Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wireless Officer

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires an experienced Wireless Officer to lead and execute wireless network planning, design, deployment and optimization activities across cellular and enterprise wireless environments. The Wireless Officer will own RF modeling and capacity planning, coordinate site acquisition and civil works, manage vendor and contractor delivery, troubleshoot network performance issues, and ensure compliance with spectrum and safety regulations. This role acts as the technical specialist between product, operations and field teams to deliver reliable, high‑performance LTE/5G and Wi‑Fi services.

Key keywords: Wireless Officer, RF Engineer, wireless network optimization, LTE, 5G, Wi‑Fi, DAS, small cells, site acquisition, spectrum management, RF planning.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

RF Technician or Field Service Technician
Telecom/Network Engineer (entry/mid level)
Site Acquisition Coordinator or Construction Supervisor

Advancement To:

Senior RF/Optimization Manager
Head of Wireless Networks / Network Architecture Lead
Program Manager (Network Rollout) / Technical Project Lead

Lateral Moves:

Project Manager (Telecom Infrastructure)
Site Acquisition / Permitting Manager
Wireless Solutions Architect / DAS Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead RF planning and radio network design for LTE and 5G deployments, including propagation modeling, RF link budgets, antenna selection, and capacity forecasting to meet indoor and outdoor coverage targets.
Perform end‑to‑end wireless site surveys and field propagation studies (drive test, walk test), analyze measurements and convert findings into actionable design and optimization plans.
Develop and maintain accurate RF models using tools such as Atoll, iBwave, Planet, TEMS, Pathloss or similar, ensuring baseline models align with live network KPIs and expected customer experience.
Design and validate distributed antenna systems (DAS), small cells and indoor coverage solutions for enterprise, stadium and public venue environments, producing detailed bill of materials and installation guidelines.
Optimize network performance by tuning parameters (eirp, antenna tilt/azimuth, power settings), performing cell splitting, neighbor relation adjustments and LTE/5G KPI analysis to improve throughput, latency and handover success.
Own capacity planning and traffic forecasting for defined geographic clusters, translating subscriber growth and traffic trends into upgrade plans and spectrum re‑farming strategies.
Coordinate and manage end‑to‑end site acquisition activities: stakeholder liaison, lease negotiations, permitting, structural assessments, RF exposure calculations and local authority approvals.
Oversee vendor and contractor delivery for civil, tower, RF and backhaul works; manage schedules, quality assurance, punch lists and acceptance testing to meet rollout milestones and budgets.
Test, commission and accept new sites and equipment (RRUs, BBUs, small cells, Wi‑Fi APs), performing integration validation, X2/Nbr setup, core connectivity checks and fault isolation prior to service activation.
Troubleshoot complex network issues and lead root cause analysis for outages, persistent coverage gaps or interference events, coordinating corrective actions across engineering, operations and vendors.
Manage spectrum licensing and compliance activities, including coordination with regulators, performing RF exposure (EMF) assessments and maintaining records to ensure legal and safety compliance.
Implement and manage process for regular KPI monitoring and reporting (availability, accessibility, retainability, throughput, PING), creating dashboards and anomaly detection routines to proactively improve network health.
Lead upgrades and software migrations for radio network elements, planning maintenance windows, rollback strategies and post‑upgrade validation to minimize service disruption.
Design and monitor backhaul solutions (fiber, microwave) to ensure latency, bandwidth and redundancy requirements are met for new and upgraded radio sites.
Coordinate cross‑functional planning with product managers, capacity planners, core network and OSS/BSS teams to align rollout schedules, feature launches and subscriber impact assessments.
Prepare and maintain technical documentation, site dossiers, acceptance certificates, as‑built diagrams and RF drawings for auditability and operational readiness.
Participate in budget planning and cost control for RF projects, providing input on CAPEX/OPEX estimates, vendor quotes and lifecycle cost considerations.
Implement interference detection and mitigation plans (co‑channel and adjacent channel), including drive test verification, filtering, retuning and infrastructure adjustments.
Mentor junior RF engineers and field technicians, providing on‑the‑job guidance for drive tests, troubleshooting, and RF tool usage.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives to standardize RF planning templates, deployment checklists and optimization playbooks to accelerate delivery and maintain consistency.
Collaborate with enterprise customers and site owners to define SLAs, manage escalations and ensure on‑time remediation of service quality complaints.
Ensure health, safety and environmental standards are upheld on site; perform site risk assessments and enforce PPE, tower safety and contractor compliance.

Secondary Functions

Support ad‑hoc measurement requests and deep‑dive performance analysis for special projects (capacity tests, new feature validations).
Contribute to the wireless technology roadmap by evaluating new spectrum bands, massive MIMO configurations and 5G SA/NSA migration strategies.
Collaborate with business units to prioritize network investments based on revenue impact, customer experience metrics and competitive benchmarking.
Participate in agile sprint planning or iterative rollout planning cycles for network feature delivery and optimization tasks.
Maintain inventory and lifecycle records for RF assets, spare parts and test equipment; coordinate replenishment and calibration schedules.
Support RF policy and standards development, ensuring consistency in naming conventions, KPI definitions and cell configuration templates.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

RF planning and radio network design for GSM/UMTS/LTE and 5G NR (coverage, capacity and link budget expertise).
Strong experience with RF planning and optimization tools: Atoll, iBwave, TEMS, Planet, Pathloss, ICS Telecom or equivalents.
Drive test and measurement tool proficiency: TEMS, Nemo, Rohde & Schwarz, Keysight or similar; ability to collect, process and analyze measurement traces.
Knowledge of indoor solutions and DAS design, Wi‑Fi (802.11ac/ax) planning and integration with cellular systems.
Spectrum management and regulatory compliance knowledge, including EMF/ICNIRP calculations and licensing processes.
Site acquisition and civil works coordination skills, including antenna mounting, structural analysis and utility coordination.
Experience with baseband and radio equipment, RRU/BBU installations, and basic RF hardware troubleshooting.
Backhaul design awareness (fiber, microwave) and understanding of latency/bandwidth impacts on radio performance.
Proficiency with network monitoring and OSS tools, KPI dashboards, SQL queries, and report generation.
Familiarity with MIMO, beamforming, carrier aggregation and other modern radio features and their optimization implications.
Strong technical documentation skills: site design packages, acceptance test plans, as‑built drawings and RF reports.
Basic scripting or data analysis skills (Python, R, Excel VBA) to automate data processing and KPI analysis.

Soft Skills

Excellent stakeholder management and vendor coordination skills; able to manage contractors, landlords, local authorities and cross‑functional teams.
Strong analytical thinking and problem solving — able to convert measurement data into concrete remediation plans.
Clear written and verbal communication: produce executive summaries, technical reports and present findings to non‑technical leaders.
Project management discipline: prioritize tasks, manage schedules and deliverables under tight rollout timelines.
Attention to detail and quality‑orientation when validating designs, acceptance tests and configuration changes.
Adaptability and initiative: comfortable working in fast‑paced environments with evolving technology and requirements.
Leadership and mentoring: coach junior staff and foster knowledge transfer within the RF team.
Customer‑facing skills and escalation handling: manage SLAs and ensure customer satisfaction in operational incidents.
Negotiation skills for site leases, vendor contracts and spectrum coordination.
Time management and multi‑tasking: handle multiple site rollouts, optimization tasks and reporting duties concurrently.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Electronics, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Telecommunications, RF Engineering, Wireless Systems or MBA (for senior/managerial roles).
Professional certifications such as CWNA, CWNP, Cisco CCNA (for data/Wi‑Fi centric roles), Nokia/Ericsson/NSN vendor training, or 5G/NR certificates.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Telecommunications Engineering
Electrical / Electronics Engineering
Computer Engineering / Computer Science
RF Engineering / Wireless Communications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years of progressively responsible experience in RF planning, optimization or wireless network operations.

Preferred: 5+ years of hands‑on experience with LTE and 5G deployments, DAS/small cell integration, site acquisition processes and vendor management. Prior experience in large‑scale rollouts, stadium/venue projects or multi‑vendor environments is highly desirable.