Lead Architect / Solution Architect

Airtel; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 420,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

Airtel is seeking an IT Solution Architect/Lead with deep OSS expertise to design end-to-end, scalable IT solutions focusing on Service Fulfillment and Service Assurance. You will drive the architectural vision, designs, and integration strategies to streamline network provisioning, automation, and proactive incident management.

Responsibilities include leading architecture, aligning with TM Forum standards, and guiding cross-functional teams to deliver robust OSS ecosystems in a telecom

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in IT Solution Architecture or Systems Engineering.
• 5+ years of dedicated experience in the Telecommunications industry with a focus on the OSS domain.
• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, IT, telecommunications engineering or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end architectural design for network-facing OSS solutions.
• Develop target state architectures, transition plans and roadmaps for telecom operations and network automation.
• Design and implement automated Service Provisioning and Activation across multi-vendor networks.

Skills

OSS domain expertise

Service Fulfillment

Service Assurance

Telecom network operations

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/IT/Telecom

Tools

Kafka

RabbitMQ

NETCONF/YANG

SNMP

Open APIs

Job description

Role Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced IT Solution Architect/Lead-Architect with deep domain expertise in Telecommunications Operational Support Systems (OSS). The ideal candidate will be responsible for designing end-to-end, scalable, and resilient IT solutions with a specialized focus on Service Fulfillment and Service Assurance domains.

You will lead the architectural vision, technical design, and integration strategies to streamline our network operations, ensuring seamless network provisioning, zero-touch automation, exceptional network reliability, and proactive incident management

Key Responsibilities

Solution Architecture & Design

• Lead the end-to-end architectural design for network-facing OSS solutions.
• Develop target state architectures, transition plans, and technical roadmaps tailored to telecom operations and network automation.
• Ensure solutions adhere to industry standards, particularly TM Forum frameworks (eTOM, SID, TAM, Open APIs) and MEF standards.
• Collaborate with network engineering, IT operations, and product teams to translate complex network requirements into robust IT architecture.

Service Fulfillment Expertise

• Design and optimize architecture for Service Order Management (SOM) and Resource Order Management (ROM), ensuring seamless service decomposition, orchestration, and fall-out management.
• Architect automated Service Provisioning and Activation solutions across multi-vendor and multi-domain networks (e.g., Fiber/FTTx, MPLS,ILL, SD-WAN).
• Design and integrate Network and Service Inventory systems (Active and Passive) to maintain a unified, real-time view of network assets and topology.
• Architect Resource and Service Catalogs to enable catalog-driven, zero-touch provisioning.

Service Assurance Expertise

• Architect end-to-end Service Assurance platforms, encompassing Fault Management (FM), Performance Management (PM), and Service Quality Management (SQM).
• Design closed-loop automation solutions for proactive network monitoring, self-healing networks, and automated incident remediation.
• Integrate inventory and topology data to enable accurate Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) and Service Impact Analysis (SIA).
• Establish frameworks for SLA/SLO monitoring, network telemetry collection, and AIOps implementation to guarantee network health and customer experience.

Integration & Technical Leadership

• Define integration patterns and API strategies (REST, Event-Driven Architecture) for Northbound integration (to CRM/Billing/BSS systems) and Southbound integration (to EMS/NMS and network elements).
• Guide development and integration teams through the implementation phase, ensuring architectural compliance and resolving complex technical blockers.
• Evaluate and select third-party vendors, COTS products, and SaaS platforms to modernize the OSS ecosystem.

Required Qualifications & Experience

Education & Experience

• Bachelors or master’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Telecommunications Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in IT Solution Architecture or Systems Engineering.
• 5+ years of dedicated experience within the Telecommunications industry with a strict focus on the OSS domain.

Technical Skills

• Deep understanding of TM Forum standards (eTOM, Information Framework/SID, Open APIs) related to resource and service management.
• Proven track record designing Service Fulfillment systems (Service/Resource Orchestration, Network Inventory, Provisioning/Activation).
• Proven track record designing Service Assurance systems (Fault/Performance Management, SQM, Proactive Monitoring, Closed-loop automation).
• Strong understanding of modern architectural paradigms: Microservices, Event-driven architecture (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Solid grasp of network technologies and protocols: 4G/5G, MPLS, ISP, RAN, FTTx, SD-WAN, Microwave, SNMP, NETCONF/YANG, CORBA.

Soft Skills

• Exceptional analytical and troubleshooting abilities for complex, distributed systems.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, capable of bridging the gap between IT and Network Engineering teams.
• Proven leadership skills to guide and mentor technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications in Enterprise Architecture (e.g., TOGAF).
• TM Forum certifications (e.g., Open API, Frameworks).
• Experience with leading OSS COTS products and platforms (e.g., Netcracker, Ericsson OSS, Nokia OSS, Blue Planet, ServiceNow ITOM/Telecom).
• Hands-on experience with AI/ML applications in telecom operations