Solution Architect - Messaging & Core Network

Key Responsibilities

Solution Architecture & Design

IMS, SIP & USSI Expertise Design and validate SIP-based service flows for USSI and IMS messaging services. Define iFC (Initial Filter Criteria) for triggering application servers within IMS. Architect USSD to USSI interworking scenarios, ensuring service continuity across CS and IMS domains. Ensure compliance with relevant 3GPP specifications for IMS and USSI services.

IMS, SIP & USSI Expertise

Design and validate SIP-based service flows for USSI and IMS messaging services. Define iFC (Initial Filter Criteria) for triggering application servers within IMS. Architect USSD to USSI interworking scenarios, ensuring service continuity across CS and IMS domains. Ensure compliance with relevant 3GPP specifications for IMS and USSI services.

Deployment & Integration

Lead solution design and execution for on-premise and cloud-native deployments (private cloud, public cloud, hybrid models). Architect deployments using Linux, virtualization, Kubernetes, and containerized environments. Define integration with external systems such as BSS/OSS, charging systems (OCS/OFCS), mediation, and analytics platforms. Oversee installation, configuration, upgrades, and migrations of messaging platforms.

Protocol & Network Expertise

Strong expertise in SMPP, SS7 (MAP/CAP), Diameter, SIP, HTTP/REST APIs. Define integration with BSS/OSS, OCS/OFCS, PCRF/PCF, mediation systems, and external enterprise platforms. Ensure seamless interoperability between legacy telecom nodes and IMS core networks. Expertise in SMS Firewall use cases, including A2P/P2P filtering, grey route prevention, anti-spam, and fraud control mechanisms.

Performance, Security & Optimization

Define and validate capacity planning, performance benchmarking, and throughput optimization. Ensure security compliance, including firewall rules, access control, signaling security, and DDoS protection strategies. Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) for critical issues and provide architectural fixes.

Customer Engagement & Technical Leadership

Act as a technical authority in customer discussions, design workshops, and solution reviews. Provide deployment strategy and BoQ inputs for new and existing projects. Mentor engineering and delivery teams on best practices, architecture standards, and troubleshooting approaches. Collaborate with product teams for feature enhancements and roadmap alignment based on field experience. Co-ordinate with support team for understanding feature parity for version upgrades.

Required Skills & Experience

Domain & Technical Expertise

8–12 years of experience in telecom core network and messaging domain. Hands-on experience with SMSC, USSD Gateway / USSI, and SMS Firewall platforms (deployment, integration, troubleshooting). Strong understanding of telecom signaling protocols (SS7, SMPP, Diameter, SIP). Experience with cloud-native architectures, containerization (Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes). Solid knowledge of Linux systems, networking (IP, routing, firewalling), and database fundamentals.

Deployment & Architecture

Proven experience in large-scale telecom deployments (Tier-1 or Tier-2 operators). Expertise in designing on-premise, cloud, and hybrid architectures. Experience in high availability, disaster recovery (DR), and geo-redundancy setups.

Commercial & Presales Alignment

Ability to contribute to BoQ preparation, solution sizing, and infrastructure planning. Support presales teams with technical solutioning, proposal inputs, and customer presentations.

Soft Skills

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail. Effective communication and stakeholder management across technical and business teams. Ability to lead discussions with customer architects, network teams, and CXO-level stakeholders. High ownership with a structured and execution-driven approach.

AI Tools & Skills

Working knowledge of AI/ML and Generative AI (LLMs, NLP, basic ML concepts). Hands-on exposure to frameworks such as LangChain and LlamaIndex. Understanding of RAG architectures, embeddings, vector databases, and prompt engineering. Experience with AI APIs and integrations (e.g., OpenAI, Microsoft Azure AI, Google Cloud AI). Familiarity with AI use cases such as chatbots, automation, and recommendation systems. Awareness of AI governance, data privacy, and ethical considerations. Ability to map business needs to AI solutions (BA) and design scalable AI architectures (Solution Architect).

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Telecom / Electronics / Computer Science) or equivalent. Certifications in cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) and Kubernetes. Experience working with telecom product vendors or system integrators.