About The Role

Transport Surveillance L3 / SME

Key Responsibilities

Transport Surveillance and Restoration

Monitor and analyze alarms through Assure1, ZDAF, vendor EMS/NMS and Salesforce .
Perform L3 troubleshooting across DWDM, CWDM, OTN, SDH/SONET, Carrier Ethernet and optical backhaul networks .
Troubleshoot LOS, LOF, AIS, RDI, OTU/ODU defects, BER/FEC errors, optical-power degradation, communication failures and repetitive alarms.
Analyze Rx/Tx power, span loss, OSNR, Q-factor, BER/FEC, protection status and performance counters.
Identify whether the fault resides with the network element, fiber span, card/port, OSP, field cabling, power, software or upstream/downstream network.
Coordinate restoration with Transport Engineering, IP Network, Field Operations, OSP, Event Management and vendor teams.
Support traffic rerouting, protection switching, circuit grooming, cross-connect validation and emergency restoration.
Lead technical troubleshooting during major outages, bridges and war-room discussions.
Review noisy nodes, repetitive alarms and Top-Talker spans and recommend permanent corrective actions.

TAC and Advanced Technical Support

Act as the internal escalation point for complex incidents that cannot be resolved by L1/L2 Transport teams.
Collect and analyze:
Device and system logs
Alarm histories
Software and firmware versions
Card and controller status
Configuration differences
Crash, process or communication logs
Identify known software defects, hardware compatibility issues and platform limitations using OEM documentation and release notes.
Validate software upgrade paths, hardware compatibility, licenses, storage, configuration backups and rollback readiness.
Recommend software upgrades, patches, configuration changes, card replacement or RMA based on technical findings.
Support failed software upgrades, partial card upgrades, controller synchronization issues and rollback activities.
Review and validate MOPs, pre-checks, post-checks, rollback plans and maintenance-window readiness.
Open and manage technical cases with Ciena, Nokia, Infinera, ADVA/Adtran, Cisco or other OEM TAC teams .
Provide complete logs, topology details, impact analysis and troubleshooting evidence to OEMs.
Track vendor TAC cases until a permanent resolution, patch, workaround or hardware replacement is delivered.
Support testing and validation of vendor-recommended fixes before implementation in the production network.
Maintain a knowledge base of known defects, workarounds, upgrade recommendations and recurring platform issues.

Technical Skills

Technologies

DWDM, CWDM, OTN, SDH and SONET
ROADM, WSS, EDFA/Raman amplification
Transponders, muxponders and optical line systems
OTU/ODU mapping and Carrier Ethernet services
Optical power, span loss, OSNR, BER, FEC and Q-factor
Protection mechanisms such as 1+1, SNCP/MSP and OTN/ROADM protection

Platforms

Hands-on experience with at least two of the following

Ciena 6500, RLS or Waveserver
Nokia 1830 PSS
Infinera optical platforms
ADVA/Adtran FSP 3000 or FSP 150
Cisco NCS optical platforms

Tools and Systems

Assure1, ZDAF, Netcool or equivalent alarm-correlation tools
Salesforce, ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM platforms
Ciena MCP/OneControl, Nokia NSP/WaveSuite and equivalent vendor EMS/NMS
Linux/Unix and CLI troubleshooting
TL1, SNMP, NETCONF or RESTCONF
Wireshark and log-analysis tools
Basic Python, SQL, PowerShell or automation knowledge preferred

Experience and Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree or diploma in Electronics, Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, IT or a related discipline.
5–8 years of Transport/Optical NOC experience for an L3 Engineer.
8+ years for an SME/TAC-level role.
Strong experience supporting carrier-grade telecom or ISP networks.
Experience handling major incidents, software upgrades, vendor escalations, RCA and field coordination.
Ability to work independently in a 24x7 rotational environment.

SME and Leadership Expectations

Mentor and coach L1/L2 Transport engineers.
Review troubleshooting quality, restoration decisions and RCA accuracy.
Conduct technical training and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Develop SOPs, MOPs, troubleshooting guides and escalation playbooks.
Present recurring issues, platform risks and improvement plans to management and stakeholders.
Maintain detailed technical records for future troubleshooting and operational continuity.

Key Performance Indicators

Accuracy and timeliness of alarm validation and fault isolation
Restoration and escalation turnaround time
Reduction in repetitive and noisy alarms
Quality of TAC case submissions and vendor follow-up
Software-upgrade and rollback success rate
RCA and permanent-fix completion
Investigation-backlog reduction
Technical ticket and documentation quality
Improvement in L1/L2 capability through coaching
Reduction in repeat platform, software and hardware incidents

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on L3 Optical Transport Engineer with TAC-level troubleshooting capability , able to restore live services, analyze complex software and hardware failures, manage OEM escalations and drive permanent resolution of recurring network issues.