Principal, Outside Plant (OSP) Manager

About the role

The Outside Plant (OSP) Manager is responsible for planning and delivering all OSP scope required to bring OCI gigascale data center sites to readiness, fiber route strategy and diversity, duct bank/civil infrastructure, entrance facilities, and carrier/utility coordination. This role drives schedule certainty across complex external dependencies (permitting, inspections, rights-of-way, and carrier turn-ups) and ensures field execution meets OCI standards for safety, quality, resiliency, and long-term operability.

Responsibilities

• Own OSP scope delivery for assigned gigascale sites/leasing programs: conduit/innerduct, duct banks, handholes/manholes/vaults, pathways to entrance facilities, and fiber placement/splicing coordination.
• Build and maintain integrated OSP schedules aligned to data center construction milestones and service readiness dates.
• Identify critical-path risks and execute mitigation plans (alternate routes, phased releases, acceleration strategies).
• Define diverse fiber route approaches to meet availability/resiliency objectives (path diversity, separation, redundancy).
• Coordinate design validation and field walks to confirm constructability and risk reduction.
• Lead permitting plans and execution for ROW access, civil work, traffic control, inspections, and closeouts.
• Manage relationships with municipalities, utilities, and inspection authorities to maintain predictable cycle times.
• Coordinate with carriers and internal network teams on entrance facility readiness, demarc requirements, meet-me connectivity, and turn-up prerequisites.
• Drive readiness reviews to ensure all deliverables are complete for carrier installation and service activation.
• Manage OSP contractors and suppliers: scope definition, bid packages, execution oversight, progress tracking, change control, and acceptance.
• Achieve adherence to safety requirements, quality standards, and documentation expectations.
• Establish quality checkpoints (trench/conduit inspections, compaction, fiber testing, splice documentation) and enforce remediation where needed.
• Deliver complete handover packages (as-builts, permits closeout, test results/OTDR, route maps, asset records) suitable for operations and ongoing maintenance.
• Provide clear reporting on schedule, cost, risks/issues, and key decisions needed from stakeholders.
• Maintain KPI discipline across contractors and sites (productivity, quality, rework, safety, cycle time).

Qualifications (Required)

• 7+ years of experience in OSP, telecom civil/fiber deployment, utility/ROW construction, or related infrastructure programs.
• Demonstrated success delivering fiber/civil projects with heavy permitting and external dependency management.
• Strong working knowledge of OSP construction methods and standards: conduit systems, duct banks, vaults/handholes, fiber placement/splicing, testing and acceptance.
• Proven contractor management capability (field oversight, forecasting, change management, quality acceptance).
• Excellent stakeholder communication—able to align cross-functional teams and drive decisions quickly.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting data centers, hyperscale infrastructure, or other mission-critical environments.
• Familiarity with route diversity/resiliency concepts and carrier service delivery processes (LOA/CFA, demarc/entrance facility coordination).
• Experience with documentation systems (GIS/CAD as-builts), project controls tools, and formal stage-gate readiness processes.
• Relevant certifications (BICSI OSP Designer, OSHA 30, telecom/fiber credentials)—not required.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Telecommunications, or related field—or equivalent practical experience.