Unified Communications Manager

Smiths Group; England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Smiths Detection is seeking a Unified Communications Manager to own and operate our global voice communications estate. You will lead day-to-day telephony administration, including Teams Phone, Direct Routing, SBCs, SIP trunks, and PBX platforms, ensuring high reliability and security.

You will collaborate with Network Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Service Delivery teams to align telephony services with business needs and drive cloud transformation initiatives across the globe.

Qualifications

• Significant experience supporting enterprise Unified Communications and telephony environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Teams Phone and Direct Routing.
• Experience administering SBC technologies such as Ribbon, AudioCodes, or equivalent.
• Proven experience managing SIP trunking, VoIP services, carrier platforms, and PBX systems.
• Experience designing and supporting complex call routing architectures and dial plans.
• Experience supporting or integrating contact centre technologies and customer communication platforms.
• Strong understanding of global telephony operations and carrier services.
• Experience managing technical relationships with telecommunications providers and managed service partners.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot voice quality, routing, and infrastructure issues.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day administration and support of enterprise telephony services including Teams Phone, SBCs, PBX systems, voicemail platforms, and telephony gateways.
• Manage SIP trunking, POTS services, carrier connectivity, numbering plans, and global telephony provisioning.
• Administer and optimise Teams Phone services including Direct Routing, Call Queues, Auto Attendants, Teams Rooms, and Survivable Branch Appliances.
• Support telephony infrastructure upgrades, migrations, and cloud transformation initiatives.
• Design, configure, and support complex call routing solutions across global business operations.
• Manage dial plans, number management, routing policies, failover scenarios, and voice resilience strategies.
• Support integrations between enterprise telephony platforms and contact centre technologies.
• Work with stakeholders to ensure call flows, customer routing journeys, and operational requirements are met.
• Support and optimise contact centre solutions, including queue management and reporting.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder management

Vendor management

Independent worker

Education

Degree in Information Systems, Telecommunications, Computer Science

Tools

Ribbon SBC

AudioCodes SBC

Job description

Every minute of every day, Smiths Detection’s threat detection and security screening technology helps to protect people and infrastructure, making the world a safer place.

Smiths Detection, a global leader in the development, manufacture and management of security and detection solutions designed to make the world a safer place. Our technology provides threat detection and screening solutions for customers in our key markets: aviation, ports and borders, defence, and urban security.

Our expertise spans 21 global offices, seven manufacturing sites and five R&D centres, with a global network of 3,000 dedicated colleagues contributing towards over 40 years at the frontline of advances in safety and security.

This results in careers built on variety and the opportunity to work on a range of state-of-the-art solutions, where you can develop your knowledge and experience every day.

The Opportunity:

As Unified Communications Manager, you will be the technical owner of Smiths Detection's global voice communications estate, supporting technologies including:

• Microsoft Teams Phone
• Direct Routing
• Session Border Controllers (SBCs)
• SIP Trunking
• PBX platforms
• Contact Centre technologies
• Call Routing and Dial Plan Services
• Teams Rooms
• Carrier services and telecommunications operations

You will work closely with Network Engineering, Cybersecurity, Service Delivery teams, and external providers to ensure our global communications platforms remain resilient, secure, and aligned to business needs.

What You'll Be Doing:

Unified Communications & Telephony Management

• Lead the day-to-day administration and support of enterprise telephony services, including Microsoft Teams Phone, SBCs, PBX systems, voicemail platforms, and telephony gateways.
• Manage SIP trunking, POTS services, carrier connectivity, numbering plans, and global telephony provisioning.
• Administer and optimise Teams Phone services including Direct Routing, Call Queues, Auto Attendants, Teams Rooms, and Survivable Branch Appliances.
• Support telephony infrastructure upgrades, migrations, and cloud transformation initiatives.

Call Routing & Contact Centre Technologies

• Design, configure, and support complex call routing solutions across global business operations.
• Manage dial plans, number management, routing policies, failover scenarios, and voice resilience strategies.
• Support integrations between enterprise telephony platforms and contact centre technologies.
• Work with business stakeholders to ensure call flows, customer routing journeys, and operational requirements are effectively delivered.
• Support and optimise contact centre solutions, including queue management, routing logic, reporting, and integration with collaboration platforms.
• Act as a subject matter expert for voice architecture and customer communication technologies.

SBC & Carrier Management

• Administer and maintain Session Border Controllers including Ribbon, AudioCodes, or equivalent platforms.
• Ensure secure voice routing, certificate management, policy enforcement, and service continuity.
• Act as the primary technical contact for AT&T, DXC, AWS, telecommunications carriers, and managed service providers.
• Manage escalations, service reviews, provisioning requests, and supplier performance activities.

Service Reliability & Support

• Provide third-line support for complex voice incidents and operational issues.
• Perform root cause analysis on call quality problems, outages, routing failures, and service disruptions.
• Monitor telephony health, call analytics, voice quality metrics, and service performance dashboards.
• Drive continuous improvement activities to enhance service availability and user experience.

Security, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure telephony services comply with corporate security standards and industry best practices.
• Support SIP security, voice encryption, SBC hardening, fraud prevention, and emergency calling requirements.
• Maintain operational runbooks, technical standards, architecture documentation, and support procedures.
• Partner with Cybersecurity and Infrastructure teams to maintain a secure and compliant communications environment.

Essential Experience for this role:

• Significant experience supporting enterprise Unified Communications and telephony environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Teams Phone and Direct Routing.
• Experience administering SBC technologies such as Ribbon, AudioCodes, or equivalent.
• Proven experience managing SIP trunking, VoIP services, carrier platforms, and PBX systems.
• Experience designing and supporting complex call routing architectures and dial plans.
• Experience supporting or integrating contact centre technologies and customer communication platforms.
• Strong understanding of global telephony operations and carrier services.
• Experience managing technical relationships with telecommunications providers and managed service partners.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot voice quality, routing, and infrastructure issues.

Technical Knowledge:

• Microsoft Teams Phone
• Direct Routing
• SIP and VoIP protocols
• Session Border Controllers
• PBX and voice platforms
• Call flow design and routing technologies
• Contact centre and customer interaction platforms
• Dial plans and global numbering strategies
• QoS, voice networking, and WAN optimisation
• Telephony security and fraud prevention
• Cloud voice services and integrations

Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent stakeholder and vendor management skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage critical business services.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to lead technical projects, migrations, and service improvement initiatives.

• Degree in Information Systems, Telecommunications, Computer Science, or equivalent professional experience.

Desirable

• Microsoft Teams Voice Engineer Expert certification.
• Ribbon or AudioCodes certifications.
• Contact centre platform certifications.
• Telecommunications or Unified Communications vendor certifications.

Join us and we’ll help build your career, with excellent training and opportunities for career growth across the business, both locally and globally. You’ll experience an inclusive environment, with strong leadership and a focus on safety and wellbeing. You’ll also have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of benefits to suit your lifestyle, offering you and your family support from a health and wellbeing, financial andlifestyle perspective.

Join us and work for a world-leader, with the benefits and training to reward your dedication and skills. Be part of a team where we are making the world a safer place.

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Detection, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website.