What are the responsibilities and job description for the Program Manager position at NextGen | GTA: A Kelly Telecom Company?
Program Manager – Network Grooming / Decommissioning
Location: Hybrid – Richardson, TX (Tuesday–Thursday onsite)
We are seeking an experienced Telecom Program Manager with a strong circuit engineering and network operations background to lead a large-scale central office decommissioning and network grooming initiative. This role will provide end-to-end program oversight, manage a team of Network Engineers, and partner closely with executive leadership to ensure all network traffic is successfully migrated.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead program execution for a large network grooming and central office decommissioning initiative
- Provide direct oversight and coordination for 8 Network Engineers supporting 24x6 operations
- Manage resource allocation, scheduling, and prioritization to support program milestones
- Coordinate network turn downs, provisioning, grooming, activations, implementations, and maintenance activities
- Partner with executive leadership to provide real-time, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly status readouts
- Identify risks, bottlenecks, and delays; proactively drive mitigation strategies
- Oversee vendor relationships and ensure delivery aligns with program objectives
- Coordinate access, timelines, resourcing, and execution with onsite contacts and stakeholders
- Ensure adherence to operational processes, engineering standards, and client requirements
- Maintain accurate program documentation, schedules, and reporting using telecom-specific systems
Day-to-Day Activities
- Oversee migration of all routing and services from an active central office location
- Coordinate prep, testing, and maintenance activities across multiple network technologies
- Drive execution of traffic diversion plans and equipment/service removal
- Provide leadership visibility into progress, risks, and demand fluctuations
- Adjust project plans and engineering workloads based on operational needs
- Manage team performance, workload distribution, and cross-functional coordination
Required Experience & Qualifications
- Proven experience as a Telecom Program or Project Manager with a strong circuit/engineering background
- Extensive experience in:
- Network grooming and decommissioning
- Circuit order activation, scheduling, and coordination
- Central office (CO) environments
- Hands-on knowledge of Layer 1 network technologies, including:
- SONET (OC3, OC12, OC48, OC192)
- TDM Copper (DS0, DS1, DS3, PRI, switched voice trunks)
- Ciena platforms (4200, 6500, etc.)
- Fujitsu Flashwave SONET, Nortel MUX, Optera
- DXCs (Tellabs, Alcatel, Titans)
- Prior experience with Verizon systems such as:
- BGW
- TCOMS
- Maintenance Tracker
- CCP, Canvas, and related tools
- Strong vendor management and executive-level reporting experience
- Excellent communication, coordination, and leadership skills
Pluses
- Experience with Cisco and Juniper routers
- Familiarity with:
- Gig-E, 10G, 100G, 400G
- PIP and high-capacity transport services
Work Environment
- Hybrid schedule with onsite presence Tuesday–Thursday in Richardson, TX
- High-visibility program with direct interaction with executive leadership
- Fast-paced, deadline-driven telecom environment