Change Management Engineer

The Change Management Engineer is responsible for planning, controlling, and governing all network changes to ensure minimal risk, zero service disruption, and full SLA compliance. The role acts as a central authority for validating, scheduling, and coordinating changes across RAN, Core, Transmission, and IP domains, working closely with Front Office (FO), Back Office (BO), and Field Operations teams.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Change Management (E2E Ownership)

• Manage the complete lifecycle of changes:
  • Request → Assessment → Approval → Scheduling → Implementation → Validation → Closure
• Ensure all changes are executed as per approved Method of Procedure (MOP)
• Classify changes as:
  • Standard
  • Normal
  • Emergency

2. Change Planning & Scheduling

• Maintain and control the Change Calendar (Forward Schedule of Changes – FSC)
• Avoid conflicts and overlaps impacting network stability
• Align changes with:
  • Maintenance windows
  • Customer constraints
• Prioritize high-impact and critical changes

3. Risk & Impact Assessment

• Perform detailed risk analysis and service impact assessments
• Validate:
  • Rollback plans
  • Pre-checks and post-checks
• Ensure mitigation plans are in place before execution

4. FO–BO–Field Coordination

• Coordinate across:
  • Front Office (FO / NOC) – Monitoring & readiness
  • Back Office (BO / L2-L3) – Implementation & technical validation
  • Field Operations – On-site activities
• Ensure all stakeholders are aligned before and during changes

5. Change Governance & Approvals

• Facilitate Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings
• Ensure all required approvals are obtained:
  • Technical
  • Operational
  • Customer
• Enforce compliance with organizational governance standards

6. Execution Oversight

• Monitor changes in real-time during implementation windows
• Ensure:
  • MOP adherence
  • Proper communication during execution
• Manage rollback procedures if required

7. Post-Change Validation & Reporting

• Ensure proper post-implementation checks (PIC)
• Validate service stability after change completion
• Prepare:
  • Change reports
  • Success/failure analysis
  • Lessons learned documentation

8. Emergency Change Handling

• Manage urgent and unplanned changes during critical incidents
• Ensure fast-track approvals while maintaining governance
• Coordinate closely with FO and BO teams during outages

9. Process Compliance

• Ensure adherence to:
  • ITIL Change Management processes
  • Audit and compliance requirements
• Maintain documentation including:
  • Change records
  • Approval logs
  • Audit trails

10. Continuous Improvement

• Analyze failed or rolled-back changes
• Identify process gaps and improvement opportunities
• Reduce:
  • Change failure rate
  • Network risks associated with changes

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Electronics, Engineering, or related field
• 5–10+ years of telecom experience (NOC/Operations/BO preferred)
• 2–3 years of experience in Change Management roles within a managed services or telecom operations environment

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of:
  • RAN (2G/3G/4G/5G)
  • Core Network (CS/PS/IMS)
  • Transmission & IP networks
• Familiarity with network management and OSS platforms
• Experience with ticketing and change management tools such as:
  • ServiceNow
  • Remedy

Process Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of:
  • ITIL Change Management
  • Incident & Problem Management integration
• Understanding of:
  • MOP preparation and validation
  • Risk and impact assessment frameworks

Soft Skills

• Strong coordination and stakeholder management abilities
• Attention to detail and strong risk awareness
• Decision-making under pressure
• Excellent communication and documentation skills

Preferred Certifications

• ITIL Foundation (preferred)
• Telecom/network certifications
• PMP certification (optional but advantageous)

Working Environment

• Typically business hours with on-call support requirements
• High involvement during maintenance windows, including nights and weekends
• Critical role during major network upgrades and transformation activities

Key KPIs

• Change Success Rate (%)
• Change Failure Rate (%)
• Emergency Changes (%)
• SLA Compliance for Changes
• Change Implementation Timeliness
• Post-Change Incident Rate