Principal 4G/5G Core Engineer

Job Details Principal 4G/5G Core Engineer — Location: US-AZ-Tempe • Job ID: 2026-4889 • Category: Engineering • Worker Category: Regular Full-Time[F] Responsibilities Assist with the completion of greenfield deployment of multiple Mavenir Cores to the cloud Lead integration efforts and maintain connections with MNO Partners and Syniverse Provide escalation support for Mavenir 4G EPC and 5G Core network functions (AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, NRF, IMS, SBC) Define, then monitor, and later evolve our ability to maintain Core network health Provide advanced troubleshooting across: SIP, Diameter, GTP, PFCP signaling VoLTE/VoNR call flows Data session establishment failures Lead Major Incident Management (MIM) calls for high-severity core outages Conduct deep Root Cause Analysis (RCA) using logs, traces, KPIs, and probe captures Correlate alarms and performance metrics to prevent false positives and reduce MTTR Perform cloud-native core deployments in Kubernetes and AWS-based environments Lead collaboration activities with RAN, Transport, and Cloud teams to resolve cross-domain issues Validate software upgrades, patches, and configuration changes in production Create and maintain SOPs, runbooks, and troubleshooting documentation Mentor junior engineers and provide technical training on Core network troubleshooting Ensure SLA/KPI compliance for availability, call success rates, and session setup times Participate in 24x7 on-call rotation and major incident bridge support Requirements Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; post-graduate degree preferred 10+ years of experience in telecom Core network operations Extensive, practical experience with a 4G/5G Core Deep understanding of: 4G/5G Core architecture (EPC & 5GC SBA architecture) IMS core and VoLTE/VoNR call flows Diameter, SIP, GTPv2, PFCP, AWS certification (e.g., AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certified Advanced Networking, AWS Certified AI Practitioner) Experience working in a cloud-native/Kubernetes environment Experience with containerized network functions (CNFs) Strong Linux command-line troubleshooting skills Experience analyzing packet captures using Wireshark or similar tools Familiarity with Kafka feeds and performance monitoring integrations Ability to perform structured RCA and document findings clearly Strong communication skills, with the ability to lead technical bridges and confidently present products, deliverables, analyses, and/or issues Nice to Have Knowledge of 3GPP practices and requirements Kubernetes certification (CKA/CKAD) Experience operating 4G Core networks (Mavenir is a plus) Experience operating 4G Ground RAN networks (Gatehouse is a plus) Understanding of monitoring IoT device links Basic understanding of Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) technologies Basic understanding of satellite-to-cell integration and 4/5G NTN architecture Hands-on experience with Grafana dashboard development and alarm correlation Experience with Viavi or probe-based call tracing Understanding of CI/CD pipelines for telecom cloud deployments Technical industry certification in Network+ or Linux (RedHat, CentOS, etc.) Experience with Core Cloud operations and best practices is highly desirable Travel Travel up to 10%, as needed to support program-related activities Work Environment This position primarily works in an office setting and is largely sedentary with the majority of the position working with a computer. This is a fully onsite position requiring in-office attendance 5 days a week to support collaboration, relationship-building, and professional growth. Equal Opportunity Employer : Iridium is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. #J-18808-Ljbffr Iridium Satellite LLC