Senior Specialist: E2E Network Assurance

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Role Purpose/Business Unit:

End-to-End Network Assurance is responsible for ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality voice, messaging, and data services across the entire telecommunications ecosystem – from customer devices through the Radio Access Network (RAN), Transport, Core, IMS, and service platforms. The function proactively monitors network and service performance, identifies customer-impacting issues, and drives rapid resolution to safeguard customer experience. E2E Network Assurance proactively protect and enhance customer experience by providing visibility, analysis, and technical leadership across the complete mobile network value chain. The function ensures that network performance is translated into measurable customer outcomes, enabling the organization to deliver reliable, high-quality digital services while supporting strategic initiatives such as 5G evolution, service innovation, and operational excellence. The role combines technical expertise, analytics, and customer-centric assurance practices to translate complex network behaviour into meaningful service and experience outcomes. By correlating data across multiple network domains, E2E Network Assurance ensures that network performance aligns with customer expectations and business objectives.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Continuous review of end-to-end network architecture and design with focus towards optimization, and fault finding.
• Monitor new Network implementations and identify impact across the end-to-end environment.
• Provide technical analyses utilising probing tools to assist with escalations.
• Adopt new processes and procedures from learning identified. Support regional and cross functional teams.
• Evaluate new drive test KPIs being introduced.
• Perform trace and analyses with recommendation to optimise the end-to-end environment.
• Keep up-to-date with features to enhance network quality systems.
• Work with vendors to adapt new requirement as technology evolves.
• Closely monitor competitors via various data sources and provide insight to drive test teams.
• Work with end-to-end teams to streamline optimizations techniques.

• Service Performance Assurance: Continuously monitor and assure end2end service performance across LTE, 5G, VoLTE, VoWiFi, SMS, and Data services. Investigate service degradation such as call drops, call setup failures, throughput issues, latency degradation, and messaging failures to ensure optimal customer experience.
• Proactive monitoring and Customer Experience Analytics: Leverage Customer Experience Management (CEM) platforms, probe analytics, drive testing, and crowdsourced data to detect emerging service issues prior to subscriber impact. Develop service-based alarms, performance thresholds, and predictive assurance capabilities that enable proactive network management.
• Incident Management and Root Cause Analysis: Lead end-to-end investigations of major service incidents by correlating data across RAN, PS-Core, IMS-Core, Transport, Device, and application layers. Conduct detailed root cause analysis, assess customer and business impact, and drive permanent corrective and preventive actions to improve network reliability.
• Performance and KPI Governance: Define, monitor and report critical network and customer experience KPIs, including accessibility, retainability, integrity, throughput, latency, and service quality metrics. Translate technical performance indicators into customer-centric insights such as QoE, MOS, CEI, NPS, and service experience trends for operational and executive stakeholders.
• Customer and VVIP Experience Assurance: Support high-priority customer investigations by recreating and validating customer experiences using advanced test devices, field testing, and controlled service validation environments. Ensure successful deployment and customer experience validation of new technologies and services, including VoLTE, VoWiFi, 5G NSA/SA, and Carrier Aggregation.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• 3-year Degree/Diploma in Engineering:
  • Field of study in Electrical/Electronics/Computer Science/Information Technology, or equivalent engineering/technical qualifications.
• 5 – 8 years of mobile network experience.
• Software Certification (advantageous).

Core competencies, knowledge, and experience:

• Utilising, Drive test methodologies, OSS KPIs, Crowdsource, customer complaints identify Network degradation and initiate investigations for swift resolution. Recommend and evaluate new test procedures where necessary.
• Good understanding in the RAN (2G,3G, 4G, 5G-NR), Transmission, Packet Core, IMS Core and CDN in terms of protocol and interworking.
• Ability to monitor and trace on various tools across all domains to perform protocol analyses for voice and data degradation.
• Identify areas for optimization, within the end-to-end environment. Perform PRE and POST analyses. Follow roll-out plan and monitor and advise, with recommendations.
• Assist and support regional team, in high level fault analyses, provide trace data to accelerate resolution and escalations.
• Cross-Functional Technical Leadership: Act as the technical focal point during end-to-end troubleshooting activities. Work closely with Access Network Engineering, Core, IMS, Transport, Operations, and vendor partners. Facilitate cross-domain collaboration, to expedite resolution and restore services more efficiently.
• Continuous Improvement and Automation: Drive automation of assurance processes, reporting, and analytics through advanced dashboards, scripting, AI, and machine learning capabilities. Continuously enhance predictive assurance, anomaly detection, and customer experience management practices while contributing to network optimization and service quality improvement initiatives.

We make an impact by offering:

• Enticing incentive programs and competitive benefit packages
• Retirement funds, risk benefits, and medical aid benefits
• Cell phone and data benefits, advantages fibre connection discounts, and exclusive staff discounts offered in collaboration with partner companies

Closing date for Applications: 11 August 2026.

The base location for this role is Midrand, Vodacom Campus.

The company's approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.
Vodacom is committed to an organisational culture that recognises, appreciates, and values diversity & inclusion.