Ceres: Operations Manager – Wireless Internet Infrastructure – Onsite – Ceres, Tulbagh, Wolseley posted by DataFin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

Our client, a wireless internet service provider based in Cape Town, is seeking an Operations Manager to oversee and grow its field operations function. The role is responsible for managing all on-the-ground activities related to the companys wireless network infrastructure. Key responsibilities include customer installations, tower and site maintenance, outage response, infrastructure upgrades and replacements, new tower builds, foundation works, and the expansion of the network into new areas. The ideal candidate will be a hands-on operational leader with strong technical knowledge of wireless internet infrastructure and proven experience managing field teams and contractors. A commercial mindset is essential, with the ability to support business growth through expansion into new towns, markets, and customer bases. This role requires a balance between maintaining reliable day-to-day network performance and driving the physical growth and development of the companys infrastructure. It includes oversight of maintenance, outage response, project execution, safety compliance, vendor coordination, and infrastructure planning within a telecommunications/WISP environment.

DUTIES:

Field Operations Management

The Operations Manager will take overall responsibility for the day-to-day field operations of the company, including:

• Managing installation teams, maintenance teams, tower crews, subcontractors, and field technicians.
• Scheduling and supervising client installations, tower work, maintenance visits, and infrastructure repairs.
• Ensuring that all field work is completed safely, professionally, and to company standards.
• Monitoring productivity, quality of work, technician performance, and job completion times.
• Creating and improving operating procedures for installations, callouts, maintenance, stock usage, safety, and reporting.

Telecom field operations roles typically include leading technicians and dispatch workflows, maintaining service quality, and aligning field activity with company objectives.

Wireless Network and Tower Maintenance

The Operations Manager will be responsible for the upkeep and reliability of the companys physical wireless infrastructure, including:

• Maintaining towers, masts, high sites, poles, brackets, cabinets, enclosures, batteries, solar systems, power systems, cabling, radios, antennas, switches, routers, and related infrastructure.
• Ensuring tower sites are inspected regularly and kept in good physical condition.
• Planning preventative maintenance schedules for towers, access points, backhaul links, client equipment, and power systems.
• Coordinating repairs after storm damage, lightning damage, vandalism, theft, equipment failure, or general wear and tear.
• Ensuring all tower work is performed according to proper safety standards and working-at-heights requirements.

Tower operations roles commonly include maintenance planning, tower asset management, vendor coordination, and knowledge of wireless build standards and safety procedures.

Client Premises Maintenance and Installations

The Operations Manager will oversee all work done at customer premises, including:

• New client installations.
• Upgrades to customer equipment.
• Repairs and troubleshooting at client sites.
• Relocation or realignment of client equipment.
• Quality control on mounting, cabling, signal strength, router setup, and customer handover.
• Ensuring technicians leave client premises neat, safe, and professionally completed.
• Managing repeat faults and ensuring root causes are identified rather than only temporary fixes being applied.

Outage Management and Emergency Response

The Operations Manager will be responsible for managing network outages and major service interruptions, including:

• Taking charge of field response during outages.
• Coordinating technicians, tower teams, network staff, suppliers, and contractors during incidents.
• Prioritising outage repairs based on customer impact and business importance.
• Ensuring key infrastructure is repaired or replaced quickly.
• Keeping management informed during major outages.
• Helping create post-outage reports and identifying preventative actions.
• Building processes to reduce repeat outages and improve network resilience.

Telecom field operations management often includes 24/7 outage response, incident management, network resiliency, project oversight, and safety compliance.

Infrastructure Replacement and Upgrades

The Operations Manager will identify and manage the replacement of ageing, damaged, unreliable, or underperforming infrastructure, including:

• Radios, antennas, routers, switches, brackets, cables, power systems, cabinets, batteries, and solar equipment.
• High-site equipment that has reached end-of-life.
• Client equipment that causes repeat faults or poor service quality.
• Tower components or foundations that require repair or strengthening.
• Infrastructure that must be upgraded to support higher capacity or expansion.

The role should ensure the company is not only reacting to failures but proactively improving the physical network.

Network Growth and Physical Expansion

A major part of the role will be to help grow the companys physical footprint. This includes:

• Identifying areas where new towers, masts, poles, or relay sites are needed.
• Planning physical expansion into new towns, suburbs, farms, or business areas.
• Working with management to prioritise expansion projects based on demand, coverage gaps, and commercial opportunity.
• Managing site surveys for new tower locations.
• Coordinating land access, landlord discussions, permissions, and site preparation.
• Managing the building of towers and masts.
• Coordinating civil works, including concrete foundations, trenching, grounding, site access, fencing, and equipment shelters where required.
• Ensuring new sites are built to a reliable and maintainable standard.
• Working with technical staff to ensure expansion plans support network capacity and customer growth.

Mobile and wireless infrastructure roles commonly cover towers, antennas, cabling, fibre, site acquisition, environmental monitoring, and maintaining physical infrastructure so the network can operate reliably.

Project and Contractor Management

The Operations Manager will manage projects from planning through completion, including:

• New tower builds.
• High-site upgrades.
• Major client installations.
• Backhaul upgrades.
• Power system upgrades.
• Civil works and concrete foundations.
• Infrastructure replacement projects.
• Rollout projects in new towns or areas.

Responsibilities include budgeting input, timelines, resource allocation, contractor supervision, quality checks, sign-off, and reporting.

Safety, Compliance, and Quality Control

The Operations Manager must ensure that all physical work is performed safely and legally, including:

• Working-at-heights safety.
• Vehicle and tool safety.
• Electrical and power safety.
• Proper use of PPE.
• Safe tower climbing practices.
• Site access procedures.
• Risk assessments before high-risk work.
• Quality control on installations and tower work.
• Ensuring contractors follow company standards.

Tower and field roles place strong emphasis on safety procedures, tower climbing standards, inspections, and the integrity of telecommunications infrastructure.

Required Skills and Experience

The ideal candidate should have:

• Experience in wireless internet, telecommunications, fibre, tower infrastructure, electrical, construction, or field operations.
• Strong understanding of physical network infrastructure, including towers, masts, antennas, radios, cabling, brackets, power systems, and customer premises equipment.
• Experience managing field teams, technicians, contractors, or construction crews.
• Strong planning and scheduling ability.
• Ability to manage multiple towns, sites, teams, and urgent issues at the same time.
• Strong problem-solving skills, especially during outages or infrastructure failures.
• Good understanding of safety requirements for towers, field work, electrical systems, and construction sites.
• Ability to manage stock, tools, vehicles, equipment, and field resources.
• Ability to communicate clearly with management, technical staff, technicians, contractors, landlords, and customers.
• A growth mindset, with the ability to identify where new infrastructure should be built to support company expansion.

REQUIREMENTS:

Preferred Qualifications

The following would be advantageous:

• Previous experience in a WISP, ISP, telecoms, tower company, fibre company, electrical contractor, or civil construction environment.
• Working-at-heights training or tower climbing experience.
• Project management experience.
• Basic RF/wireless networking knowledge.
• Knowledge of MikroTik, Ubiquiti, Cambium, Mimosa, or similar wireless equipment.
• Experience with concrete foundations, mast installations, site builds, or civil works.
• Drivers licence.
• Fluent in Afrikaans.
• Ability to travel between towns and sites.
• Ability to work after hours during major outages or emergencies.