Network Planning And Design Engineer

10+ years of overall experience, with the majority in Network Planning & Engineering (NPE) roles

• Strategic Planning:

  Develop end-to-end network designs and capacity plans (DWDM, OTN, ROADM, IP/Optical integration) based on traffic growth forecasts and customer demand.

• Architecture & Topology:

  Design multi-layer network topologies (ring, mesh, hybrid, IP+Optical) optimized for scale, cost, performance, operational efficiency and resilience.

• Technology Evaluation:

  Select and model vendor solutions (

  Ciena, Nokia

  , Tejas, Ribbon, Huawei) by analysing key parameters such as OSNR, Traffic cards Line rates, Modulation format, Channel spacing & Guard band, Amplifier gain & noise figure, FEC performance and fiber utilization

• Engineering Calculations:

  Perform detailed optical link budgets, Chromatic dispersion analysis, Polarization Mode Dispersion analysis, nonlinear impairments, amplifier planning, OSNR/BER validation, latency checks, power balancing and design of protection/restoration scheme.

• Business Alignment:

  Translate business cases and commercial drivers into engineering requirements (capacity, resilience, latency, cost-per-bit).

• Customer-Facing Solutioning:

  Participate in solution validation, high-level design workshops, and BoM preparation to support presales/architecture teams.

• Innovation:

  Contribute to open optical and SDN-enabled planning frameworks (OpenROADM, disaggregated transport, digital twin planning).

• Cross-Domain Design:

  Design integrated optical & IP/MPLS transport layers for use cases such as Metros, Long Haul, DCI, Enterprise connectivity, and Cloud interconnect.

Key Skills

• Planning-first mindset:

  Strong foundation in network dimensioning, capacity planning, and traffic engineering (with & without vendor planning GUIs).

• Analytical Engineering:

  Comfortable with

  manual link budget and OSNR calculations

  , fiber impairment analysis, not solely reliant on tools.

• Design vs Operations Clarity:

  Proven track record in

  network design & planning

  , not commissioning, assurance, or NOC operations.

• Technology Breadth:

  Deep knowledge of

  OTN, DWDM, ROADM, coherent optics

  , and integration with IP/MPLS layers.

• Consultative Capability:

  Strong communication skills to present designs, explain trade-offs (scale vs cost vs resilience), and engage with business stakeholders.

• Open Networking Exposure:

  Familiarity with

  open optical networking, SDN/NFV orchestration, and automation APIs

  .

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Electronics & Communication, Telecommunication, or related field (B.E./B.Tech)
• 10+ years of relevant experience in optical/transport network designing
• Industry certifications from OEM (Ciena, Nokia, Huawei, Cisco) are an added advantage
• Familiarity with international standards and protocols (ITU-T, IEEE, MEF) is preferred.

• Work location: Chennai (on-site/work from Chennai required)

  .