DevOps Team Lead (Telecom VAS) | Switch Communications | Islamabad, Pakistan

Switch Communications Ltd; Islamabad; On-site; PKR 2,800,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Switch Communications Ltd in Islamabad is seeking an experienced DevOps Team Lead to oversee CVAS DevOps operations, manage production environments, and coordinate deployments for mission-critical telecom platforms.

The role requires deep Linux administration, networking fundamentals, SMPP/USSD, Kafka, Redis, and Java-based backend support, with a strong emphasis on incident leadership and governance. This is a permanent on-site position offering competitive compensation and clear growth.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in DevOps, technical operations, or production support in telecom or VAS.
• Strong Linux admin, configuration and troubleshooting skills.
• Solid networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, HTTP, ports, sockets).
• SMS-side gateway knowledge (SMPP/USSD) and production messaging pipelines.
• SIP/IVR aware with PBX and Asterisk-like platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of the CVAS DevOps team and priorities.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for incidents and service issues.
• Drive End-to-End Service Ownership across telecom and messaging services.
• Track KPIs, incident trends, and service health; report capacity gaps.
• Coordinate releases, deployments, and rollbacks per change control.
• Mentor engineers progressing toward full DevOps ownership.
• Enforce monitoring, ticketing, and incident response standards.

Skills

Linux administration

Networking fundamentals

SIP/IVR knowledge

Incident leadership

English communication

Python scripting

CI/CD concepts

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

SMPP

USSD

Kafka

Redis

Java backend

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Prometheus

Grafana

Job description

Position Summary:

Switch Communications is actively seeking an experienced, high-caliber, and technical DevOps Team Lead specializing in Telecom Value-Added Services (VAS) with 3+ years of progressive professional experience in DevOps, technical operations, and production support to join our dynamic technology team on a full-time permanent on-site basis in Islamabad, Pakistan. In this critical technical leadership role, you will be responsible for overseeing Core Value-Added Services (CVAS) DevOps operations, managing production environments, coordinating deployments, and resolving complex incidents across mission-critical telecommunications platforms. You will leverage your deep specialist expertise in Linux administration, networking fundamentals, messaging pipelines, and telecom signaling protocols to deliver uncompromised system reliability, high availability, and operational excellence. This opportunity offers competitive compensation, executive technical visibility, and exceptional career growth prospects within a premier global telecommunications and messaging infrastructure enterprise.

Detailed Job Description:

As a DevOps Team Lead supporting Switch Communications in Islamabad, Pakistan, you will take full operational, tactical, and technical ownership of CVAS DevOps operations, team coordination, incident management, and platform reliability engineering. Your day-to-day responsibilities include leading the day-to-day operations of the CVAS DevOps team, coordinating priorities, workload, and technical activities across team members, acting as the first point of escalation for incidents, service issues, and customer complaints before escalation to management, driving the execution of Switch’s End-to-End Service Ownership Policy to ensure active monitoring and complete documentation, tracking and reporting team KPIs, incident trends, and service health while flagging capacity gaps, coordinating release, deployment, and rollback activities in line with change management procedures, mentoring and developing team members including Support Engineers progressing toward full DevOps ownership, ensuring monitoring, ticketing, and incident response standards using Zammad and Superset are consistently followed, coordinating with vendors and telco partners on operational issues, and supporting governance standards and audits. You will utilize your proactive troubleshooting and analytical problem-solving skills to resolve complex operational anomalies under strict telecommunications SLAs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead day-to-day operations of the CVAS DevOps team, coordinating team priorities, workload, and technical activities.
• Serve as the primary point of escalation for production incidents, service issues, and customer complaints.
• Drive execution of Switch’s End-to-End Service Ownership Policy across assigned telecom and messaging services.
• Track, analyze, and report team KPIs, incident trends, service health, and infrastructure capacity metrics.
• Coordinate release management, deployment cycles, and rollback activities in strict adherence to change control procedures.
• Mentor, coach, and develop technical team members and support engineers progressing toward full DevOps ownership.
• Enforce monitoring, ticketing, and incident response standards utilizing Zammad, Superset, and related operational tooling.
• Coordinate seamlessly with external telecommunications vendors, carriers, and internal engineering squads on operational resolutions.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Telecommunications Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum of 3+ years of progressive professional experience in DevOps, technical operations, or production support within telecom or VAS environments.
• Strong Linux administration, system configuration, and troubleshooting skills with a methodical approach to root-cause analysis.
• Solid understanding of networking fundamentals including TCP/IP, HTTP, network ports, sockets, and service connectivity.
• Practical working knowledge of SMS-side gateway operations including SMPP, USSD, and production messaging pipelines with Kafka and Redis.
• Working knowledge of call-side architectures including SIP, IVR call flows, PBX, and Asterisk-based communication platforms.
• Experience deploying, configuring, and troubleshooting Java-based backend microservices in production environments.
• Proficiency in relational database management (MySQL, PostgreSQL), monitoring suites (Prometheus, Grafana), CI/CD concepts, and Python/Bash scripting.
• Exceptional analytical, troubleshooting, debugging, and problem-solving capabilities under high-pressure telecommunications conditions.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills with strong incident management and team leadership abilities.
• Mandatory legal work eligibility and physical availability for full-time on-site operations in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Direct production working experience with SS7/SIGTRAN signaling protocols including MAP and CAMEL protocol families.
• Prior professional working experience in dedicated telecommunications VAS or CVAS environments (SMS platforms, subscription services).
• Hands-on familiarity with cloud computing platforms including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
• Experience coordinating multi-vendor integrations and external telecom partner deployments.

Application Information:

• Contact Name: Maryam Zahra (Talent Acquisition Specialist)
• Email: `[e-mail]`
• Subject Line: `DevOps Team Lead (Telecom VAS)`
• Company Website: https://www.switch.com.pk
• Salary/Rate: Market Competitive / Enterprise Telecom Package
• Deadline: Open until filled (Urgent Islamabad On-Site Opening)
• Notice Period: Immediate to 30 Days Preferred
• Contract Duration: Permanent / Full-Time On-Site Engagement (Islamabad, Pakistan)

Recruitment Pro Tip:

When applying for this DevOps Team Lead position at Switch Communications, ensure your resume explicitly highlights your telecom VAS, Linux administration, and SMPP/Kafka messaging portfolio, details your incident leadership experience, and uses the exact required email subject line.