Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wireless Manager

💰 $ - $

TelecommunicationsWirelessNetwork ManagementRF Engineering

🎯 Role Definition

The Wireless Manager is a senior telecom professional accountable for the end‑to‑end delivery, optimization and operational health of wireless networks across one or multiple regions. This role blends technical RF and RAN expertise (LTE/5G/NB‑IoT and Wi‑Fi), program and vendor management, budget ownership, compliance with regulatory and safety standards, and people leadership. The Wireless Manager ensures network performance targets and customer SLAs are met through strategic planning, capacity forecasting, field operations oversight, and continual process improvement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • RF Engineer / Radio Network Engineer
  • Network Operations Center (NOC) Lead
  • Site Acquisition / Rollout Project Manager

Advancement To:

  • Senior Manager, Network Operations
  • Director of Wireless / Head of RAN
  • VP of Network Engineering

Lateral Moves:

  • Program / Portfolio Manager (Telecom)
  • Product Manager (Wireless Services)
  • Wireless Solutions Architect

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the planning, coordination and execution of multi‑site wireless network rollouts (4G LTE, 5G NR and enterprise Wi‑Fi), ensuring projects meet scope, schedule and budget targets while adhering to regulatory requirements and local permitting conditions.
  • Own RF network design and capacity planning activities, using propagation modeling and tools (Atoll, iBwave, Planet, or equivalent) to produce cell plans, link budgets and coverage maps that meet defined KPIs for coverage, capacity, and QoS.
  • Drive RAN performance and optimization programs by analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as accessibility, retainability, throughput and latency; define and implement optimization actions, and validate results through drive and walk testing (TEMS/Drive Test).
  • Manage spectrum planning, refarming and MIMO/mmWave strategies in coordination with spectrum management, regulatory affairs and vendor partners to maximize spectral efficiency and future‑proof network investments.
  • Develop and maintain vendor management processes: create RFPs, evaluate vendor solutions, negotiate contracts and SLAs, oversee vendor deliverables, and hold vendors accountable for schedule, quality and safety.
  • Own the wireless network CAPEX and OPEX budget for assigned portfolio; prepare forecasts, approve vendor invoices, track spend vs. plan, and identify cost optimization opportunities without degrading network performance.
  • Coordinate site acquisition, zoning and permitting activities; interface with landlords, towerco’s and municipalities to secure sites, negotiate lease terms and manage timelines for civil works and construction.
  • Oversee backhaul design and provisioning (fiber, microwave, satellite) to ensure sufficient capacity and redundancy for cell sites, and coordinate with transport teams for SLA alignment and fault management.
  • Lead cross‑functional rollout teams including RF engineers, civil contractors, tower crews, power specialists and commissioning teams to ensure safe, compliant and timely site build and turn‑up.
  • Define and implement commissioning, integration and acceptance processes between field, RAN and OSS/BSS teams; ensure new sites are validated against acceptance criteria and integrated into monitoring systems.
  • Own incident and major fault management for wireless assets in assigned region: lead root cause analysis, coordinate remediation, communicate status to stakeholders and implement preventive measures.
  • Establish and report on operational KPIs and dashboards (availability, packet loss, latency, customer experience metrics) for executive leadership and commercial teams, and propose remediation strategies where metrics fall short.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives across network operations by standardizing processes, defining runbooks, implementing automation (scripting, OSS workflows) and improving MTTR for field incidents.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory, environmental and safety standards (FCC/Ofcom/local authorities, RF exposure limits, tower work safety); develop and enforce site safety and power backup policies.
  • Manage lifecycle and inventory of wireless network assets (radios, antennas, remote radio heads, power systems), coordinate spares provisioning, and implement asset tracking and depreciation controls.
  • Lead technology migration programs (e.g., LTE to 5G NSA/SA, VoLTE enablement, Wi‑Fi 6E deployments), collaborating with architecture, product and vendor teams to define migration phasing and risk mitigation.
  • Coordinate integration with OSS/BSS, provisioning systems and monitoring platforms; own data quality and reconciliation processes for service activation, fault reporting and SLA tracking.
  • Develop and execute disaster recovery and business continuity plans for wireless infrastructure, ensuring prioritized restoration procedures and alternate routing/backhaul are in place.
  • Mentor, hire and develop a high‑performing regional wireless team; set goals, conduct performance reviews, and build technical capability through training and certification roadmaps.
  • Lead customer and stakeholder engagement for escalations, network improvement planning and new feature rollouts; translate business requirements into technical roadmaps and prioritize network investments accordingly.
  • Oversee small cell, DAS and in‑building wireless programs for venues and enterprises, coordinating design, RF tuning and tenant integration to meet indoor coverage objectives.
  • Manage cross‑organization change management for software upgrades, parameter changes and capacity expansions, ensuring pre‑change testing, rollback plans and communication to impacted teams and customers.
  • Monitor industry trends (5G enhancements, Open RAN, virtualization, MEC) and evaluate new technologies and vendors; develop pilots/proofs of concept and build business cases for adoption.
  • Ensure high quality of technical documentation, site records, RF databases and GIS layers; enforce data governance so network planning and OSS teams have accurate inputs.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide subject matter expertise for commercial and product teams during contract negotiations and SLAs that depend on network performance and coverage commitments.
  • Support regulatory filings and audits with accurate network performance data, site inventories and RF exposure documentation.
  • Prepare monthly and quarterly executive summaries on network health, capacity forecasts and major initiatives; present to senior leadership and stakeholder committees.
  • Facilitate cross‑functional workshops to align on rollout priorities, customer experience improvement plans and operational readiness for new product launches.
  • Manage ad‑hoc technical escalations, special projects (e.g., emergency deployments, large events) and investigative analyses to support business continuity and customer satisfaction.
  • Coordinate vendor and contractor quality assurance programs, drive corrective action plans, and conduct periodic vendor performance reviews.
  • Lead root cause analysis post major incidents and implement systemic changes to prevent recurrence; codify lessons learned into operational playbooks.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Radio frequency (RF) planning and propagation modeling (Atoll, Planet, iBwave, or equivalent).
  • Deep knowledge of RAN technologies: LTE (EPC), 5G NR (SA/NSA), VoLTE/VoWiFi and Wi‑Fi (802.11ac/ax/6E).
  • Network optimization and drive/walk test analysis tools (TEMS, Nemo, ACTIX) and experience translating findings into tuning actions.
  • OSS/BSS and monitoring platforms experience (NetAct, Galaxy, NetCracker, Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus) and KPI dashboarding.
  • Spectrum management, MIMO, beamforming, carrier aggregation and mmWave deployment experience.
  • Backhaul design and troubleshooting for fiber and microwave links, including capacity planning and resilience design.
  • Project and program management skills with experience using Agile and waterfall delivery frameworks; PMP or equivalent is a plus.
  • Vendor management, contract negotiation and SLA development experience.
  • Strong data analysis and scripting abilities (Python, SQL, Excel macros) to manipulate KPI datasets and automate reports.
  • Site acquisition, permitting, construction coordination and health & safety compliance knowledge.
  • Familiarity with Open RAN principles, virtualization (vRAN), cloud RAN deployment and edge computing trends.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic leadership and people management — ability to hire, mentor and scale technical teams.
  • Clear and persuasive communication — presents complex technical concepts to non‑technical stakeholders and executives.
  • Stakeholder management and negotiation — aligns cross‑functional teams, vendors and partners toward shared objectives.
  • Problem solving under pressure — makes data‑driven decisions during incidents and rollouts.
  • Organizational and time management skills — prioritizes multiple concurrent projects and tight deadlines.
  • Customer focus and commercial awareness — balances technical tradeoffs with business requirements and SLAs.
  • Change leadership — drives adoption of new processes and technologies with minimal disruption.
  • Attention to detail — enforces quality in design artifacts, site records and network datasets.
  • Ethical judgment and regulatory awareness — operates within RF exposure, licensing and environmental rules.
  • Continuous learning mindset — keeps team current with rapidly evolving wireless standards and tools.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Science, or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Telecommunications, Engineering Management, MBA or equivalent.
  • Professional certifications: PMP, CWNA/CWNP, Cisco certifications, vendor certifications (Ericsson/Nokia/Huawei), or specialized RF/5G certificates.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Telecommunications / Wireless Communications
  • Computer Science / Networking
  • Engineering Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–12+ years in wireless telecom roles, with progressive responsibility in RF design, network operations, or project management.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years managing teams and delivering multi‑site wireless rollouts.
  • Proven track record of optimizing LTE/5G networks, managing vendors, and owning network KPIs and budgets.
  • Experience working with regulators, tower companies, and municipal authorities on site acquisition and permitting.
Explore More Careers