etc.) to ensure route objectives are clearly defined and meet stakeholder requirements.
• Maintain a Plan of Record solution for each project.
• Develop multiple solution scenarios, weight against decision criteria and develop recommendations for approval.
• Support recommendations through the project approval process.
• Complete route feasibility planning to appropriately define and de-risk project scope, schedule and budget.
• May include working with an outside vendor to complete a formal feasibility plan for a new route.
• Engage with local teams to research existing network infrastructure and assess options for leveraging those assets in new route builds.
• Develop, release and evaluate RFIs in order to cost projects, understand and mitigate execution risks and fine-tune the design/approach.
• Identify and negotiate third party partner build and asset acquisition opportunities to complement our construction plans.
• Develop and refine project cost estimates to develop the project budget.
• Build project milestone-level project schedule.
• Proactively identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies and contingency plans.
• Engage in project startup activities such as engineering/construction RFP development and bidding, ROW agreement acquisition, long-lead permitting, joint-build agreements and long-lead materials procurement as required in order to position the project for success.
• Perform jurisdictional outreach as needed to determine permit requirements and anticipated timeframes.
• Support business partners in RFP responses to customer opportunities.
• Maintain clear document (versioning) control for route development documentation.
• Provide transparent reporting and communications for the projects in the development process.
• Develop the vendor partner strategy for the execution of new projects.
• Develop innovative contract approaches and business terms to structure projects for success.
• Cultivate a strong pool of vendor partners to successfully execute the plan.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree, preferably in Engineering or other related technical field, or equivalent work experience.
• Business degree/acumen a plus.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years' relevant experience in wireline carrier network planning, engineering and construction.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years' experience of successful project management responsibility of large-scale network deployments, ideally related to OSP, Ethernet and/or wireless networks.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years' experience with OSP construction contract bidding, negotiation and administration.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years OSP construction management experience, preferably with specific long haul construction experience.
• Experience negotiating joint build or other build partnership agreements.
• Experience administering NTIA (or similar) program requirements such as Davis-Bacon, BABA and EA, a plus.
• Specific experience in complex permitting situations including NEPA, Section 106, Tribal, etc.
• Experience managing large, complex technical projects and associated budgets.
• Working knowledge of OSP construction standards, fiber specifications and optical network design principles.
• Working knowledge of fiber test and acceptance criteria and practices.
• Strong understanding of the current carrier network landscape in the US, a plus.
• Demonstrated exceptional problem solving skills.
• Ability to communicate technical topics clearly and effectively with both internal and external customers.
• Ability to manage and effectively prioritize multiple projects simultaneously in a demanding, fast-paced environment.
• Working knowledge (expert level) of GIS-based tools such as MapInfo, ArcView or Google Earth is required.
• Strong knowledge of MS Office (Excel, Word, etc.) and Google Suite products.
• Experience with project management software such as Sitetracker, a plus.
• Familiarity with Salesforce, a plus.
• Travel as required (10% estimated) for critical meetings (permitting agency, vendor meets, etc.).