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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a NOC Tier 3 Team Leader

💰 $110,000 - $150,000

NetworkingIT OperationsLeadershipTelecommunications

🎯 Role Definition

The NOC Tier 3 Team Leader serves as the cornerstone of our Network Operations Center, blending deep technical expertise with strong leadership. This role is responsible for guiding a team of senior engineers, acting as the ultimate escalation point for the most complex network issues, and driving the continuous improvement of our monitoring, incident management, and resolution processes. You will be the commander during major network incidents, ensuring rapid service restoration while communicating effectively with stakeholders at all levels. This position is critical for maintaining the stability, reliability, and performance of our global network infrastructure.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior NOC Engineer (Tier 3)
  • Lead Network Engineer
  • Network Operations Supervisor

Advancement To:

  • NOC Manager
  • Network Engineering Manager
  • Senior Manager, IT Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Senior Network Architect
  • Principal Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Act as the highest point of technical escalation within the NOC for all network-related incidents, providing expert-level troubleshooting and resolution for complex issues involving routing, switching, firewalls, and load balancing.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Tier 3 NOC engineers, managing schedules, conducting performance reviews, and fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement.
  • Command and control major incident response activities, coordinating cross-functional teams, and ensuring efficient service restoration while minimizing business impact.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive incident post-mortems and root cause analysis (RCA) reports, identifying underlying issues and driving preventative measures to enhance network resilience.
  • Oversee and approve network changes, maintenance activities, and configurations, ensuring they adhere to established change management policies and minimize operational risk.
  • Manage relationships and escalations with third-party vendors, service providers, and carriers to ensure timely resolution of external network dependencies.
  • Drive the evolution of NOC monitoring and alerting systems (e.g., SolarWinds, Datadog, Splunk), refining thresholds, developing new checks, and reducing false positives to create a proactive operational environment.
  • Develop, refine, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), runbooks, and other critical documentation to ensure consistent and effective operational execution.
  • Serve as the primary communication conduit to IT leadership and business stakeholders during high-priority incidents, providing clear, concise, and timely updates.
  • Direct the team in performing advanced packet capture analysis using tools like Wireshark to diagnose elusive application and network performance problems.
  • Ensure 24/7/365 operational coverage by managing on-call rotations and escalation matrices for the Tier 3 team.
  • Proactively identify opportunities for network automation using scripting languages (Python, Ansible) to reduce manual toil and improve operational efficiency.
  • Lead operational readiness reviews for new services and technologies to ensure they are supportable and meet the NOC's standards before being deployed into production.
  • Analyze network capacity and performance trends, providing data-driven recommendations for upgrades and architectural enhancements to the Network Engineering teams.
  • Conduct regular training sessions and knowledge-sharing workshops to elevate the technical capabilities of the entire NOC organization, from Tier 1 to Tier 3.

Secondary Functions

  • Perform deep-dive analysis on network performance data to identify trends, predict future issues, and support ad-hoc reporting requests from leadership.
  • Contribute to the network operations strategy and technology roadmap by providing insights on tool effectiveness, process gaps, and automation opportunities.
  • Collaborate with Network Engineering, Security, and other IT departments to translate operational needs into actionable engineering requirements and ensure seamless service transition.
  • Participate in and lead operational readiness reviews, change advisory board (CAB) meetings, and post-incident review sessions to ensure network stability.
  • Maintain accurate and up-to-date network diagrams and architectural documentation for operational reference.
  • Assist in budget planning for the NOC by providing input on staffing, training, and tooling requirements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-Level Routing & Switching: Deep knowledge of BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, and MPLS in complex, multi-vendor environments (Cisco, Juniper, Arista).
  • Network Security: Proficiency with next-generation firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA), including policy management, VPNs, and threat analysis.
  • SD-WAN & Cloud Networking: Hands-on experience with SD-WAN technologies (e.g., Viptela, Silver Peak) and a strong understanding of networking principles in public cloud environments (AWS, Azure).
  • Network Monitoring & Analysis: Mastery of tools like SolarWinds, Nagios, Datadog, Splunk, and Wireshark for proactive monitoring and deep-dive troubleshooting.
  • Automation & Scripting: Practical experience using Python, Ansible, or other scripting languages to automate network tasks and reporting.
  • ITIL Framework: Solid understanding of ITIL principles, particularly in Incident, Problem, and Change Management.
  • Load Balancing: Strong knowledge of load balancing concepts and hands-on experience with platforms like F5 BIG-IP or Citrix NetScaler.

Soft Skills

  • Leadership & Mentorship: Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop a team of highly technical engineers.
  • Calm Under Pressure: Exceptional composure and decision-making skills during high-stress, major incident scenarios.
  • Communication Excellence: Superior verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical issues to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Analytical Problem-Solving: A methodical and analytical approach to troubleshooting, with a passion for solving complex puzzles and finding the root cause.
  • Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the bigger picture and contribute to the long-term strategy of network operations.
  • Collaboration & Teamwork: A strong collaborative mindset to work effectively with engineering, security, and application teams.
  • Ownership & Accountability: A powerful sense of ownership for the stability of the network and the performance of the team.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a technical field or equivalent demonstrated professional experience. Industry certifications (e.g., CCNP, JNCIP, PCNSE) are highly valued.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's or Master's Degree in a technical discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology
  • Telecommunications Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8-12+ years

Preferred: A proven track record of 7+ years in a senior NOC or network engineering role within a large-scale enterprise environment, complemented by at least 2-3 years in a formal team leadership or supervisory capacity.

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