Network Service Enablers Capability Specialist

• Leads or supports the delivery of Service Enablers (and where appropriate, other functional domains) deliverables to agreed time, quality and cost parameters. Where appropriate, this will require coordinating technical deliveries across multiple projects. 
• Leads or supports the technology contribution to the analysis and delivery of business requirements. 
• Leads or supports business, technical and non-functional requirements generation. This may be for Vodafone UK or Global products and achieved through leading a collaboration zone for Technology & Product Services (or Networks & IT if required). 
• Leads or supports vendor assessment activities including the production of RFIs and the reviewing of responses. 
• Leads or supports development and delivery of technical options. 
• Leads or supports delivery of ROMs for the chosen technical option and the impact assessment on systems and resources. 
• Leads/influences the production of the High Level Design and ensures that the outcome satisfies requirements, standards and fits with related designs for other systems and the architectural and design principles for Service Enables as a whole. 
• Leads or supports the RFP activities for new suppliers or the definition of requirements for existing suppliers, the review of responses and the commercial activities to allow the refinement of ROMs into estimates. 
• Leads or supports delivery the detailed design activities, performing reviews at appropriate points throughout the project lifecycle. 
• Ensures all dependent work packages (internal or external) for the project or work package are delivered to time, cost and quality. 
• Ensures that deliveries and dependencies are tracked through the project and that risks and issues are mitigated. 
• Leads or supports the integration of the deliveries into the test environment and the end to end test activities. 
• Reviews and approves the acceptance plan for each delivery. 
• Ensures that the execution of the test strategy and plan confirms that the deliverables meet the required functionality and performance criteria. 
• Reviews and approves the acceptance exit report – authorising the release as production ready. 
• Leads or supports the integration of the deliverables into the production environment and the transition to live activities. 
• Ensures the full transition to Business As Usual for new or modified capability, i.e. post go live activities. 
• Ensures adherence to all relevant delivery principles and processes. 
• Ensures adherence to relevant regulatory principles – eg BABT & Sarbanes Oxley

• Leads or supports definition of a roadmap for the specific capabilities, consistent with the Vodafone Global, UK and local roadmaps. 
• Leads or supports activities to achieve delivery of that roadmap.

• Ensures that the introduction of new and upgraded capability balances the needs of its business sponsors with the operational and financial requirements of capability ownership i.e. cost of ownership, scalability, resilience/DR, operability, security and compatibility.

• Develops and monitors service KPIs, and uses this information to protect the customer experience. 
• Leads or supports delivery of solutions for operational defects and enhancements requested by Service Assurance teams. 
• Measures and manages effectiveness of the defects management, change implementation management and service restoration planning, leading or supporting process improvements where required. 
• Leads capacity forecasting activities for the specific capabilities.

• Recommends and drives the retirement of capability when no longer cost effective or at end of life.

• Identifies, builds, manages and measures effective relationships with internal and, where appropriate external customers to manage their needs 
• Promotes the benefits of the technology capability to internal customers and provides assistance in defining and scoping new or modified products 
• Builds, manages and measures effective relationships with suppliers/3rd parties to form partnerships that deliver value for both parties 
• Builds, manages and measures effective relationships with Global teams to deliver the Global and UK level operating plans 
• Identifies mutually benefiting relationships with other Vodafone Operating Companies to exploit and drive best practice in architecture, supplier sourcing strategy and process 
• Manages expectations of line management through planning and reporting to agreed standards

• Manages budget for capability projects in line with projected forecasts and company/department guidelines 
• Measures and manages the total cost of ownership of the capability 
• Drives value from suppliers for hardware, software, licence and support costs 
• Drives value from 3rd parties for professional services and test activities 
• Delivers future spend forecasts to support budget planning activities

• Leadership of ‘virtual’ teams of internal and external suppliers, and other Technology colleagues. 
• Give and receive open feedback to and from colleagues in order to increase own and team effectiveness. 
• Partnership relationship with all other teams in own Domain, other Technology Domains to deliver effective technical solutions to meet product and capability requirements 
• Customer relationship with Product Managers in commercial business Units to manage and measure the delivery to the product development roadmap. 
• Customer relationship with Service Operations to define the operational support strategy for the service supported by the specific capabilities. 
• Partnership relationship with multiple suppliers and 3rd parties to provide effective technical solutions to meet product and capability requirements 
• Partnership relationship with Global and other Vodafone Operating Companies to exploit shared best practice to meet product and capability requirements. 
• Interface to Line Manager to deliver goals, report status and progress and manage their expectations

• Technology roadmap and evolution plan for the specific services or capabilities, that is consistent with Service Enablers Strategy. 
• Cost of ownership analysis and roadmap (hardware, software, licence and support cost) for a capability or collection of related capabilities. 
• Requirements, design, deployment and operational support documentation for new or upgraded service or capability. 
• Capacity model and scalability for a capability or collection of related capabilities. 
• Budget forecast plans 
• Delivery plans, planning (possibly supported by Project Manager or Capability Authority) and management within agreed time, cost and quality parameters 
• Technical options and high level and detailed designs for chosen options. 
• ROMs and Estimates 
• Work Package definitions and/or SLA’s with Suppliers (internal or external) 
• Test Strategies, plans and reports. 
• Definition of Operational KPI’s (Fault, Change, Performance) and monitoring processes. 
• Post delivery analysis and lessons learnt.

• Architecture and Design 
• Testing 
• Acceptance into the network 
• Integration (changing the network) 
• Developing Products and software development processes 
• Partner Management 
• Project Management

• Knowledge of internet standards, protocols and languages (eg XML, HTTP, LDAP, J2EE, C++, Web technologies)

Qualifications and Experience:

• Educated up to degree level or equivalent 
• Experience in a Telecommunications or Data network or related service industry 
• Experience in delivering successful projects through virtual cross-functional teams as well as 3rd party contractors and external suppliers 
• Has operated in an environment which required a detailed understanding of complex technologies

Desired
Technical Skills 

• Technical Environment Management 
• Developing Platforms 
• Process Management

Technical Knowledge: 

• Identity Management functions (e.g., Provisioning, Authentication, Authorisation etc) 
• Identity Management standards (e.g. SAML, SPML) 
• Agile application development processes

Qualifications and Experience:

• Affiliation to professional bodies is encouraged, e.g. IET or BCS.