Senior Director, Network Evolution

GSMA; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Learning & development opportunities

Generous holiday allowances

Remote working options

Job summary

GSMA North America is seeking a senior engineer to represent GSMA with government bodies and industry groups, shaping the evolution of mobile networks. You will liaise on dual-use scenarios across 5G, 6G, AI-enabled networking, and engage with academic partners to foster innovation and service ideas.

The role sits within the North American Team, primarily based in Atlanta, with responsibilities spanning policy, standards, and industry engagement to advance GSMA initiatives.

Qualifications

• Training in Engineering / Telecommunications.
• Significant experience in wireless telecommunications.
• Defence systems or technical policy experience is a plus.
• Strong understanding of 3GPP standards, 5G/6G and ISAC.

Responsibilities

• Provide government liaison and technical input on mobile network evolution.
• Advise GSMA North America forums and collaborate on standards.
• Analyse policy impacts on technology trends and roadmaps.
• Engage with academia and startups to foster innovation.

Skills

Wireless telecom

3GPP standards

Policy liaison

Network security

Education

Engineering / Telecommunications degree

Job description

Department: Technology
Team: North America
Location: Washington, D.C. (home-based)
Position Type: Contractor position until 31 December 2027, with the intention to renew on a rolling contract, subject to business needs. We welcome applications from candidates seeking full-time or part-time working arrangement

What the hiring manager says

"An opportunity to represent Networks and Network manufacturers as a primary technical representative for the GSMA, interfacing within the U.S. and globally with governmental, non-governmental and national/international technical bodies on the technology evolution of mobile networks and their use cases. A particular focus would be Dual-Use scenarios (in 5G, 5G Advanced, 6G and Private Networks, and AI-enabled networking). There will be a further aspect of the role liaising with academic institutions and startups on fostering innovation and service ideas. The role will work closely with the GSMA Chief Engineer to ensure the mobile sector is well represented and also to attract a wider membership base in the GSMA related to Dual-Use opportunities."

About the team

The GSMA Technology Team serves to define industry wide technical strategy, drive global standards alignment, coordinate operator and vendor collaboration, and produce authoritative technical frameworks that shape mobile ecosystem evolution.

• Technical strategy — Sets long term technology direction for 5G Advanced, 6G, NTN, AI native networks.
• Standards alignment — Harmonises positions across 3GPP, ITU, ETSI.
• Ecosystem coordination — Run working groups that unify operators, vendors, and partners.
• Technical frameworks — Publishes specifications, guidelines, and reference architectures used globally.

About the role

This is a multi-faceted role providing an opportunity for a senior, well rounded engineer to engage with a diverse range of senior stakeholders to shape the evolution of mobile networks in North America and also globally.

Success in the role will be demonstrated in the strength of GSMA’s inclusion in the North American based initiatives around Network Evolution.

The role is part of the North American Team. This team is primarily based in Atlanta and supports GSMA members in North America through regular physical meetings and multiple virtual activities.

Technology Communication

• Government Liaison: Represent GSMA within Washington in fora and groups discussing technology evolution of mobile networks to represent GSMA’s technical interest in the enablement of advanced mobile networks globally, including spectrum management and particularly infrastructure deployment in Dual-Use scenarios.
• Technology Input: Provide technical input for submissions regarding global network standards and technology.
• Influence: Promote consensus on technical industry positions, including open RAN, ISAC and AI integration in 6G.

Network Evolution & Member Engagement

• Member Liaison: Serve as a point of contact for US-based operator members on issues related to technology evolution and associated use cases, gathering consensus on network evolution challenges (e.g., 5G standalone rollout, network efficiency, role of ISAC).
• Technical Working Groups: Advise and participate in GSMA North America (and occasionally wider) forums, fostering collaboration between stakeholders to accelerate technical standards.
• Innovation: Foster innovation in all sectors, including academic, on future technology awareness.

Strategic Thought Leadership

• Industry Trends: Analyse and report on the impact of U.S. and NATO policy on global technology trends, particularly regarding 6G and AI-enabled infrastructure.
• Position Papers: Develop white papers and high-level briefs concerning technical aspects of network security, interoperability, and future technology roadmaps.

About you

• Training: Recognised training in Engineering / Telecommunications.
• Experience: Significant experience in wireless telecommunications. Ideally with additional experience in Defence Systems development (C3I/Sensors/Data Links) or in a technical policy role.
• Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of 3GPP standards, evolving 5G & 6G architecture, ISAC, spectrum, and network virtualization.
• Relationships: Established network within NTIA, ATIS and overall U.S. wireless industry.

About your skills

• Technical Competency: Across the board expertise in communications systems, architectures, security and operation.
• Strategic Communication: Ability to translate complex technical concepts into persuasive arguments and goals.
• Consensus Builder: Skilled at aligning competing interests of operator members.
• Communication: Strong drafting skills for documents and public speaking capabilities.

Contract type

Short term Contractor

Worker type

Contingent Worker

What We Offer

Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish.

In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.

To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page.

Being You at the GSMA

We care deeply about diversity, equity and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important, so flexi-time and remote working is available to all staff. We’re keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The sucess of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life.

GSMA Values

Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation.

Passionately driven

We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact.

Insightful leaders

We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance.

Stronger together

We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help.

Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.