About the role

This role supports Network Strategy & Engineering’s decision making processes in developing sophisticated economic models to help make complex network investment decisions, reduce cost, and improve customer experience. You will be responsible for evaluating the economic implications of present and future architectures, technologies and products.  You will cover a range of different technologies across fixed and mobile (for example IP, Optical and Radio networks), working with key strategy, architecture, engineering and planning functions to provide economics summary outputs, including ‘what if’ scenarios and recommendations.

It’s a deeply analytical role that will collate, model and evaluate financial, technical and market data using systems, databases and spreadsheets.  It requires the continual development of a broad but high level understanding across a number of network technologies.

As well as performing one off analysis you will also be supporting the development of both short and long term investment plans, ensuring with finance functions that costs and risks are covered thoroughly. This work helps to shape hundreds of millions of capital spend over 3 to 5 years.

Main Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the development and evolution of high quality economic models. This unit cost analysis enables analysis of infrastructure upgrade plans and options, and helps make recommendations in terms of what, when, and how much.
• Evaluation of ‘what if’ technology change proposals acress networks, to support long range planning of network investment, product changes and operational efficiency improvement decisions.
• Provide expertise and advice within Network Strategy & Engineering and broader within VMO2 on network technology economics
• Collaborate with colleagues in technical, strategic and planning roles across Network Strategy & Engineering, for example to identify technology generation “break points” at which new generation network equipment is required to maintain the required cost-per-bit trajectory
• Work cross-functionally within Network Strategy & Engineering to ensure models and associated service consistently match needs and expectations.
• Work with vendor management teams, providing expert economic analysis and advice for use in RFP development and vendor selection

Knowledge, Skills & Experience: 

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or able to demonstrate a similar level of ability from industrial experience.
• A keen interest in and curiosity about technology, and the ability to understand standards emergence and development, in fields relevant to the network
• Sharp and analytical, a critical thinker, able to map cost vs benefit, scenarios, outcomes and consequences
• Ideally, a high level understanding of fixed and/or mobile network technologies such as IP, MPLS, Ethernet/CIN, BNG, DOCSIS, PON, LTE, 5G and able to communicate confidently across these topics, researching and building understanding of any new concepts encountered as required. But you are not expected to be a deep technical expert– instead you will work with such experts to build up your focused economics understanding and view of them.
• Experience of building business proposals and what-if scenarios, including methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases. Development of financial models, including the principles, methods, techniques and tools for the development and presentation of the models (such as Excel, Python or R)
• Good communication and presentation skills for developing written documentation (Powerpoint) and able to distil complex financial outputs for both technical and non-technical audiences, including to senior management, employing a suitable mix of text, diagrams and charts
• Ability to manage key stakeholders and their expectations regarding deliverables and lead times.
• A systematic, disciplined, and analytical approach to problem solving.
• Self-motivated and able to work unsupervised and to take on new challenges and learn on the job.
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines, and to prioritise workload / tasks against fluid deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to acquire insights/inputs from staff across a diverse range of departments, and to communicate/persuade/enthuse in relation to our strategies and roadmaps