Job DescriptionAbout the OpportunityOptical Network Transport SpecialistLocation: Akron, OH preferred, or within the FirstEnergy service territory. This role may support remote work arrangements but requires availability to travel throughout the service territory as business needs, projects, maintenance activities, and restoration efforts require.
Position SummaryThe Optical Network Transport Specialist is responsible for delivering and sustaining the high-capacity optical transport infrastructure that supports critical utility operations. This position is focused on the engineering, implementation, operation, and reliability of DWDM and OTN transport systems, along with related SONET, MPLS, and fiber-based communications platforms that connect substations, control centers, data centers, service centers, field locations, and other essential enterprise facilities.
The successful candidate will help sustain and modernize optical transport systems that support operational reliability, grid visibility, enterprise connectivity, and secure communications. This role requires strong technical judgment, troubleshooting discipline, documentation accuracy, collaboration across multiple technical teams, and a commitment to safety, compliance, customer service, and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities- Design, engineer, configure, implement, test, and support optical transport systems that provide resilient communications for substations, control centers, data centers, service centers, and field operational locations.
- Support DWDM, OTN, SONET, MPLS, AMI, microwave, and related transport technologies used to deliver reliable enterprise and operational communications.
- Perform optical capacity planning, wavelength assignment, circuit provisioning, protection planning, service turn-up, network expansion, and lifecycle sustainment activities.
- Analyze optical performance metrics including receive and transmit power levels, span loss, optical signal-to-noise ratio, dispersion, attenuation, amplifier gain, fiber impairments, and related alarm conditions.
- Troubleshoot optical transport service degradations and outages using network management systems, performance data, circuit records, fiber route information, OTDR results, optical power measurements, vendor tools, and field technician feedback.
- Coordinate planned maintenance, equipment replacement, fiber cutover, circuit migration, software upgrade, and service restoration activities while identifying customer impact, outage risk, rollback steps, and stakeholder communication needs.
- Develop and maintain accurate network documentation including circuit layouts, fiber assignments, port mappings, wavelength records, logical service paths, standard configurations, alarming references, and operational procedures.
- Partner with Fiber Engineering, Field Communications, Data-LAN, Communication Engineering, Operations Technology, field technicians, vendors, and support contractors to deliver integrated end-to-end transport solutions.
- Support compliance, cyber security, physical security, asset management, change management, licensing, regulatory, and safety expectations associated with utility communications infrastructure.
- Provide subject matter expertise during incident response, root cause analysis, project planning, design reviews, vendor engagements, peer training, and leadership briefings related to optical transport reliability and resiliency.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Telecommunications, Information Technology, or a related field; equivalent work experience in a network engineering, telecommunications, or operations environment may be considered.
- Relevant experience engineering, implementing, operating, or supporting enterprise optical transport, WAN, IP-MPLS, telecommunications, or utility communications networks.
- Knowledge of optical transmission principles including wavelengths, attenuation, optical budgets, power levels, span loss, dispersion, fiber impairments, and related troubleshooting methods.
- Working knowledge of networking protocols and technologies including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, switching, routing, subnetting, ISIS, BGP, and related WAN concepts.
- Proven troubleshooting skills across optical, routed, switched, wireless, and transport network environments.
- Ability to coordinate multiple work activities, projects, vendors, field resources, and business stakeholders while meeting scope, schedule, budget, reliability, and safety expectations.
- Availability during non-standard hours when project schedules, planned maintenance, on-call responsibilities, or network issues require support.
- Strong written, verbal, collaboration, and presentation skills with the ability to explain technical information to management, peers, field personnel, vendors, and internal customers.
- Commitment to safety programs, policy guidelines, compliance expectations, customer service, accurate documentation, and continuous learning.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience with DWDM, SONET, MPLS, microwave, RF backhaul, Nokia optical platforms, Nokia NSP, Cisco optical platforms, or similar transport technologies.
- Familiarity with electric utility infrastructure, substations, distribution networks, transmission facilities, control centers, and operational technology environments.
- Experience with enterprise network management, monitoring, alarming, configuration, asset management, or performance management applications.
- Understanding of NERC CIP, cyber security, physical security, regulatory compliance, change control, and documentation requirements for mission-critical infrastructure.
- Nokia Network Routing, Nokia Optical, Nokia NSP, Cisco, Juniper, Network+, CCNA, CCNP, or comparable industry certifications.
- Experience with scripting, automation, network standardization, lifecycle management, business case development, or strategic network modernization initiatives.
Working Expectations- Participate in a rotating on-call support model to troubleshoot and restore network services during service-impacting events.
- Support on-site work or meetings in field, office, substation, control center, data center, and remote environments as needed.
- Coordinate with internal teams, external vendors, contractors, and operational stakeholders during project delivery, maintenance windows, and outage restoration activities.
- Maintain a safety-first mindset and follow all applicable work practices, change management requirements, and operational procedures.
Benefits, Compensation & Workforce DiversityAt FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement. Please visit our website at www.firstenergycorp.com to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs.
SafetySafety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co-workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident-free, injury-free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world-class safety standards.
Position ClassificationExempt
FirstEnergy Human Resources Team 
