Director – Partner Networks based at Gurgaon

Job Description:

The Director – Partner Networks is the senior leader accountable for the quality, reliability and
customer experience of company’s partner-operated FTTH networks across India. The role leads two
pillars: on-ground partner network assurance (through the AVPs – Partner Network Assurance and
their regional teams) and the Partner Support Centre, a technical call centre that resolves network,
hardware and firmware issues for partners.
Beyond running operations, this role sets the direction: the policies, processes, architecture

standards and governance frameworks that make a large partner network perform like one high-
quality network. We are looking for a leader who has run partner and direct operations hands-on,

and who has since spent the last few years driving process excellence and policy from a central
command role.
Leadership is the core of this role. Technical depth is expected, but success will be defined by
the quality of leadership, critical thinking, judgement and data-based decision making: the ability to
lead senior leaders, cut through complexity, make sound calls with incomplete information, and
align partners and cross-functional teams behind clear priorities.

Key responsibilities

1. Strategy and function leadership
Define the vision, operating model and multi-year roadmap for Partner Networks, aligned with
business growth and customer experience goals.
Set annual targets for network quality, complaint ratios, MTTR and partner performance; cascade
them to AVPs, regions and partners.
Own the function’s budget, headcount plan and organisation design.
2. Partner network quality governance

Hold overall accountability for complaint ratios, MTTR, uptime and customer experience across
all partner networks.
Lead the AVPs – Partner Network Assurance, ensuring consistent standards and execution across
regions.
Run a strong governance rhythm: daily dashboards, weekly regional reviews, monthly business
reviews and quarterly partner performance reviews.
Drive escalation and recovery plans for chronic or high-impact partner networks, including
turnaround or exit decisions.
3. Process excellence and policy making
Design and continuously improve the end-to-end processes for partner operations: installation,
fault management, maintenance, escalation and partner onboarding.
Frame policies on partner SLAs, incentives and penalties, quality certification, compliance and
audits.
Apply process excellence methods (Lean, Six Sigma, root-cause analysis) to remove failure points
and reduce cost and effort.
Define clear RACI between partners, field teams, support centre, NOC and other functions.
4. Network architecture and standards
Own the reference FTTH architecture and deployment standards for partner networks, including
design, optical power budgets and equipment standards.
Approve solution designs for new geographies, high-density clusters and network upgrades.
Evaluate and standardise equipment (OLT, ONU, switches, passives) with Technology,
Procurement and vendors.
5. Partner Support Centre
Lead the AVP – Partner Support Centre in running a high-performing technical call centre for
partners.
Set the support model: tiered resolution, tele-engineer skill levels, knowledge base and
escalation paths to NOC, firmware teams and field teams.
Drive first-call resolution, response and resolution times, and partner satisfaction with the centre.
Use support centre data to spot systemic network, firmware and hardware issues and drive
permanent fixes.
6. Technology, tools and automation
Champion the use of NMS, ticketing, field force and analytics tools to give real-time visibility of
partner network health.
Drive automation of monitoring, alerting, fault detection and reporting; partner with Product and
IT on system roadmaps.

Build data-driven early-warning mechanisms for network degradation and partner under-
performance.

7. People leadership and capability
Lead, coach and develop the AVPs and their leadership teams; build a strong succession bench.
Build capability across company teams and partners through structured training, certification and
knowledge programmes.
Foster a culture of ownership, discipline and customer focus.

8. Cross-functional and executive stakeholder management
Work closely with NOC, Core Network, Technology, Firmware, Customer Service, Sales and
Partner Business leadership.
Represent Partner Networks in leadership forums; present performance, risks and investment
cases to senior management.
Build trusted relationships with key partners to align them with company quality agenda.
Key performance indicators
KPI What it measures
Complaint ratio Network complaints per active subscriber, pan-India and by region
MTTR Average time to resolve partner-network faults
Repeat complaint rate Customers raising the same issue again within a set window
Network uptime Availability of partner-run networks
Major outage restoration
time

Time to restore area-wide and mass disruptions

Installation TAT and first-
time-right

Speed and quality of new connections by partners

Partner performance mix Share of partners meeting quality benchmarks; chronic partners turned around

Support centre performance First-call resolution, response and resolution times, partner satisfaction
Process and policy adoption SOP compliance and audit scores across regions and partners
Cost efficiency Cost of network operations and support per subscriber
Team health Leadership bench strength, attrition and capability-building coverage
Key skills and competencies
Leadership, critical thinking and decision making (Critical)
Leading through senior leaders: setting direction, building leadership teams and driving
outcomes at scale.

Critical and structured thinking: breaking down complex, ambiguous problems, weighing trade-
offs and arriving at clear, well-reasoned decisions.

Data-based decision making: framing the right questions, reading data with rigour, separating
signal from noise and acting on evidence rather than opinion.
Sound judgement under pressure and with incomplete information, especially during large-scale
disruptions.
Stakeholder influence and negotiation with partners, peers and senior management.
Change leadership: driving adoption of new processes, policies and ways of working across
teams and partners.
Strategic and process leadership (Expert)
Designing operating models, governance frameworks and policies for large, distributed
operations.

Process excellence: process mapping and redesign, Lean / Six Sigma, structured RCA and
continuous improvement.
Designing partner SLAs, scorecards, incentive and penalty structures.
FTTH and network architecture (Expert)
GPON/XGS-PON FTTH architecture, splitter design, optical power budgeting and deployment
standards.
Strong foundational knowledge of OLT, ONU and MPLS / aggregation switches at hardware and
firmware level.
Ability to review solution designs and guide complex, multi-layer troubleshooting.
Partner and field operations (Expert)
Running FTTH operations at scale through both LCO / partner networks and direct field teams.
Driving complaint ratios, MTTR, uptime and installation performance across many regions.
Managing large-scale disruptions and crisis situations.
Technical support operations (Strong)
Setting up and running technical support or NOC-style centres: tiered support, knowledge
management, SLAs and escalation design.
Tools, data and automation (Strong)
NMS/EMS, ticketing, field force and analytics platforms.
Using data and dashboards to run the function, spot trends and make decisions.
Defining requirements for automation and system improvements with Product and IT teams.

Desired Profile / Criteria / Skills :

Qualifications
B.E./B.Tech in Electronics, Telecommunications, Electrical or Computer Science.
MBA or equivalent management qualification preferred.
Lean / Six Sigma or process excellence certification is an advantage.
Leadership traits (critical for this role)
For this role, leadership and behavioural strengths carry as much weight as technical expertise. The

ideal candidate will demonstrate:
Strategic and critical thinking: sees the bigger picture, challenges assumptions, asks the
right questions and connects operational detail to business outcomes.
Data-based decision making: insists on facts and evidence; uses data to diagnose problems,
set priorities, track progress and hold teams accountable.
Sound judgement: makes clear, timely decisions in ambiguous or high-pressure situations, and
owns the outcome.
Leader of leaders: sets direction for AVPs and senior managers, delegates with clarity, coaches
for growth and builds a strong succession bench.
Systems thinker: builds processes, policies and frameworks that scale, rather than relying on
individual heroics.
Influence without authority: aligns partners, peers and cross-functional teams behind shared
goals through credibility and persuasion.
Ownership and accountability: takes full responsibility for results across the function and sets
the same standard for the team.
Change leader: drives transformation with persistence, brings people along and makes new
ways of working stick.
Executive presence and communication: communicates crisply and confidently with senior
leadership, partners and teams; presents complex issues simply.
Integrity and fairness: firm on standards, fair in execution and transparent in dealings with
partners and teams.
Grounded in operations: has done the job on the ground and knows what works in the field.
Customer focus: keeps the end-user experience at the centre of every decision.
Willing to travel across regions as needed; fluent in Hindi and English.

Experience and qualifications
Experience
12–16 years in broadband, ISP, telecom or cable operations with deep FTTH exposure.
Has run FTTH network operations hands-on at a senior level (AVP or equivalent), both through
LCO / partner networks and through direct field teams.
4+ years in a central leadership role driving process excellence, policy making and the design of
technical and operational processes.
Proven record of improving complaint ratios, MTTR and network quality across large, multi-region
operations.
Experience leading senior managers and large teams across multiple states; experience
overseeing a technical support centre or NOC is a strong plus.

Demonstrated leadership track record: building high-performing leadership teams, leading large-
scale change and making high-stakes, data-backed decisions.