Senior Optical Network Engineer – CCTN

Location:  New York, NY
Position Overview

Our client  is seeking a Senior Optical Network Engineer to support its Corporate Communications Transmission Network (CCTN), a mission-critical telecommunications infrastructure serving electric, gas, steam, and corporate operations across  service territories.

The engineer will design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot optical transport and telecommunications networks supporting critical utility operations, including SCADA, energy management systems, feeder relay protection, operational technology (OT), voice communications, cybersecurity, and corporate data connectivity.

This role requires hands-on experience with DWDM, fiber-optic transport, network commissioning, telecommunications testing, and engineering documentation. The engineer will also coordinate with vendors, contractors, and internal teams to support network upgrades, service migrations, and emergency restoration activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and engineer optical transport networks, including DWDM, outside plant fiber-optic cable, microwave transport, and DC power infrastructure.

• Develop engineering plans, scopes of work, bills of materials, technical specifications, and project schedules.

• Design and maintain telecommunications infrastructure supporting SCADA, EMS, RTUs, feeder relay protection, OT systems, and corporate networks.

• Develop Methods of Procedure (MOPs) for installations, migrations, maintenance, testing, and emergency restoration.

• Perform equipment commissioning, network turn-up, acceptance testing, troubleshooting, and service restoration.

• Conduct Bit Error Rate Testing (BERT) and physical- and transport-layer validation across DWDM, SONET, TDM, MPLS, Ethernet, microwave, and Fibre Channel systems.

• Use OTDRs, optical power meters, light sources, optical spectrum analyzers, and fiber-inspection equipment to test and troubleshoot fiber-optic systems.

• Install, inspect, clean, test, label, and document fiber-optic cabling and connections.

• Maintain DWDM network designs, wavelength plans, optical power and loss budgets, equipment configurations, and capacity expansion plans.

• Operate and troubleshoot optical network elements, including transponders, muxponders, amplifiers, ROADMs, multiplexers, and demultiplexers.

• Support microwave radio engineering, including path analysis, equipment deployment, performance verification, and troubleshooting.

• Coordinate telecommunications vendors and contractors and review installation quality and as-built documentation.

• Maintain engineering standards, design templates, configuration standards, and technical documentation.

• Travel to company facilities and project sites throughout Con Edison and Orange & Rockland service territories.

• Support off-hours maintenance, network cutovers, emergency response, and critical service restoration as required.

Required Technical Skills and Experience

• Strong experience designing, deploying, operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting DWDM optical transport networks.

• Strong understanding of fiber-optic communications, optical transmission theory, and optical power and loss budgets.

• Knowledge of SONET, TDM, Ethernet, MPLS, and DWDM transport technologies.

• Hands-on experience with optical equipment commissioning, acceptance testing, network performance validation, and fault isolation.

• Experience using optical testing equipment, including OTDRs, optical power meters, and optical spectrum analyzers.

• Ability to develop engineering drawings, scopes of work, bills of materials, test plans, MOPs, and as-built documentation.

• Understanding of cybersecurity principles for telecommunications and critical infrastructure networks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP/MSPP platforms.

• Experience with Cisco Transport Planner (CTP) and Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM).

• Knowledge of microwave radio systems, RF communications, MPLS networking, and applicable FCC requirements.

• Experience supporting utility telecommunications, critical infrastructure, operational technology (OT), industrial control systems, or energy-sector communications networks.

• Experience evaluating telecommunications technologies and developing engineering standards and best practices.

Education and Experience Requirements

Candidates must meet one of the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, Telecommunications, or a related discipline, plus at least 3 years of IT or telecommunications experience.

• Associate degree in a related discipline, plus at least 5 years of IT or telecommunications experience.

• High school diploma or GED, plus at least 7 years of IT or telecommunications experience.

Additional Requirements

• Valid driver's license and personal vehicle required for travel between company facilities, storage locations, and project sites.

• Ability to travel throughout service territories.

• Ability to lift, push, pull, and transport equipment weighing up to 40 pounds.

• Ability to work in telecommunications equipment spaces and perform physical activities such as bending, kneeling, reaching, and climbing ladders.

• Availability for off-hours work, maintenance windows, system cutovers, and emergency restoration assignments.

• Ability to participate in System Emergency Assignments (SEA) when required.

• Must wear required personal protective equipment (PPE) at applicable work sites.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on optical telecommunications engineer with strong DWDM and fiber-optic networking expertise, experience commissioning and troubleshooting mission-critical transport systems, and the ability to support utility communications infrastructure. Candidates with prior utility, energy, or critical infrastructure experience are strongly preferred.

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