Senior Specialist/Engineer Service Operations

Overview

In this role you will provide senior technical leadership for Heathrow’s mission-critical radio and cellular infrastructure, spanning legacy and modern systems, DAS and IP-based platforms. You’ll drive incident resolution, prevention, and service improvement while coordinating with suppliers, project teams, and engineering partners. You’ll shape the future of operational communications at Heathrow and ensure resilience of a highly diverse technology estate. This position offers direct impact on critical airport operations and opportunities to lead cross-functional initiatives.

Pay / Benefits

• Flex Week: work from home up to 2 days/week
• Flex Day: flexible workday to suit plans
• Flex-Location: up to 30 days/year remote work
• Employee Wellbeing programs (EAP for dependents, Champion Health)
• Professional Development via learning platforms (LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft initiatives, Pluralsight, Stanford, etc.)
• Competitive benefits

Responsibilities

• Lead technical leadership for mission-critical radio and cellular infrastructure to ensure high availability and performance
• Act as senior technical escalation point for major incidents and coordinate recovery activities with resolver groups, vendors, and stakeholders
• Mentor engineers and support professional development in technical areas
• Assess and accept new technologies for live service readiness and supportability
• Oversee proactive maintenance, monitoring, and continuous service improvement across radio, RF over Fibre, and IP systems
• Perform advanced fault diagnosis and RF performance investigations including spectrum analysis, antenna testing, and coverage optimization
• Manage lifecycle activities including upgrades, commissioning, and configuration management
• Maintain accurate technical documentation, standards, and operational procedures
• Lead problem management investigations (RCA) and implement corrective actions
• Drive governance compliance with ITIL processes, safety requirements, and SITA standards
• Coordinate supplier management, escalations, and vendor support activities
• Support Service Transition and operational readiness assessments for new services
• Engage with stakeholders across Heathrow and external organizations (Ofcom, MNOs, emergency services) during incidents and governance meetings
• Evaluate and support emerging technologies such as private LTE/5G, Neutral Host, and automation initiatives

Key requirements

• Significant experience in mission-critical radio or cellular infrastructure
• Strong knowledge of PMR, DMR, and TETRA technologies
• Experience with RF over Fibre DAS and RF infrastructure
• Solid RF engineering understanding (antennas, feeders, fibre distribution, coverage optimization)
• IP networking troubleshooting in operational environments
• Analytical and fault diagnosis skills
• Experience leading incident resolution, problem management, and RCA
• Working knowledge of ITIL Service Management
• Supplier and vendor management experience
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Mentoring or technical leadership experience
• Ability to obtain Heathrow security clearance

• Stakeholder management
• Communication
• Collaborative teamwork
• PMR/DMR/TETRA expertise
• RF over Fibre DAS
• RF engineering (antenna, feeders, coverage)

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