Director - Access Planning & Management

Job Family Descriptor

To lead and drive all offnet access and backbone network sourcing with regional carriers and offnet providers with the objective of

•  Selecting the best providers/ offnet access suppliers, negotiating favorable MSAs/ JPAs and managing a high-level strategic relations (i.e. carrier relations) with suppliers;
•  Qualifying suitable new providers/ offnet access suppliers & solutions and ensuring the onboarded solutions integrate smoothly into the Company’s network product suite, synchronizing on all technical specifications
•  Negotiating for market competitive commercials & optimum operational commitments (e.g. SLA, Latencies, MTTR etc)

Broad outline of the Role

• To lead, support & monitor all offnet (access & backbone) sourcing and delivery in APAC, ensuring optimal offnet delivery costs;
• To drive service performance improvement reviews and initiatives with suppliers to ensure commercial competitiveness and high standards of delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Supplier Management

• Conduct effective carrier relationship management to build strong trust and lasting relationship with APAC vendors;
• Conduct quarterly/monthly reviews with key vendors around commercial pricings and delivery performances;
• Drive process or system improvements with vendors to enable faster/ better quotations and/or better delivery timelines as per customers' requirements;
• Collaborate with vendors to deliver new solutions based on vendor performance and capability;
• Operations
• Review weekly/monthly reports and performance metrics of team around access quotations, order placements and delivery implementations;
• Track compliance of suppliers to agreed service performance levels;
• Provide inputs to Network Product teams around supplier's connectivity solutions, footprint and execution capabilities;
• Interact with Engineering where required to provide inputs around building networks, supporting regional network demands and implementation issues;
• Drive projects via cross-functional teams as required by line management.

Cost Optimization

• Track cost related metrics around purchase orders including high value orders & access expenditure vs. budget allocation;
• Drive constant backbone and offnet access renewals for cost optimizations;
• Identify areas of cost reductions/improvements that may be possible and drive specific action items to achieve cost savings;

Team Development & Growth

• Regularly review team structure/diversity and assess talent requirements; 
• Regularly review work-life balance and mental well-being of team together with HR and line management;
• Conduct goal setting, performance review and coaching for team;
• Drive team's learning and development for skills improvement and career growth;
• Recognize contributions of team and applaud/reward accordingly to drive the right core values and behaviors; 
• Mentor team members as required and ensure resolution of any people issues;