Principal Network Engineer, Planning & Performance

Job description

The world still has coverage blind spots. You could help eliminate them at Skylo.   Skylo has pioneered a standards-based approach to satellite connectivity. We connect smartphones and IoT devices directly to satellites. No special hardware, no entirely new networks. Just billions of existing devices, suddenly reachable anywhere on Earth. We're not building toward this future. We're already in it.   Our direct-to-device service is live on millions of activated devices across five continents, covering more than 72 million square kilometers, in partnership with leading satellite operators, mobile network operators, Tier-1 chipset makers, and OEMs worldwide. And we're just getting started.   At the heart of it all is Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN: a 3GPP standards-based, cloud-native platform that seamlessly bridges terrestrial and satellite networks. It's the infrastructure that makes true anywhere, anytime connectivity possible.   When you join Skylo, you'll work at the intersection of three markets reshaping how the world stays connected: mass-market consumer devices, automotive, and industrial IoT. Enabling people outdoors and critical workflows in the world's most remote places.   This is a rare chance to work on technology that matters, at a company that's already proving it works About Skylo Skylo is a global Non-Terrestrial Network service provider based in Mountain View, CA, offering a service that allows smartphone and IoT cellular devices to connect directly over existing satellites.  Skylo’s direct-to-device service is now live on millions of activated devices across five continents, with more than 60 million square kilometers of coverage, in partnership with multiple satellite operators, mobile network operators (MNOs), Tier-1 chipset makers, and OEMs. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo's commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo provides anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks. Our focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows across three main verticals: mass-market consumer devices, automotive, and industrial IoT. This role is based in our Mountain View, CA office and requires being onsite 3 days per week Summary Of How You Will Impact Skylo  Skylo is hiring a Principal Network Engineer, Architecture & System Design to help fulfill Skylo's mission of making satellite connectivity available to all. This individual will be a key contributor to the Network Design and Planning team, helping to plan, design, and evolve Skylo's satellite communication network infrastructure. Your work will ensure our network is reliable, scalable, and high-performance, meeting both current and future customer demands and business objectives. You will be a crucial part of a team defining the architecture and technical roadmap for a world-first commercial direct-to-device satellite network. How You Will Contribute  - Lead and develop end-to-end service designs for network solutions, including Base Station, Ground Station, Core Network, and Cloud Application integrations for Non-Terrestrial networks. - Create technical specifications, engineering plans, and documentation with detailed designs for network elements. - Optimize existing networks and services for cost-efficiency, performance, and scalability. - Perform technical evaluations and contribute to system operability testing. - Conduct proof-of-solutions to validate technical proposals. - Provide technical support during solution implementation and deployment. - Define interoperability, standards compliance, and feature introduction for the network. - Lead a small team of engineers, providing mentorship, technical guidance, and career development. - Oversee project deliverables and ensure alignment with team and company goals What We Look For  - 20+ years of experience in network design and planning, with a strong background in cellular telecommunications preferably acquired within a mobile network operator or within a vendor providing equipment and services to a mobile network operator. - Experience with Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) is highly preferred. - Demonstrated expertise in defining end-to-end network architecture. - Proven ability to perform vendor and product evaluations and selection. - Experience with 3GPP standards, cloud-native architectures, and network virtualization (SBI, vRAN). - Strong analytical skills to conduct KPI framework analysis, capacity planning, and optimization. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills for creating detailed technical documentation and presenting solutions. - Hands-on experience with LTE eNodeB and 5G gNodeB. - Direct experience with EPC Core and 5G Core. - Experience with Cloud technologies such as Virtual Machines, Docker, Kubernetes. - Excellent understandin