Role Summary:

The Core Network Defect Manager owns end-to-end defect management within the Core Network Test domain and drives the timely technical resolution of faults affecting multiple strategic Core Network programmes.

The role combines strong Core Network technical expertise with rigorous defect governance and confident stakeholder management. The Defect Manager works across programmes, test campaigns, design, and supplier teams to ensure that defects are clearly understood, correctly prioritised, assigned to accountable owners and resolved at the earliest opportunity.

Key Responsibilities:

- Own the end-to-end defect lifecycle across multiple Core Network programmes, from identification and triage through investigation, resolution, retest and closure.

- Chair defect triage, technical review and governance forums to agree priorities, assign accountable owners, resolve blockers and secure time-bound recovery actions.

- Assess defect severity, priority, customer impact, service risk, programme criticality and release impact using consistent criteria.

- Drive cross-functional technical investigation across test, design, and supplier teams.

- Challenge root-cause analysis, proposed fixes and workarounds to ensure they are technically robust, proportionate and sustainable.

- Identify dependencies, recurring fault patterns and systemic risks across programmes, and escalate unresolved blockers early enough to protect delivery milestones and service readiness.

- Provide concise defect dashboards, ageing analysis, trend reporting, risk summaries and executive-level updates.

Core Technical Responsibilities:

- Strong practical experience is required within complex, multi-vendor Core Network test environments, including mobile voice, data, signalling, policy, charging, subscriber data, messaging, interconnect and service platforms.

- Expertise in Core Network architecture, interfaces, call flows and service dependencies across legacy, virtualised and cloud-native environments.

- Proficiency in telecommunications protocols such as SS7, SIGTRAN, SIP, Diameter, GTP, HTTP/2, TCP/IP and DNS.

- Experience with defect and test-management platforms such as Jira, ALM/Quality Centre or equivalent enterprise tools.

Required Experience:

- Substantial experience in a Core Network Test environment is essential.

- Proven ownership of complex, high-impact defects through triage, investigation, fix, retest and closure across multiple programmes or releases.

- Strong written and verbal communication, with the ability to present complex defects and risks clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

- Exposure to Ericsson, Nokia, Oracle, TIBCO and other Tier 1 telecommunications suppliers is desirable.

Preferred Certifications:

- Telecommunications testing, defect management, test management or quality-assurance certification is desirable.

- ITIL, Agile, Scrum, SAFe, project or programme delivery certification is advantageous.

- Relevant supplier or Core Network technology training from Ericsson, Nokia, Oracle, TIBCO or another Tier 1 provider is beneficial.