Senior Technician - Fibre - North Rift Valley

Job Title: Fibre Optic Maintenance Technician

Job Grade

Band 2.1

Reporting Structure

Primary Reporting: Team Leader – Field Operations
Secondary Reporting: Regional Technical Manager

Department

Technology

Leadership Level

Individual / Team Contribution

Job Summary / Purpose

Successfully undertake all activities relating to routine maintenance, corrective maintenance, root cause analysis and network quality initiatives for the fibre optic network.

Organisation Structure

This position reports to the Team Leader – Field Operations, with a secondary reporting line to the Regional Technical Manager.

Job Magnitude – Team Size

• Number of direct reports: 0
• Number of indirect reports: 0
• Number of third-party staff (contractors, consultants, outsourced service providers): 0

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluates, tests, and repairs old or malfunctioning fibre network infrastructure along with scheduled preventive maintenance routines covering optical cable, closure kits, ducts and manholes.
• Generates sensor indicators and executes inspections ensuring the fibre optic systems do not contain faults that could destabilise their performance.
• Conducts regular inspections of the assigned system and repairs any defects recognised.
• Prepares and maintains system records and system diagrams.
• Performs fibre optic maintenance including point of break / link analysis, splicing, core alignment and splice quality validation using necessary tools and techniques.

Principal Outputs

• Achievement of performance KPIs.
• Ensure fibre segment availability of 98%.
• Achievement of 80% of trouble tickets within SLA.
• Ensure quality fibre splices with a slope of <0.25 dB/km within segment.

Qualifications – Academic and Professional

• BSc in Electronic, Electrical or Telecommunication Engineering or related field.
• Training in optical fibre technology.
• Higher Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
• Certification in fibre technology.

Experience

• Two years’ experience in fibre maintenance.
• Proven track record in analysing trends, undertaking root cause analysis, identifying key issues and putting in place actions to address and improve network and service availability and quality.

Competencies

Technical Competencies

• Fibre optics maintenance tools and techniques.
• Microsoft Office.
• Customer focus.
• Planning and organising.
• Troubleshooting.
• Must be able to work at height (certified), in confined spaces and in all weathers.

Functional Competencies

• Team Work: Contributes actively to a working environment in which colleagues work co-operatively with each other, accepting collective responsibility. Teams achieve high standards of performance by continually reviewing objectives and priorities.
• Innovation: Is eager to develop new ideas and concepts for identifying better solutions to current and future problems. Creates a climate in which new approaches are not only welcomed but also expected from everyone in the organisation to continuously improve overall performance and generate new business ideas.
• Managing Risks: Reviews calculated risks after considering the potential organisational and stakeholder concerns; identifies areas of potential risk and creates backup plans for any contingency; encourages others to explore new opportunities for business.
• Analytical Thinking: Comprehends and identifies patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related, and identifies key or underlying issues in complex situations. Includes using creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning.

Relationships / Contacts / Communication

Internal

• Business Units: Enterprise, Mobile, Mass Market – frequently to share information and solve network-related issues.

External

• Customers, Contractors, other network operators – frequently to share/obtain information and solve problems.

Major Challenges / Problem Solving

• Optical fibre network damages due to road constructions/vandalism.
• Maintenance materials/spares/tools.
• Preventive maintenance.
• Acquisition/utilising ones recovered within the network.

Own Decisions or Recommendations

• Recommendations on preventive maintenance schedules and priorities.
• Decisions on use of recovered network materials for repairs.
• Recommendations on procurement of maintenance spares and tools.

Operating Environment

Office and field-based environment. Must work in all weathers, at height, and in confined spaces.

Management Planning Cycle (Micro vs Macro Planning)

Daily, weekly and monthly planning based on job demand.