Core Network Lead, Run Team

Location: Europe; United Kingdom; Spain Workplace: remote Help Us Build The Future of Travel At Airalo, we're making it easier for people to stay connected wherever they travel. As the world's first eSIM store, we help millions of travelers access affordable mobile data in 200+ countries and regions around the world. Today, we're a team of 400+ people across 60+ countries, building a product used by travelers every day. We've grown quickly, but we've worked hard to keep what matters: trust, ownership, and the freedom for people to do great work without unnecessary layers or bureaucracy. We're fully remote by design, genuinely global, and united by a shared mission to make travel simpler for everyone. Your Next Destination Location: Remote. Contract: Full-time, permanent. Benefits: Learn more about our benefits here in this link - https://airalo-public.notion.site/Benefits-25396a97ffca81fb9bc1f0be479f1be3?pvs=74  Languages: English is our main working language day to day, so you'll need to be comfortable communicating in it both in meetings and async.   We are looking for a highly skilled, hands-on Technical Team Lead to lead the global build and technical integration of Full MVNO systems. In this role, you will lead a dedicated Build Team responsible for architecting, integrating, testing, and commissioning end-to-end Full MVNO capabilities across global markets. Operating under a Build-to-Run model, you and your team will build new MVNO capabilities and host MNO integrations from the ground up, execute rigorous testing, and hand over stable, operational systems to a dedicated Run team after launch. This role is ideal for someone with deep technical expertise in Mobile Core networks across voice, VoLTE, data, and SMS, strong knowledge of telecommunications regulations, and experience leading engineering and QA teams. What You'll Do: Lead, mentor and manage a team of seven engineers, QA specialists and Site Reliability Engineers responsible for operating the Mobile Core Network across its full lifecycle, from design, build and deployment through steady-state operations, change management, incident response and upgrades. Manage the team’s work and people, covering sprint and capacity planning, prioritisation and stakeholder communication, alongside regular 1-to-1 meetings, fair and evidence-based performance reviews, and support for career growth. Establish engineering best practices, automated testing strategy and technical handover standards. Operate and manage the mobile core, built on a mix of CNFs and VNFs, from the subscriber database (HSS/HLR) through packet core, signalling (Diameter, SS7, DNS, GTP), voice and messaging platforms, ensuring end-to-end service readiness across data, voice and SMS, and working with NEPs, IPX/GRX partners, IaaS partners and Managed Service and SaaS providers. Own the performance of the Mobile Core Network to meet 99.98% service uptime per year, defining and reporting on health KPIs (availability, attach and session success rates, call and SMS success rates, latency, packet loss and utilisation), supported by observability, monitoring and proactive alerting, and by preventative measures such as geo-redundant design, capacity forecasting, failover testing, post-incident reviews and problem management. Own configuration management of the Core Network as a critical Day 2 discipline, including version-controlled configuration, change control, automated deployment and rollback, and configuration drift detection across all CNFs, VNFs and environments. Work with the Build Team to take new systems into live operation, whether CNF, VNF, Managed Service or partner SaaS, by defining operational readiness and handover criteria, accepting systems into the Run Team once they meet them, and ensuring the team is trained, documented and equipped to operate them with minimal risk to service. What You'll Bring: 5+ years hands-on in mobile core networks 2+ years leading a team of engineers and/or QA specialists in an agile or delivery-focused environment. Strong working knowledge of both packet core and voice core, including the subscriber database (HSS/HLR), policy and charging, VoLTE and legacy circuit-switched voice. Expertise across the signalling stack, including Diameter, SS7 and SIP. Experience with messaging architecture and SMS routing, including interworking with other operators. Strong delivery mindset across multiple concurrent rollout streams, with clear communication and the ability to produce documentation good enough to hand a system over on. Nice to have Automation experience: CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible), containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes) or automated signalling test frameworks. Hands-on with core MVNO vendors such as Nokia, Ericsson, Mavenir, Oracle Communications, Cisco, Summa Networks, NetNumber or XIUS. Cloud-native or virtualised network functions on AWS, Azure, GCP or private cloud. Degree in telecommunications engineering, computer science, electrical engineering or similar. Why People Join Us We started Airalo to make staying connected effortless, wherever you are in the world. Today, millions of travelers rely on our eSIMs, and many of the people building the product were customers first. Our team spans 60+ countries, united by a shared belief that great work happens when people are trusted to own what they do. There's trust to own what you do, space to focus without constant layers of process, and a clear sense of what you're responsible for from day one. As Airalo continues to grow, so do the opportunities to learn, take on new challenges, and make a real impact - from anywhere in the world. Before You Hit Apply By applying, you acknowledge and agree that, in case of successful application, Airalo may request to run background checks as a condition for entering into an agreement with you. Rest assured that these checks will only occur upon your prior consent and at the end of the selection process, and will be strictly limited to what is allowed under the laws that are applicable to you. All data that you share or that we collect in connection with such checks will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available here: www.airalo.com/more-info/privacy-policy?srsltid=AfmBOooBT0rXAj1FaNelZ3VfN0wvhwzvAoxdtHnOKSVETpiSjiXVuycy    We sincerely thank all applicants in advance for submitting their interest in this opportunity. Airalo is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity, equity & inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations upon request for individuals with disabilities throughout our job interview process. At Airalo, we believe in roaming-free recruitment. Just as we provide clear connectivity for travelers, we provide clear salary ranges for our candidates. 🌍 This role is remote and open to candidates across our supported locations in Europe. The range below reflects the full salary range for this role across the countries where it's available: 📍 UK: £89,600 – £134,400 📍 Ireland: €76,800 – €115,200 📍 Western & Southern Europe: €50,800 – €130,200 📍 Central, Eastern Europe & Caucasus: €54,400 – €104,496 Your Home Destination 🛫 At Airalo, we use localized market data, so your compensation band depends on where you’re based. You can learn more about our compensation philosophy in our public handbook. Most of our hires come in within the first half of the band, which leaves you room to grow, and you’ll see exactly what that looks like from day one. In exceptional cases, where a candidate’s skills and experience clearly exceed the role’s requirements, we’re happy to discuss going higher. We’ll walk through your range together on your first call with our Talent team, so we’re all aligned for takeoff! 🎒✨