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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wireless Network Analyst

💰 $ - $

TelecommunicationsNetwork EngineeringWirelessRF

🎯 Role Definition

A Wireless Network Analyst is responsible for planning, analyzing, optimizing and supporting cellular and wireless networks (LTE, 5G, and legacy technologies). The role focuses on RF planning, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, capacity planning, and cross-functional coordination with RAN, Core, field operations, and vendors to ensure network availability, high throughput, low latency and exceptional user experience. The Wireless Network Analyst drives continuous improvement through drive testing, KPI analysis, parameter tuning, fault root-cause analysis, automation and clear operational documentation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • RF Engineer / RF Planning Technician
  • Network Operations Center (NOC) Engineer
  • Field/Test Engineer (drive test / site survey)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Wireless Network Analyst / Senior RF Engineer
  • RAN Optimization Lead / RAN Performance Manager
  • Network Performance Manager or Radio Access Network Architect

Lateral Moves:

  • Core Network Engineer (IMS, EPC, 5GC)
  • OSS/BSS Analyst or Service Assurance Engineer
  • Site Acquisition / Project Manager for RAN rollouts

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  1. Conduct detailed RF planning and capacity forecasting for LTE and 5G networks using industry tools (e.g., Atoll, Planet, Mentum, Forsk, iBwave), producing cell plans, sectorization, and frequency/spectrum assignments.
  2. Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) such as drop call rate, retainability, throughput, latency, handover success, and resource utilization to detect trends and trigger corrective actions.
  3. Perform drive tests and walk tests using TEMS, Nemo, or similar tools, analyze RF measurement data, and produce detailed reports with root cause analysis and remediation recommendations.
  4. Optimize RAN parameters (e.g., PCI planning, EARFCN, power, antenna tilt, azimuth, handover margins, RACH, MIMO configuration) to improve coverage, capacity and QoS.
  5. Troubleshoot complex live network incidents, lead RCA (root cause analysis) and coordinate corrective activities across RAN, Core, Transport, and vendor teams to restore service within SLA.
  6. Diagnose and mitigate interference, neighbor list issues, HO failures, congestion hotspots and spectral inefficiencies using spectrum analysis and interference hunting techniques.
  7. Plan and validate new site integrations, upgrades, swaps and decommissioning—supporting site acceptance testing (SAT), configuration verification and post-deployment performance validation.
  8. Support multi-vendor RAN environments (e.g., Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, ZTE) including reading and modifying vendor-specific configuration parameters and coordinating vendor change requests.
  9. Prepare and maintain technical documentation: cell plan spreadsheets, optimization playbooks, configuration baselines, network diagrams and change logs for compliance and auditability.
  10. Execute capacity planning and scaling scenarios—model future traffic growth, evaluate load balancing strategies, and recommend hardware or software upgrades for cost-effective expansion.
  11. Provide hands-on OSS/EMS/NMS operations: alarm handling, fault correlation, ticket management, and escalation to field or vendor teams with clear remediation steps.
  12. Develop and run automated data pipelines and queries (SQL, Python, shell scripts) to extract, transform and visualize network data for ongoing performance monitoring and reporting.
  13. Create regular and ad-hoc performance dashboards and executive reports using BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) to communicate trends, SLA attainment and improvement opportunities.
  14. Collaborate with transport and microwave teams to ensure backhaul capacity, latency and jitter meet RAN requirements—identify transport bottlenecks and coordinate upgrades.
  15. Participate in site surveys, RF propagation studies and antenna pattern analysis to validate coverage maps and recommend changes to antenna heights, types or mounts.
  16. Support spectrum management and planning: frequency re-farming, carrier aggregation planning, and ensuring compliance with national spectrum regulations and operator policies.
  17. Define and implement optimization projects (e.g., HO tuning, capacity additions, interference mitigation), lead pilot tests, and measure KPI impact with formal before/after analysis.
  18. Support new technology rollouts (5G NSA/SA, Massive MIMO, vRAN, network slicing) by validating performance, specifying RF parameters, and ensuring smooth interoperability with legacy systems.
  19. Liaise with commercial, product and customer success teams to investigate customer complaints, evaluate QoE/QoS issues, and recommend prioritization for fixes and enhancements.
  20. Manage configuration changes through formal change management processes (RFCs), risk assessment, rollback plans and post-change verification to minimize service impact.
  21. Conduct vendor performance evaluations and support procurement by producing technical requirements, RFP inputs and comparative assessment of vendor solution performance.
  22. Mentor junior analysts, provide technical training sessions, and document best practices to scale team capabilities and maintain knowledge continuity.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • RF planning and propagation modelling (Atoll, Mentum/Planet, iBwave).
  • Drive test tools and analysis: TEMS, Nemo Outdoor, Accuver, or similar.
  • RAN optimization for LTE and 5G (parameter tuning, MIMO, Carrier Aggregation).
  • Strong KPI analysis and performance reporting (CSSR, DCR, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, throughput).
  • Experience with OSS/EMS/NMS platforms, alarm management and ticketing workflows (e.g., NetAct, Ericsson OSS, Huawei U2000).
  • SQL and data manipulation for extracting network counters and CDR/MDI datasets.
  • Scripting/automation: Python, Bash, or similar for data processing and automation of routine tasks.
  • Familiarity with Core and Transport domains: EPC/5GC basics, X2/S1/Sg interfaces, microwave/backhaul troubleshooting.
  • Spectrum planning and interference mitigation techniques; knowledge of regulatory constraints.
  • GIS mapping and site coordinate management; experience integrating GIS outputs into RF models.
  • Basic cloud and virtualization awareness (vRAN, NFV concepts) and how they affect RAN performance.
  • Experience with BI/visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Grafana) to present network insights.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset with attention to detail.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication for cross-functional coordination and customer-facing reporting.
  • Ability to prioritize in high-pressure outage situations and manage multiple concurrent incidents.
  • Collaborative team player who can work with vendors, field teams and product stakeholders.
  • Continuous improvement focus and willingness to document processes and train peers.
  • Project management skills for leading optimization initiatives and rollout validations.
  • Customer-centric approach with an ability to translate technical issues into business impact.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Telecommunications, Wireless Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
  • Professional certifications (CCNA Wireless, CWNP, vendor-specific RAN certifications, or relevant data/BI certifications).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Telecommunications Engineering
  • Electrical / Electronics Engineering
  • Computer Science or Information Systems
  • Wireless and RF Engineering
  • Network Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–6 years of experience in wireless network planning, optimization, or operations for LTE and/or 5G networks.

Preferred:

  • 4–8+ years of hands-on experience with RAN optimization, multi-vendor environments, and drive testing; demonstrable track record of KPI improvements in live commercial networks.
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