Long Haul Network Development Project Manager - Designing Physical Fiber Routes

Company Description

Zayo provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world’s most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo’s 141,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo’s communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, and dedicated Internet access. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises.

Position Description

Zayo is seeking a Long Haul Network Development Project Manager to be responsible for the development and planning of new long haul routes in the Zayo network. Projects include new greenfield routes, route overbuilds and large network extensions to new markets, data centers or points of interest.

The Long Haul Network Development Project Manager works with business partners to define project requirements, develop solutions (designs, costs and schedules) and to identify and mitigate project risks. The goal of the Network Development team is to fully solution and de-risk projects prior to project initiation to ensure their successful execution. The Long Haul Network Development Project Manager reports directly to the Long Haul Network Development Director.

NOTE: We're open to this position working remotely within the United States.

This role requires extensive Construction experience and experience in designing Long Haul physical routes.

Responsibilities:

• Work as part of a cross-functional team to identify, qualify, develop and creatively solve new long haul route opportunities.

• Critically assess and qualify route requirements (routing, fiber counts, ILA spacing, etc.) to ensure route objectives are clearly defined and meet stakeholder requirements.

• Maintain a Plan of Record solution for each project.

• Develop multiple solution scenarios, weight against decision criteria and develop recommendations for approval. Support recommendations through the project approval process.

• Complete route feasibility planning to appropriately define and de-risk project scope, schedule and budget. May include working with an outside vendor to complete a formal feasibility plan for a new route.

• Engage with local teams to research existing network infrastructure and assess options for leveraging those assets in new route builds.

• Develop, release and evaluate RFIs in order to cost projects, understand and mitigate execution risks and fine-tune the design/approach.

• Identify and negotiate third party partner build and asset acquisition opportunities to complement our construction plans.

• Develop and refine project cost estimates to develop the project budget.

• Build project milestone-level project schedule.

• Proactively identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies and contingency plans.

• Engage in project startup activities such as engineering/construction RFP development and bidding, ROW agreement acquisition, long-lead permitting, joint-build agreements and long-lead materials procurement as required in order to position the project for success.

• Perform jurisdictional outreach as needed to determine permit requirements and anticipated timeframes. 

• Support business partners in RFP responses to customer opportunities.

• Maintain clear document (versioning) control for route development documentation.

• Provide transparent reporting and communications for the projects in the development process.

• Develop the vendor partner strategy for the execution of new projects. Develop innovative contract approaches and business terms to structure projects for success. Cultivate a strong pool of vendor partners to successfully execute the plan.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree, preferably in Engineering or other related technical field, or equivalent work experience. Business degree/acumen a plus.

• Minimum of 5 (five) years relevant experience in wireline carrier network planning, engineering and construction.

• Minimum of 5 (five) years experience of successful project management responsibility of large-scale network deployments, ideally related to OSP, Ethernet and/or wireless networks.

• Minimum of 5 (five) years experience with OSP construction contract bidding, negotiation and administration.

• Minimum of 5 (five) years OSP construction management experience, preferably with specific long haul construction experience.

• Experience negotiating joint build or other build partnership agreements.

• Experience administering NTIA (or similar) program requirements such as Davis-Bacon, BABA and EA, a plus.

• Specific experience in complex permitting situations including NEPA, Section 106, Tribal, etc.

• Experience managing large, complex technical projects and associated budgets.

• Working knowledge of OSP construction standards, fiber specifications and optical network design principles.

• Working knowledge of fiber test and acceptance criteria and practices.

• Strong understanding of the current carrier network landscape in the US, a plus.

• Demonstrated exceptional problem solving skills.

• Ability to communicate technical topics clearly and effectively with both internal and external customers.

• Ability to manage and effectively prioritize multiple projects simultaneously in a demanding, fast-paced environment.

• Working knowledge of GIS-based tools such as MapInfo, ArcView or Google Earth.

• Strong knowledge of MS Office (Excel, Word, etc.) and Google Suite products.

• Experience with project management software such as Sitetracker, a plus.

• Familiarity with Salesforce, a plus.

• Travel as required (10% estimated) for critical meetings (permitting agency, vendor meets, etc.). 

Base Salary Range: $66,500 - $100,000, commensurate with experience

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Benefits, Rewards & Wellness

• Excellent Health, Dental & Vision Insurance

• Retirement 401(k) Savings Plan

• Fitness membership discounts

• Generous paid time off policy including paid parental leave

Zayo provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.