Senior Telephony Engineer, Avaya AuraPosition Summary
Waterfield Tech is seeking a Senior Telephony Engineer, Avaya Aura to lead the hands-on deployment of complex Avaya Aura and unified communications solutions (on-premises, hybrid, and cloud) across commercial, enterprise, and government customers, increasingly including migration from legacy Avaya estates to cloud and CCaaS platforms.
The Senior Telephony Engineer owns the technical delivery of each engagement day to day, including configuration, integration, testing, and cutover, working closely with Waterfield Tech Project Managers to deliver on time, on quality, and to standard. As a senior technical resource, the engineer mentors less experienced voice engineers and contributes to delivery standards and reusable IP. Deep, hands-on Avaya Aura expertise is required; breadth across UC/CCaaS and cloud is valued.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the hands-on deployment of Avaya Aura solutions end to end (System Manager, Session Manager, Communication Manager, messaging, media servers and gateways, and IM & Presence (Breeze)) across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud, including virtualized and physical server builds (OVA deployment, VM sizing) in new and upgrade environments and applying service packs and patches per Avaya documentation.
- Own day to day technical delivery (configuration, integration, testing, and cutover), managing schedules and adhering to stage gate quality and control standards across the full lifecycle, including issues, risks, and change requests, to ensure successful, on time delivery.
- Perform discovery of customer telephony environments; gather requirements and complete data gathering for the Avaya Aura application servers; communicate network and system requirements (DHCP scope options, QoS, and split-horizon DNS).
- Configure and deploy Aura call routing and edge, including dial plans (E.164 and shortcut dialing), Communication Manager vectoring/VDN where contact center functionality is required, SIP-based Remote Worker, Session Border Controller (SBCE), SIP trunking, and Avaya Workplace (formerly Equinox) soft clients across iOS, Android, Windows, and WebRTC, and troubleshoot as needed.
- Lead certificate implementation end to end (CSR generation and installation of customer/Avaya certificates across the Aura stack); complete licensing via Avaya PLDS and technical onboarding via Avaya GRT.
- Complete integration programming between Avaya Aura servers and to non-Avaya systems, and support adjuncts such as IVR, CMS reporting, call recording, and SIP PSTN services.
- Validate and troubleshoot end to end connectivity using system tools and the Avaya knowledge base, and develop and execute acceptance test plans that evaluate the customer's Avaya Aura environment.
- Support migration and modernization: legacy to cloud and hybrid Avaya migrations, and integration with CCaaS and AI-enabled capabilities such as virtual agents and agent assist.
- Apply AI to delivery by using AI-powered tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Claude) for documentation, testing, and delivery efficiency, and maintain accurate booking and time entry in Microsoft Dynamics 365/Project Operations.
- Contribute to delivery standards, practices, templates, tools, and reusable IP that mature the Avaya practice, and provide coaching and mentoring for less experienced voice engineers.
- Ensure delivery meets Waterfield Tech standards and remains compliant with RFP/proposal SOW and executed contract terms, and support pre-sales scoping, feasibility, and level of effort.
- Continue professional development and Avaya certification, and perform other duties as assigned.
How This Role Is Measured
This role is measured on the delivery of assigned work and the quality of what is handed off. Primary measures are task estimate adherence (actual versus estimated hours on assigned WBS tasks) and on time task completion against the project plan, together with delivery quality: the rework rate on deliverables after handoff (lower is better) and first pass acceptance by the client or QA without revision.
Closeout and operational accuracy also matter: as-built documentation completed to standard and finished on or before the Day 2 handoff, and customer environment and credential records kept current in Keeper, updated within SLA of any go-live or change and passing spot check audit without correction. Finally, the engineer is expected to keep required Avaya certifications current, including Infinity Class 1+.
Primary Delivery & Technical Experience
- Required: Deep, hands-on Avaya Aura delivery across Communication Manager, System/Session Manager, messaging, SBCE, AES, media servers and gateways, and Device Services; Avaya Workplace (formerly Equinox) soft clients; and virtualization (VMware ESXi, AVP) with OVA deployment and legacy to cloud/System Platform migration.
- Preferred: Avaya Experience Platform (AXP) and CCaaS; AI enablement (virtual agents, agent assist, AI-powered self-service); and voice protocol and telephony security depth (SIP/SIP trunking, H.323, MGCP; certificates, reverse proxy, firewalls).
Qualifications
Experience- 8+ years implementing and supporting complex Avaya Aura engagements (planning, configuration, integration, and cutover) in a medium to large organization, including gathering and documenting requirements with business stakeholders.
- Hands-on preventive maintenance, installation, and administration of Avaya gateways (G450/G430/G350, G650 PN, EGW) and Communication Manager Server 7.x, 8.x, and 10.x.
- Experience with complex dial plans, call handlers, auto-attendants, and attendant console; bulk configuration tools; contact center functionality (agents, skills, vectors) desirable.
- Experience with messaging (Aura Messaging, Avaya IX Messaging/OfficeLinx), Breeze and Breeze plug-ins, AADS/Utility Server, and 46xx settings files; several preferred.
Technical Proficiency- Server and OS depth: Linux/ESXi administration and System Platform migrations; Linux commands for log analysis; DHCP, DNS, and split-horizon DNS.
- Integration depth: Application Enablement Services (TSAPI, CVLAN, DMCC) and related integration; remote access and diagnostic tools (VPN, Nectar, web-based).
- Delivery tooling: Microsoft Dynamics 365/Project Operations for booking, time entry, and delivery operations; AI-powered delivery tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Claude).
Soft Skills- Senior technical presence: leads deployments hands-on and mentors less experienced engineers.
- Excellent attention to detail; adapts to shifting priorities, competing demands, and timelines.
- Strong analytical and problem solving skills; manages multiple complex efforts simultaneously.
- Excellent oral and written communication and customer service skills across all levels of the organization.
- Collaborative across internal and external teams; comfortable with ambiguity and change.
Education- Bachelor's Degree required; Master's a plus. Emphasis in a technology field preferred. Equivalent work experience will be considered.
Additional Requirements
- Avaya certifications strongly valued: ACIS/ACSS or current Avaya certification equivalents; Avaya Aura credentials desirable.
- VMware certifications preferred; other technical certifications a plus (Cisco networking/telephony, security, or cloud).
- Availability to work flexible hours as needed, including after hours cutovers.
Physical Requirements
- Sitting: Ability to sit for extended periods (up to 80% of the time).
- Lifting: Ability to lift or carry objects up to 10 lbs.
- Equipment: Frequent use of computer, telephone, and standard office equipment.
- Travel: Ability to travel up to 10% for customer installations, cutovers, and training.
