The Role

Network Planning at Lumen is a forward-looking, proactive business management domain that maintains control and manages intrinsic risk associated with multi-billion-dollar annual Network Expense (NetEx) and Capital Expense (CapEx) budgets. The principal goal of the Network Planning team is to maintain an efficient network that ensures a positive customer experience and enables revenue while maximizing profit margin and cash flow. Network Planning utilizes an array of techniques to deliver on this goal.

This Director, Planning role leads Network Planning’s Voice Planning team with an expansive scope including all voice platforms and associated interconnection trunking and responsibility for both legacy and next generation voice switches. This people leader is responsible for the Voice capital and network expense budget, ILEC/RBOC switch engineering, traffic engineering, switch optimization, CLEC local interconnection services (LIS), Feature Group D trunking, 911, Direct Connect and partner interconnection, and SS7 voice platforms. The voice infrastructure and platforms planned and managed within this domain are the foundation to deliver Lumen’s Voice Product portfolio and currently supports $2B annual EBITDA margin. This role requires frequent interactions across Lumen including partnerships with Architecture & Engineering, Product, Operations, Finance, and Sales.

The position requires exceptional interpersonal skills, verbal and written communication skills, a high comfort level with dynamically shifting priorities, experience leading telecommunication professionals, and a curiosity and willingness to not only solve business problems but identify new business opportunities to drive profit margin and cash flow. Prior experience with Voice platforms, infrastructure, and products/services is preferred, but not required. This position requires regular communication, interaction, and support of multiple layers of Lumen leadership up to and including Senior Vice President.

The Main Responsibilities

Build and maintain a high-performance team:
Hire and retain talent in the correct roles
Set team and direct report performance management goals, monitor progress, and provide monthly feedback
Delegate and hold direct reports accountable
Empower direct reports to make decisions, act, and take appropriate risk
Implement strategic directives through the delivery of sustainable, manageable, and consistent reporting for financial operational actions
Encourage a culture of innovation and calculated risk taking with a fail-fast mentality
Drive programs that grow talent and energize employees
Maintain controls, metrics, and other key performing indicators to manage development, relationship, service, and maintenance responsibilities
Publish regular business updates providing transparency on operational activities, resource efficiency, and backlog funnel health
Develop, deploy, and oversee strategic relationships within Network Planning and throughout Lumen
Manage internal and external expectations of financial and operational activities
Drive Network Planning key business results to fulfill objectives and deliver on targets
Foster an environment that promotes and develops strategic solutions to enable business value
Lead team scope for identification, maturation, and execution of transformation activities
Collaborate with peers, partners, and stakeholders to refine and enhance existing processes and/or develop new processes to deliver on business objectives
Collect, organize, and analyze data to assess operational process, work force efficiency, and financial performance
Collaborate with Network Planning leadership to develop new opportunities to optimize operational best practices and provide incremental transformative capabilities
Prepare and present briefing materials for consumption by senior leadership up to the Senior Vice President layer demonstrating operational control, development activities, and backlog funnel health
Manage operating expense, capital expense, and network expense budgets versus actuals; drive operational efficiencies and cost improvements using modernized technologies, including but not limited to RPA, predictive analytics, and data science
Other duties as assigned

What We Look For in a Candidate

Required

Master’s Degree preferred with 5 years of people leadership experience OR bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Accounting/Finance, or Management and 8 years of people leadership experience in industry (including recruitment, on-/off-boarding, goal setting, and performance management)
Prior integration experience with proven ability to navigate an ambiguous environment with competing priorities
Demonstrated capacity to focus and deliver on objectives in a dynamic, multi-faceted, fast-paced environment
Proven experience presenting options and features to senior leadership with influence in outcome
Prior experience developing and evaluating complex network performance criteria and measurement methods through statistical evaluation
Exceptional ability to work effectively in groups with disparate priorities and operational targets
Demonstrated ability to influence and collaborate across organizational boundaries
Skill providing empathy for customer challenges while maintaining an objective, leadership-level posture in delivering customer support
Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
Comprehensive command of telecommunication circuit mediums, network platform equipment infrastructure, and access cost structures
Exceptional ability evangelizing complex strategies in layperson’s terms
Ability to synthesize complex business issues into key actionable drivers for the purpose of promoting understanding and decision-making
Data analysis skills with a working-level proficiency in writing code to correlate data from disparate data sources
Strong command of operational and financial accounting principles
Exceptional analytical skill and business acumen
Above average Microsoft Office application skills, specifically in Excel and PowerPoint
Team player with a passion for service
Prior experience leading others through change

Preferred

Data modeling experience (dimensional and Big Data); data acquisition/ETL experience (PL/SQL, SQL, SSIS, SSRS). Visualization tools (PowerBI, Tableau, Qlik Sense).
Lean/Six Sigma belt certification
Prior experience within the Voice telecommunication domain
Experience leading technical development scope including database management, data architecture, cloud data and application development, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotic Process Automation
Ability to understand and translate business requests into business requirements for development purposes
Skill to communicate effectively across multiple independently led and scoped teams to accomplish aggregate business objectives
Prior working experience within Network Planning, Optimization Operations, and Contract Management
Prior experience developing organizational strategy
Demonstrated experience in developing, operating, and optimizing operational processes to deliver on operational and/or financial objectives