Network Operations Engineer

Ritter Communications has been at the forefront of the local communications industry for more than a century. We began providing telephone service in Northeast Arkansas in 1906. Today, Ritter Communications serves over 100 communities across Arkansas, northeast Texas, southeast Missouri, and west Tennessee. The company has grown steadily over the years, expanding rapidly and is now the largest privately-held regional broadband fiber, telecom, video and cloud services provider in the Mid-South. Ritter invests heavily in the communities it serves by deploying proven, best-in-class infrastructure and technology, while coupling it with a world-class customer focused experience.

General Summary:

The Network Operations Engineer is considered a SME within the Ritter Network Operations Center (NOC) team and is responsible for providing overall operational support to the company’s data, voice, and transport network, which consists of various network elements from multiple vendors. The Network Operations Engineer should have significant operations knowledge, experience, and exposure in data and transport technologies, with an emphasis in Voice, and will be considered the highest escalation point within the NOC. The Engineer will participate in operational and strategic discussions with other engineering groups and upper management as they relate to Ritter’s production network. Additionally, this role may oversee multiple simultaneous high-impact network related initiatives and projects. Success in this role is highly reliant on the ability to adapt to rapidly changing environments and networks, learn new technologies and processes quickly, and the ability to work both independently and in a team environment.

Essential Job Functions

General:

• Manages and maintains network systems including server applications, routers, switches, firewalls, storage devices, and other network equipment;
• Provides deep network analysis concerning usage trends, recurring events, as well as outage and incident patterns;
• Performs operational acceptance of new network elements;
• Participates in a team environment, providing valuable input as well as providing technical leadership to the team;
• Interacts with Network Architecture, Systems Engineering and Network Operations;
• Functions in an on-call capacity to support Network Analysts as needed;
• Participates in operational and strategic planning as they relate to Ritter’s production network;
• Travels to customer sites, project areas, business related events, and other Ritter Communications locations as required;
• Performs and analyze packet captures;
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Voice:

• Provides network analysis concerning usage trends, voice traffic metrics, redundancy, and capacity planning;
• Provides escalation for network-level troubleshooting activities as related to commercial voice networks, including but not limited to: event logs, SS7 traffic and other diagnostic records;
• Provides training for Ritter personnel on voice network infrastructure and services;
• Participates in a team environment, providing valuable input as a telephony subject matter expert within the team;

Data/IP:

• Supports and troubleshoots IP technologies and architectures in relation to the infrastructure and service needs of Ritter Communications in a Service Provider Network;
• Develops policies and standards for protocols and technologies such as BGP, IS-IS, OSPFv3, MPLS, Segment Routing, Multicast protocols; SIP, and MGCP;
• Must have a deep understanding of QOS within the OSI layers;

Access:

• Access technologies and architecture designs include G-PON,10G-PON, xDSL, G.Fast, Active-E, and FTTH;

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of modern service provider data networks, technologies and protocols;
• Knowledge of access technologies;
• Knowledge of network system design, development methods, and techniques;
• Knowledge of network management practices and procedures;
• Knowledge and the ability to design Layers 1, 2, and 3 of the OSI model;
• Knowledge of telecommunications products and services;
• Knowledge and experience configuring the Solarwinds monitoring platform;
• Experience with alert standardization and management of network element system alerts;
• Solid understanding of the OSI layer and LAN/WAN protocols and technologies such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, VLANs, Routing, Switching, NAT, ACL, etc.;
• Operational knowledge and awareness of data, voice, and transport network product and technologies including Cisco, Ciena, Nokia, Calix and Metaswitch;
• High level proficiency in troubleshooting common voice protocols such as SIP and MGCP and Metaswitch voice network elements;
• High level proficiency of common networking tools and troubleshooting methodologies such as Telnet, SSH, ping, traceroute, and Wireshark;
• Ability to multi-task and effectively manage multiple high-impact projects;
• Ability to be detail oriented while keeping the bigger picture in mind;
• Ability to work well individually and in a team environment;
• Skill in scripting and front/back-end development;
• Skill in commonly used software such as Visio, Excel, Word, and Power Point;
• Skill in oral and written communication;
• Skill in reading and interpreting technical documents and information;
• Ability to travel for business requirements; must possess a valid Driver’s License with a satisfactory driving record.

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a similar technical field and 5+ years of relevant work experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.

Cisco CCNA, CCNP, Nokia NRS I/II, Metaswitch or related VOIP certifications preferred.

Ritter Communications is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We strive to maintain a drug-free workplace.

We offer competitive compensation and an outstanding benefits package including health, dental, vision, cancer, accident and life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match, flexible spending accounts, free gym membership, company discounts, tuition reimbursement, paid training, paid leave, and much more!