NOC Manager

AST Space Mobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio and designed for both commercial and government applications. Our engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today's five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected.

Position Overview

The Operations Manager is responsible for overseeing day-to-day NOC and Service Assurance operations across satellite, RAN, core, gateway, and transport domains. This role ensures SLA adherence, rapid triage, KPI visibility, and disciplined execution of operational workflows to maintain reliable end-to-end connectivity.

Operating within the Service Assurance organization, the Operations Manager provides operational leadership across PSC Agents, NOC Telco Engineers, Managed Services teams, and E2E Telco Engineers. This role is critical during launch, early-life support, and steady-state operations, ensuring consistent service restoration, operational readiness, and performance accountability.

This role is central to ensuring operational excellence and service reliability for satellite-to-mobile communications. The Operations Manager ensures disciplined execution, rapid restoration, and consistent service performance across all domains, enabling scalable global operations and high customer confidence.

Key Responsibilities

NOC & Service Assurance Operations Oversight

• Oversee daily Service Assurance and NOC operations across satellite, RAN, core, gateway, and transport domains.

• Ensure incidents are triaged, escalated, and resolved in accordance with defined operational procedures.

• Maintain operational stability during normal operations, planned activities, and major incidents.

SLA, KPI & Performance Management

• Ensure adherence to SLAs, OLAs, and internal service performance targets.

• Track and review operational KPIs including incident response times, restoration timelines, backlog levels, and service availability.

• Drive corrective actions when performance deviates from targets.

Incident Triage, Escalation & Restoration Control

• Oversee incident triage and escalation decisions across Service Assurance and NOC teams.

• Ensure major incidents are managed with clear ownership, structured communication, and timely restoration.

• Validate that service restoration is consistent, complete, and aligned with end-to-end service expectations.

Operational Workflow & Procedure Enforcement

• Enforce standard operating procedures, runbooks, and escalation frameworks.

• Optimize incident routing and workflow efficiency across PSC, NOC, Managed Services, and E2E teams.

• Identify operational gaps and drive continuous improvement in workflows and tooling.

Monitoring, Dashboards & Alarm Governance

• Ensure effective use of monitoring tools, dashboards, and alarm frameworks.

• Maintain visibility into network health and service performance through real-time dashboards.

• Ensure alarms are actionable, prioritized, and aligned with operational severity models.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Coordination

• Coordinate closely with Governance Co-ordinator, Project Manager, and Service Assurance leadership.

• Act as the operational escalation point for cross-domain and high-severity incidents.

• Support readiness reviews, launch activities, and operational handovers.

Deliverables

• Consistent SLA and KPI performance across Service Assurance operations.

• Effective major incident management and restoration outcomes.

• Optimized operational workflows and escalation paths.

• Operational dashboards, performance reports, and readiness inputs.

• Continuous improvement initiatives driven by operational insights.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, IT, or a related technical field.

• Service management or operations certifications are a plus.

Experience

• 6-10 years of experience in telecom operations, NOC leadership, service assurance, or network operations management.

• Proven experience managing 24×7 operational environments.

• Experience supporting mobile, satellite, or hybrid telecom networks is strongly preferred.

Required Technical & Operational Expertise

• Strong understanding of telecom service domains including RAN, core, transport, OSS/NMS, gateway, and satellite systems.

• Experience managing incident life cycles, escalation frameworks, and restoration processes.

• Ability to interpret KPIs, alarms, and service health indicators from an operational leadership perspective.

• Familiarity with ITIL-aligned incident and service management practices.

Professional Skills

• Strong operational leadership and decision-making skills.

• Ability to remain calm and authoritative during major incidents.

• Excellent communication skills for stakeholder updates and executive reporting.

• Strong coordination and people-management skills across technical and non-technical teams.

• Structured,…