Principal Gateway Engineer

AST Space Mobile and our global partners are building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network to be accessible by standard smartphones. Called Space Mobile, this ultra-powerful network is being designed to provide connectivity at 4G/5G speeds everywhere on the planet - on land, at sea and in flight.

We’re looking for a Principal Gateway Engineer to help design, deploy, optimize, and troubleshoot packet core gateway infrastructure that carries subscriber data traffic across mobile networks. This role will work across the full call flow lifecycle, from initial device registration and session establishment through mobility management and data transfer, ensuring reliable connectivity and service performance.

As a senior technical contributor, you will partner closely with radio access, core network, IMS, device, and platform engineering teams to identify and resolve issues impacting network performance, subscriber experience, and service availability. You will play a key role in developing technical standards, validating network requirements, and supporting the deployment of scalable and resilient core network solutions.

The ideal candidate brings strong expertise in LTE and 5G core technologies, hands‑on troubleshooting experience, and a deep understanding of packet core architecture, signaling protocols, and network operations.

• Configure, operate, and optimize packet core gateway functions, including subscriber connectivity, data session management, IP address management, quality of service policies, and charging integrations
• Analyze signaling and user‑plane traces to identify and resolve session establishment failures, connectivity issues, mobility events, and service disruptions
• Troubleshoot network issues across multiple domains by correlating gateway, radio, device, and subscriber data
• Monitor and improve key network performance indicators, including session success rates, throughput, latency, and service availability
• Support software upgrades, feature introductions, capacity expansions, and maintenance activities, including implementation planning and validation testing
• Partner with vendors to investigate defects, validate fixes, and coordinate software release activities
• Support interoperability and roaming initiatives involving partner networks and multi‑technology environments
• Develop automation tools and scripts for configuration validation, log analysis, auditing, and operational efficiency improvements
• Create and maintain operational documentation, troubleshooting guides, standard operating procedures, and incident reports
• Participate in production support and on‑call activities to assist with network incident response and service restoration
• Collaborate with cross‑functional engineering teams to define requirements, evaluate solutions, and improve overall system performance
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while promoting engineering best practices and operational excellence

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications, Information Technology, or a related technical field
• Equivalent combination of education and relevant industry experience may be considered

• Minimum 3-7 years of experience in cellular core network engineering, packet core operations, telecommunications engineering, or network systems testing
• Hands‑on experience supporting LTE/EPC and/or 5G Core network environments
• Experience troubleshooting signaling, subscriber connectivity, mobility, and data session issues in production environments
• Experience performing network upgrades, change management activities, and operational support functions
• Working knowledge of mobile network architecture…