AST SpaceMobile, the US company building a space-based cellular broadband network that connects directly to standard, unmodified smartphones, is recruiting a Partner Technical Lead – Africa. The role is based in Kenya, remote and full-time.
The successful candidate will lead technical alignment, integration and deployment readiness with mobile network operator (MNO) partners across the continent, ensuring AST’s satellite network works seamlessly with partner networks ahead of regional launches. AST already counts Vodafone Group, the parent of Vodacom and Safaricom, and AXIAN Telecom, the parent of Yas, among its partners in Africa.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead partner technical operations and integration readiness across satellite radio access network (RAN), core, gateway and business process management systems (BPMS).
- Oversee partner onboarding, interoperability testing and pre-launch technical readiness.
- Coordinate with engineering, service assurance, operations, deployment and planning teams to align regional partner requirements.
- Define, track and publish readiness KPIs, and provide regular updates to leadership and regional stakeholders.
- Serve as the primary escalation point for partner-related technical issues, including root cause analysis and corrective action tracking.
- Act as technical advisor in partner meetings, workshops, pilots and pre-sales discussions, and support regional launch planning.
- Recommend improvements to partner integration processes, dashboards, documentation and testing frameworks.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a related field; an advanced degree or telecom certifications are a plus.
- Five to eight years of experience in telecom integration, partner technical operations, solution engineering or network deployment.
- Experience working with mobile network operators, telecom vendors or network operators in Africa.
- Proven experience coordinating multi-market technical readiness or integration programmes.
- Strong stakeholder management, written and verbal communication, and structured problem-solving skills.
- Familiarity with telecom monitoring and signalling tools, ITSM platforms such as Jira or ServiceNow, KPI dashboards such as Grafana, Kibana or Power BI, and documentation tools such as Confluence or SharePoint.
Preferred: experience with satellite-enabled network integrations, exposure to multi-vendor or multi-operator environments, familiarity with African regulatory and deployment considerations, and basic scripting skills in Python or Bash.
Location and Work Arrangement
- Location: Kenya (remote)
- Type: Full-time
- Travel: Within the region for partner workshops, testing cycles and integration reviews
- Time zones: Collaboration with stakeholders in Africa and the United States
How to Apply
Interested candidates can apply through AST SpaceMobile’s official listing: Apply here.
Click here to get real time data and information on every Segments and players in the African space and satellite industry.