| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Telecom and Field Services |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Chief Operating Officer |
| Direct reports | Circle Operations Manager, Head of Field Operations, NOC Manager |
| Experience | 15+ years in telecom operations with circle or regional leadership |
Circle Head job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Circle Head
Department: Telecom and Field Services
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Circle Head runs a telecom circle, the operations and business of a whole state or region for the operator. They own network availability, service quality, cost and rollout across the circle, and lead the operations, field and network teams under them. The role reports to the Chief Operating Officer or a regional vice president. A good circle head keeps the network up and the customer experience strong, delivers rollout projects on time, controls circle operating cost, keeps the field and network teams safe and productive, and answers for the circle to the leadership.
Key responsibilities
- Own network availability, service quality and operating cost across the entire telecom circle.
- Set circle targets for uptime, fault resolution and customer experience and drive them through the teams.
- Lead the operations, field and network teams and hold each to its service levels.
- Deliver network rollout and expansion projects in the circle on time and budget.
- Control circle operating cost, including energy, maintenance, rentals and manpower.
- Keep the circle compliant with telecom, safety and statutory requirements.
- Handle major outages and escalations that affect large numbers of customers.
- Coordinate with vendors, contractors and authorities on network and site matters.
- Review circle performance against targets each week and act on the gaps.
- Build and develop the managers who run operations across the circle.
Requirements
- Degree in electronics, telecom or electrical engineering
- An MBA is an advantage
- Long experience in telecom network operations
- 15+ years in telecom operations with circle or regional leadership
KRAs and KPIs for a Circle Head
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Network availability | Circle network uptime held above the agreed service level |
| Fault resolution | Mean time to restore faults within the agreed target |
| Customer experience | Circle customer experience score above the agreed benchmark |
| Rollout delivery | Network rollout milestones delivered on schedule against the plan |
| Operating cost | Circle operating cost held within the approved budget |
| Safety | Reportable field safety incidents in the circle kept near zero |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Network management systems, Fault and ticketing tools, MS Excel, Business dashboards, Project tracking tools.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Regional Head
Interview questions for a Circle Head
- How do you keep network availability high across a whole circle?
- How do you handle a major outage affecting many customers at once?
- How do you deliver a rollout project on time with limited resources?
- How do you control circle operating cost without hurting service?
- How do you keep field and tower teams safe across the circle?
- How do you turn around a cluster that keeps missing its service levels?
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What does a Circle Head do in telecom?
A Circle Head runs a telecom circle, the operations and business of a whole state or region. They own network availability, service quality, cost and rollout, and lead the operations, field and network teams. They keep the network up, deliver projects and answer for the circle to leadership.
What is a circle in telecom?
A circle is a licensed geographic area, usually a state or group of states, in which a telecom operator runs its network and business. Each circle has its own operations, network and field teams, and a circle head who owns its availability, service quality, cost and growth.
What experience does a Circle Head need?
Most circle heads have an engineering degree in electronics, telecom or electrical, often with an MBA, and long experience in telecom network operations. Employers value a record of keeping networks available, delivering rollouts, controlling cost and leading large operations and field teams across a region.