Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wireless Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

The Wireless Analyst is responsible for monitoring, troubleshooting and optimizing mobile radio access networks (RAN) to ensure reliable coverage, capacity and customer experience across LTE and 5G NR technologies. This role combines drive-test and in-building performance analysis, KPI monitoring, propagation and capacity planning, vendor coordination and cross-functional delivery to reduce outages, improve spectral efficiency and meet SLA targets. Strong hands-on RF tools experience (TEMS/Actix/Nemo, Atoll, iBwave), working knowledge of RAN features and vendor configurations (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei) and the ability to translate data into actionable engineering plans are essential.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

RF Technician / Field Test Engineer
Network Operations Center (NOC) Analyst
Telecom Systems Analyst / Junior RF Engineer

Advancement To:

Senior Wireless Analyst / Senior RF Engineer
RAN Optimization Lead / Optimization Team Manager
Network Architect / Performance Engineering Manager

Lateral Moves:

Drive Test Engineer / Coverage Planning Engineer
In-Building RF / iBwave Specialist
Project Manager (Telecom) / Solutions Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end-to-end RAN performance analysis by collecting, processing and interpreting KPI datasets (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, CQI, BLER, PRB utilization) to identify root causes of degraded user experience and recommend prioritized corrective actions.
Conduct drive tests and walk tests using TEMS, Nemo, Actix or equivalent tools; perform detailed post-processing, map-based visualization, and generate formal remediation reports with RF parameter adjustments and site-level action items.
Perform radio planning and optimization tasks with Atoll, Planet, Mentum or equivalent propagation tools: create coverage maps, link budget analyses, antenna tilt and azimuth optimization, and capacity forecasts to support site builds and parameter tuning.
Design and execute spectrum monitoring and interference analysis using spectrum analyzers and monitoring platforms; isolate co-channel and adjacent-channel interference, external noise sources and propose mitigation (filtering, retuning, frequency replan).
Drive capacity planning and traffic modelling for LTE and 5G NR using historical traffic trends, busy-hour analysis and forecasted subscriber growth to recommend site builds, sector splits, carrier aggregation and additional carriers.
Tune RAN parameters and features (e.g., handover thresholds, mobility parameters, scheduler settings, power offsets, MIMO and carrier aggregation configurations) in coordination with vendor teams to improve throughput and reduce dropped calls.
Lead troubleshooting for complex customer or site-specific performance incidents, coordinate cross-functional incident response with NOC, field operations and vendors, and produce post-incident root-cause analyses with sustained corrective measures.
Perform in-building and DAS/Small Cell planning, using iBwave or similar tools to create detailed in-building RF coverage designs, capacity schemes and integration plans with macro layers.
Validate and drive feature activations and network upgrades (e.g., 4x4 MIMO, Massive MIMO, SON optimizations, 5G NR NSA/SA) through acceptance testing, KPI baselining and pre/post-change performance evaluation.
Manage and execute RF drive test campaigns, including route selection, test configuration, automation of collection, and adherence to regulatory/safety and site access constraints.
Maintain and refine network KPIs, dashboards and automated alerts in Grafana, Tableau, NetAct, or custom OT/BI systems to provide near real-time performance visibility and trending.
Prepare detailed technical reports, capacity plans and executive summaries that translate technical findings into prioritized business recommendations for product, operations and senior management stakeholders.
Work with inventory, OSS/BSS and field teams to validate site configurations, physical site parameters (antenna type, azimuth, height) and wiring for discrepancies impacting RF performance.
Run Monte Carlo and stochastic simulations or link-level analyses to quantify outage probability, coverage reliability and probability of dropped calls under varying load scenarios.
Implement and maintain automated test scripts and data pipelines (basic Python/R, shell scripting) to standardize drive test post-processing, KPI extraction, and anomaly detection workflows.
Collaborate with RF vendors and subcontractors to schedule network changes, perform software updates and ensure that vendor-delivered fixes address underlying RAN performance issues.
Support spectrum refarming and band reconfiguration projects by assessing impact on legacy services, planning guard bands and coordinating test windows to minimize customer impact.
Lead root cause investigations for systemic issues such as inter-site interference, cross-polarization mismatch, feeder degradation and faulty RF hardware; coordinate remedial field actions and follow-up verification.
Participate in site acquisition and pre-build surveys to validate radio feasibility, perform link budget checks and provide input on backhaul capacity and physical constraints.
Assist customer care and field teams by translating customer complaints into reproducible RF test cases, validating whether issues are device, coverage or core-related and driving resolution.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of LTE and 5G NR protocol stacks, release notes, vendor feature guides and industry best-practices to inform continuous improvement and keep optimizations aligned with current standards.
Support network rollout and integration testing for new sites and technologies; execute acceptance test plans, KPI baselines and handover to operations with documentation and known-issue lists.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce mean time to detect/resolve performance incidents by improving monitoring thresholds, automating common fixes and establishing playbooks.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests, exploratory analysis and ad-hoc KPI deep dives to inform product decisions, commercial negotiations and field operations priorities.
Contribute to the organization's network data strategy by advising on telemetry collection, KPI standardization and data retention policies to enable scalable analytics.
Collaborate with product, commercial and operations teams to translate business requirements into technical acceptance criteria and RF engineering work packages.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies for optimization and analytics squads, providing technical inputs, estimating effort and defining acceptance tests.
Mentor junior analysts and field engineers on drive test best practices, KPI interpretation and vendor tool usage to increase team capability and consistency.
Assist procurement and vendor evaluation by providing technical assessment criteria for RF tools, test equipment and software platforms.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Radio Frequency (RF) fundamentals: propagation, link budget, antenna theory, MIMO, carrier aggregation and power control.
Deep experience with drive-test and post-processing tools: TEMS Investigation, Nemo, Actix, QXDM/QCAT, including automation and scripting for large datasets.
Radio planning and propagation tools: Atoll, Planet, Mentum, SPLAT, iBwave for in-building designs.
Strong knowledge of LTE (E-UTRAN) and 5G NR RAN architecture, protocol behavior, KPI definitions and key performance indicators (RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, PRB, BLER, throughput).
Interference analysis and spectrum monitoring using real-time spectrum analyzers and interference hunting tools.
Data analysis skills with SQL and one or more scripting languages (Python, R) for KPI queries, ETL and automation of reports.
Familiarity with network management/OSS tools: NetAct, Huawei U2020, Ericsson ENM, Nokia NMS or equivalent.
Experience with performance dashboards and visualization tools: Grafana, Tableau, Power BI; ability to create KPI dashboards and automated alerts.
In-building RF planning and DAS/small cell integration expertise, including iBwave project file creation and validation.
Understanding of cellular core interactions that impact radio performance (handover logic, paging, mobility, IMS/VoLTE impacts).
Capacity planning and traffic modelling experience, including busy-hour analysis and forecasting.
Basic scripting/automation for test case orchestration, log parsing and report generation.

Soft Skills

Strong analytical thinking and structured problem-solving with an emphasis on root-cause diagnosis.
Clear written and verbal communication: translate complex RF issues into executive summaries and action lists.
Cross-functional collaboration: comfortable coordinating between vendors, field operations, product and NOC teams.
Time management and prioritization: handle multiple concurrent incidents and projects with SLAs.
Attention to detail and data integrity focus when creating reports and manipulating KPI datasets.
Customer-focused mindset: align technical fixes with business impact and user experience outcomes.
Mentoring and knowledge-sharing orientation to upskill colleagues and standardize best practices.
Adaptability to fast-changing network environments, new technologies and vendor-specific implementations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Science or related technical field, or equivalent military/technical experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with telecommunications/RF specialization, or industry certifications (e.g., Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP), vendor-specific training).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Electrical Engineering / Telecommunications
Wireless Communications / RF Engineering
Computer Science / Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–6 years of hands-on wireless/RF experience (field drive testing, RAN optimization or planning).

Preferred:

3–7 years of progressive experience in RAN optimization, RF planning or network performance analysis with demonstrated success in LTE and 5G NR environments.
Prior exposure to major RAN vendors (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei or vendors common to the employer) and to OSS/NMS platforms.
Experience working with cross-functional teams (product, field ops, NOC) and delivering measurable KPI improvements.