Director, Incident Management

AST SpaceMobile • Dallas, TX

18h

About The Position

AST SpaceMobile is building SpaceMobile, a space-based cellular broadband network designed to provide 4G/5G-speed connectivity to standard smartphones around the world. The Director, Incident Management will establish and lead the incident management function within Telco Service Assurance and reports to the VP Telco Service Assurance. The role is accountable for ensuring incidents affecting the end-to-end Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN)—including satellite gateways, RAN, transport, and core—are created and managed in Jira and tracked to resolution within agreed timeframes.

The Director defines the incident management process, standards, and operating model; leads Incident Managers and E2E Engineers located in the US and India; and partners with Network Operations, engineering, service delivery, partner MNOs, and executive leadership to protect service quality and reliability. The team provides 24/7 coverage. Network Operations and Change, Governance & Compliance are separate Service Assurance organizations with which this role works closely.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in telecom network operations or service management.
• At least 5 years of experience in incident or problem management.
• At least 3 years leading managers or multi-team organizations.
• Proven track record of running incident management for 24/7 operations and achieving availability and SLA targets.
• Extensive experience leading major incident management, including escalation and executive communication.
• Expert knowledge of ITIL and operational governance frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with Jira Service Management or a comparable ITSM tool.
• Broad technical knowledge of mobile networks (4G LTE, 5G NR), transport, IP, and core network architecture.
• Experience defining KPIs and building dashboards for incident and network performance.
• Experience managing teams across several countries and time zones.
• Strong strategic thinking, leadership, and organizational development skills.
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management skills, including with partner MNOs and key customers.
• Ability to lead calmly and decisively during critical and network-wide outages.
• Ability to influence and hold other teams accountable without direct authority.
• Strong analytical skills to turn incident data into clear priorities and actions.
• Ability to work in a standard office environment and use a computer for extended periods.
• Ability to be reached outside business hours to act as the executive escalation point for critical outages.
• Ability to travel periodically to gateway sites, partner MNOs, and regional teams.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree.
• Experience with satellite networks, ground segment operations, or Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), including direct-to-device services.
• Experience building or transforming an incident management function in a high-growth environment.
• Experience working with multiple partner MNOs and multi-vendor environments across international regions.
• Background in automation, AIOps, and observability platforms.
• Certifications such as ITIL v4 Strategic Leader, PMP, or executive leadership training.

Responsibilities

• Establish Incident Management as a formal function, defining its vision, process, operating model, and standards in alignment with company objectives and growth plans.
• Lead and develop Incident Managers and E2E Engineers across the US and India, providing 24/7 coverage.
• Ensure all incidents and engagements with the NOC are created and managed in Jira, moving incident management and investigation away from Teams chats.
• Define the Jira Service Management structure, including groups responsible and accountable for troubleshooting and resolving issues for each network component, and ensure assignments and escalations are tracked.
• Set acknowledgment and resolution timeframes for each group and escalate missed timeframes to the respective leadership.
• Ensure Incident Managers monitor Jira dashboards and track all tickets to resolution within agreed timeframes.
• Serve as the executive escalation point for critical and network-wide outages, directing incident response and leading communications with senior leadership, partner MNOs, and key customers.
• Inform NOC teams of known incidents, changes, and defects that may affect services, including satellites out of service and MNO or partner changes.
• Run the daily pass failure review and ensure failed passes and related issues are followed up with incidents or defects and tracked to resolution.
• Define and report network and incident KPIs, including availability, MTTA, MTTR, escalation rates, repeat incidents, and SLA compliance, through dashboards to executive leadership.
• Improve Jira dashboards in partnership with Data & Reporting and drive automation and tool strategy to improve detection and resolution times.
• Partner with Network Operations, Change, Governance & Compliance, engineering, service delivery, and external partners to reduce repeat incidents and improve network resilience.
• Develop talent through training programs, career paths, and succession planning.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Company-paid short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance.
• Company-paid life and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Voluntary supplemental benefits.
• Paid time off (PTO) and company holidays.
• Career growth and development opportunities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director