Senior Communications Engineer

Senior Communications Engineer (270jc) - Heathrow, West London - £50 – £53k + 10% variable bonus + Benefits

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Communications Engineer to join a specialist engineering team supporting a large and technically complex mission-critical communications environment at Heathrow Airport.

DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY, WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO REPRESENT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EX MILITARY.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced communications engineer who enjoys fault-finding, problem-solving and taking technical ownership within a demanding operational environment.

We would be particularly interested in hearing from veterans with a strong background in communications, RF, telecommunications or electronic systems and have subsequently gained relevant commercial experience.

You will work across a diverse communications estate incorporating both established and emerging technologies, including:

• Mission-critical TETRA radio systems

• DMR and PMR radio

• RF-over-Fibre Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)

• 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G cellular infrastructure

• Mission-critical dispatch systems

• Fibre and IP communications

• Antenna and RF distribution systems

• Subscriber radio equipment and vehicle installations

The Role

Working as one of the senior technical specialists within the engineering operation, you will provide technical leadership across the support, maintenance and continued improvement of critical communications infrastructure.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing senior technical support across mission-critical radio and cellular systems.

• Leading the investigation and resolution of complex engineering faults and incidents.

• Acting as a technical escalation point for other engineers.

• Coordinating technical recovery during major operational incidents.

• Mentoring and supporting less experienced engineers.

• Undertaking advanced fault diagnosis across RF, fibre, IP and communications infrastructure.

• Conducting RF investigations including spectrum analysis, antenna testing, VSWR and Distance-to-Fault measurements.

• Supporting infrastructure upgrades, equipment commissioning and lifecycle replacement programmes.

• Planning and overseeing preventative maintenance.

• Conducting Root Cause Analysis and supporting Problem Management activities.

• Supporting the introduction and operational acceptance of new communications technologies.

• Maintaining engineering documentation, configuration records and technical procedures.

• Managing technical relationships with equipment manufacturers and specialist suppliers.

• Working closely with airport stakeholders, operational teams and external engineering partners.

You will also have the opportunity to become involved with emerging technologies including private LTE/5G, Neutral Host infrastructure, Push-to-Talk over Cellular and advanced monitoring and automation platforms.

What We Are Looking For

Applicants should have significant experience working with mission-critical radio communications and/or cellular infrastructure.

Ideally, you will have:

• Strong knowledge of **PMR, DMR and TETRA** technologies.

• Experience with RF-over-Fibre and Distributed Antenna Systems.

• A solid understanding of RF engineering principles.

• Knowledge of antenna systems, feeders, fibre distribution and coverage optimisation.

• Experience fault-finding IP networks within communications environments.

• Strong analytical and technical fault-diagnosis skills.

• Experience managing complex technical incidents.

• Knowledge of Root Cause Analysis and Problem Management.

• An understanding of ITIL Service Management principles.

• Experience dealing with equipment manufacturers and technical suppliers.

• The ability to mentor and provide technical guidance to other engineers.

• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.

Experience with Motorola, Teltronic, Hytera, Frequentis or similar mission-critical communications platforms would be advantageous.

Experience of LTE/5G infrastructure, Network Management Systems, spectrum analysers, antenna analysers and fibre test equipment would also be useful.

This role could be particularly well suited to individuals who have previously worked within military communications and have experience supporting operationally critical equipment where reliability, resilience and rapid fault diagnosis are essential.

You do not need to have worked within an airport previously. More important is your ability to understand and support complex communications infrastructure in an operational environment.

Due to the environment in which you will be working, applicants must be able to obtain and maintain Heathrow Airport security clearance.

The Package will include basic salary of between £50 – 53k with a 10% variable bonus and includes standard UK benefits package as well as professional development and technical training opportunities

This is a particularly interesting opportunity for an experienced communications engineer looking to take their technical knowledge into one of the UK's most complex and operationally important infrastructure environments.

For more information, please contact Jean-Claude Hedouin at Ex-Mil Recruitment Ltd on (phone number removed)