Communication System Engineer

Rural Metro Fire Department; California (MO); On-site; USD 105,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Global Medical Response is seeking a Communication System Engineer to support, maintain, and improve land mobile radio and RoIP infrastructure across California. The role involves hands-on work with tower sites, dispatch centers, networking components, and FCC coordination, with extensive travel to facilities and hospitals.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in LMR, strong troubleshooting, network skills, and experience with Motorola systems; travel up to 50–75% is expected.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of Land Mobile Radio (LMR) experience supporting conventional and trunked systems.
• Strong radio troubleshooting skills to isolate RF, network, console, and ISP issues.
• RoIP experience with Motorola WAVE, ESChat, JPS, NXU gateways or similar platforms.
• IP networking knowledge: TCP/IP, routing, switching, VPNs, VLANs, WANs.
• Dispatch console experience with MCC7500, Mindshare or similar systems.
• Field/tower site experience; travel up to 50–75% as required.
• Vendor and carrier coordination with tower owners, ISPs, and contractors.
• Radio programming: talk groups, templates, frequency plans, user permissions.
• Public safety/EMS/aviation comms experience preferred.
• FCC licensing, frequency coordination, and regulatory compliance.
• Experience with Motorola ASTRO 25, SmartZone, P25 trunked systems.

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot LMR systems and related infrastructure.
• Monitor and resolve radio system outages affecting operations.
• Travel to tower sites and dispatch facilities for inspection and maintenance.
• Collaborate with vendors and service providers for repairs.
• Diagnose interference and coverage degradation issues.
• Support RoIP, WAVE, ESChat, and dispatch technologies.
• Program radios, consoles, talk groups, channels, and permissions.
• Maintain system documentation and CMDB records.
• Provide after-hours support for critical communications outages.

Skills

Land Mobile Radio (LMR)

Radio troubleshooting

RoIP interoperability

IP networking

Dispatch consoles

Field/tower site experience

Vendor coordination

Radio programming

Public safety/EMS/aviation comms

FCC licensing & frequency coordination

Motorola ASTRO 25 / SmartZone / P25

Documentation & PM

Job description

Communication System Engineer

Location: Must reside in CA and be willing to travel throughout the state

Annual Compensation: $105,000 - $110,000 DOE

Why Choose GMR?

Global Medical Response (GMR) and its family of solutions are dedicated to delivering compassionate, quality medical care, primarily in the areas of emergency and patient relocation services. Here you’ll embark in meaningful work that will make an impact on you and the customers we service. View our employees’ stories on how we provide care to the world at www.AtaMomentsNotice.com.

GMR’s Core Behaviors

keep care at the center, raise your hand, seekto understand, find a way together and be accountable—uniteour teamsand set us apart in emergency medical services.

Overview

The Communication System Engineer is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and improving GMR’s land mobile radio, RoIP, and communications-center radio infrastructure. This role provides hands-on technical support for tower-site equipment, dispatch radio systems, networking components, radio programming, FCC frequency coordination, troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and documentation. The position supports reliable emergency communications across field operations, communications centers, aviation support, and IT infrastructure teams.

Summary / Responsibilities

• Install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot land mobile radio (LMR) systems, repeaters, base stations, dispatch consoles, antennas, duplexers, combiners, and associated communications infrastructure
• Monitor, diagnose, and resolve radio system outages impacting air medical, EMS, dispatch, and communications center operations.
• Perform radio system testing, radio checks, coverage validation, and operational verification after repairs or maintenance activities.
• Travel to tower sites, communications centers, dispatch facilities, hospitals, and field locations to perform inspections, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repairs.
• Troubleshoot tower-site equipment including routers, firewalls, network circuits, antennas, coaxial cabling, power systems, and radio infrastructure.
• Coordinate and manage repairs performed by tower owners, contractors, vendors, ISPs, utilities, and equipment service providers.
• Investigate and resolve radio interference, bleed-over, crosstalk, receive/transmit failures, coverage degradation, and intermittent communications issues.
• Support Motorola WAVE, ESChat, RoIP, JPS, NXU/RSP gateway, and dispatch console technologies.
• Support mission-critical Push-to-Talk and broadband communications platforms including cellular-connected communications devices, Sonim handhelds, ESChat, Motorola WAVE, and associated mobile communications technologies.
• Configure, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot dispatch consoles, Mindshare systems, MCC7500 equipment, console audio devices, and communications center radio interfaces.
• Perform software, firmware, and infrastructure upgrades for dispatch consoles, radio systems, gateways, routers, and support communications platforms.
• Support Cisco routers, Palo Alto firewalls, network connectivity, and communications network infrastructure supporting radio systems.
• Troubleshoot WAN, ISP, and network-related radio system outages and coordinate restoration activities.
• Configure and maintain WAVE repeaters, voice ports, radio gateways, dispatch interfaces, and talk group connectivity
• Support aircraft, aviation, EMS, fire service, public safety, and dispatch communications requirements.
• Program radios, consoles, talk groups, channels, user permissions, and communications templates.
• Add, modify, and maintain talk group assignments for Sonim, WAVE, ESChat, and related communications devices.
• Perform preventive maintenance inspections of radio sites, communications centers, mobile equipment, and tower infrastructure.
• Maintain communications equipment inventories, spare equipment, and asset records.
• Manage radio, console, accessory, and infrastructure procurement activities including quotes, purchase orders, Basware requests, and vendor coordination.
• Order, receive, track, ship, and distribute radios, chargers, antennas, consoles, and supporting communications equipment.
• Coordinate new site deployments, base openings, base relocations, and communications infrastructure implementations.
• Support JPS/WAVE integration projects and RoIP deployment initiatives.
• Participate in communications infrastructure planning, system refreshes, dispatch upgrades, and radio modernization efforts.
• Create and maintain documentation for radio systems, dispatch equipment, communications assets, and CMDB or similar inventory control software records.
• Validate and document communications assets including dispatch consoles, gateways, repeaters, and discovered configuration items (CIs).
• Work closely with communications center leadership, field operations, pilots, EMS crews, dispatch personnel, vendors, tower owners, IT teams, and service providers.
• Provide telephone, remote, and on-site technical support for communications-related incidents and service requests.
• Participate in incident response, outage management, troubleshooting bridges, and escalations supporting critical operational communications.
• Maintain ticket documentation, status updates, troubleshooting notes, vendor interactions, and resolution records within the service management platform.
• Support after-hours, emergency, and mission-critical communications restoration activities as required

Qualifications

• 5+ years of Land Mobile Radio (LMR) experience supporting conventional and trunked radio systems, repeaters, base stations, and mobile/portable radios.
• Strong Radio Troubleshooting Skills Ability to isolate RF, network, console, antenna, repeater, power, and ISP-related issues quickly.
• Radio over IP (RoIP) Experience with Motorola WAVE, ESChat, JPS, NXU gateways, RSP/NXU-Z2 devices, or similar interoperability platforms.
• IP Networking Knowledge TCP/IP, routing, switching, VPNs, VLANs, WAN circuits, and network troubleshooting.
• Dispatch Console Experience supporting dispatch centers, radio consoles, MCC7500, Mindshare, Avtec, and similar systems.
• Field and Tower Site Experience traveling to remote tower sites, diagnosing equipment, working with vendors, and supporting infrastructure in the field. Ability and willingness to travel up to 50-75% as required.
• Vendor and Carrier Coordination Experience working with tower owners, ISPs, contractors, Motorola service shops, and telecommunications providers.
• Radio Programming Experience with talk groups, templates, frequency plans, code plugs, and user permissions.
• Public Safety / EMS / Aviation Communications Experience supporting emergency services, communications centers, public safety agencies, air medical operations, or 911 environments.
• Experience supporting FCC licensing, frequency coordination, license modifications, radio spectrum management, and regulatory compliance.
• Experience with Motorola ASTRO 25, SmartZone, P25 trunked radio systems, subscriber programming, and radio fleet management.
• Documentation and Project Management Skills with ability to maintain accurate system documentation, inventory, CMDB records, preventative maintenance records, and project plans

The application window for this position is anticipated to close on 9/19/26.

EEO Statement

Global Medical Response and its family of companies are an Equal Opportunity Employer, which includes supporting veterans and providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with a disability.