Placing the Engineers and Architects Powering India's Next-Generation Telecom Networks
The professionals who design radio access networks, optimise spectrum allocation, and build carrier-grade OSS/BSS platforms do not respond to job postings. A Principal RF Planning Engineer with 5G NR deployment experience, a Head of Spectrum Strategy who has navigated DoT auction cycles, a Core Network Architect who has migrated a 50-million-subscriber base from 4G to 5G SA — these specialists are mapped through TRAI consultation records, 3GPP contributor lists, IEEE publications, and alumni networks of IIT wireless research labs. That is the search methodology Gladwin deploys for every telecom mandate.
950+
Telecom & connectivity professionals mapped
18+
Specialist telecom mandates placed in 36 months
5
Operator and towerco networks with active alumni relationships
The Challenge
Why Telecom Talent Is Uniquely Difficult to Source
India's telecom sector has consolidated rapidly, concentrating specialist knowledge in a shrinking pool of operators and vendors. The best talent is bound by long notice periods, retention bonuses, and non-competes.
Hyper-specialised skill sets with vanishing bench strength
5G SA core, Open RAN, and cloud-native network functions require engineers who combine deep telecom protocol knowledge with cloud-platform expertise. These professionals are rare globally and exceptionally rare in India. They sit inside three or four organisations and have no reason to be visible to the market.
Vendor-locked expertise that limits lateral movement
Senior engineers are often deeply certified and experienced on a single vendor stack — Ericsson, Nokia, or Samsung. Assessing whether a Huawei RAN specialist can transition to an Open RAN greenfield requires understanding of 3GPP interfaces, O-RAN Alliance specifications, and the candidate's actual protocol-level depth versus configuration-level familiarity.
Regulatory and spectrum talent exists in a closed ecosystem
Professionals who manage spectrum acquisition, TRAI consultation responses, and DoT licensing are a community of fewer than 200 individuals across India. They are known to each other but invisible to generalist recruiters. Access requires direct relationships built through years of regulatory engagement.
Coverage
Roles We Place — Across Every Telecom Discipline
Our telecom practice covers the full range of specialist, technical, and domain-specific roles — from radio access engineering to fibre planning, BSS transformation, and enterprise solutions.
Network Engineering & Planning
- Head of Radio Access Network
- Principal RF Planning Engineer
- Core Network Architect — 5G SA
- Transport Network Head (IP/MPLS/DWDM)
- Fibre Planning & Design Lead
- Head of Network Optimisation
- VoLTE / VoNR Platform Lead
- Open RAN Integration Architect
- Network Rollout Head — Greenfield
- Senior Drive Test & Benchmarking Engineer
Spectrum & Regulatory Affairs
- Head of Spectrum Strategy
- VP — Regulatory & Government Affairs
- Spectrum Auction Planning Lead
- TRAI Policy & Consultation Manager
- Interconnect & Roaming Lead
- Numbering & Licensing Compliance Head
- EMF & Radiation Compliance Officer
- Right of Way (RoW) Regulatory Manager
OSS/BSS & Technology
- Head of BSS Transformation
- OSS Architect — Assurance & Orchestration
- Revenue Assurance & Fraud Head
- Billing Platform Lead
- CRM & Digital Channels Head
- Head of Data Engineering — Telco
- AI/ML Lead — Network Analytics
- Cloud-Native Platform Architect (CNF/VNF)
- DevOps Head — Telecom Platforms
Enterprise & B2B Solutions
- Head of Enterprise Business
- VP — Managed Services & ICT
- SD-WAN & SASE Solutions Architect
- IoT & M2M Business Head
- Head of Carrier Wholesale
- Enterprise Pre-Sales Head
- Solutions Architect — Private 5G
- MPLS & Cloud Interconnect Lead
Tower & Infrastructure
- Head of Passive Infrastructure
- VP — Tower Operations
- Site Acquisition & Rollout Lead
- Energy & Power Solutions Head
- Structural Engineering Lead — Towers
- Small Cell & DAS Deployment Head
- Fibre-to-the-Tower (FTTT) Programme Lead
- Infrastructure Sharing & Tenancy Manager
Access
How We Reach Telecom Talent That Cannot Be Found by Search
Our telecom network is built through years of engagement with operator engineering teams, vendor alumni, and the specialist regulatory community — not scraped from databases.
TRAI & DoT Regulatory Network
Direct relationships with professionals who have participated in TRAI consultation processes, DoT licensing committees, and spectrum auction advisory roles — the closed community that shapes India's telecom policy.
COAI & ISPAI Industry Engagement
Active engagement with members of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), providing access to operator and ISP leadership teams.
IEEE ComSoc India & 3GPP Contributors
Relationships with IEEE Communications Society India Chapter members and Indian professionals contributing to 3GPP working groups — the engineers defining next-generation standards.
IIT Wireless & Telecom Alumni
Alumni connections across IIT Bombay (SPCOM Lab), IIT Delhi (Bharti School), IIT Madras (TeNeT Group), and IIT Kanpur wireless research cohorts — covering two decades of graduating engineers.
Operator & Vendor Alumni Circles
Maintained relationships with engineering alumni from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Jio, Ericsson India, Nokia India, and Samsung Networks — the five ecosystems that hold India's deepest telecom talent.
Methodology
How We Validate Technical Depth — Not Just Certifications
Telecom certifications confirm classroom learning. Our methodology confirms whether a candidate can actually design, deploy, and troubleshoot at production scale.
Protocol-level technical screening
For network engineering mandates, we probe specific 3GPP protocol knowledge — S1-AP, NGAP, PFCP, GTP-U — not just configuration experience. Candidates who cannot articulate signalling flows and interface dependencies at this level are filtered before the shortlist.
Deployment-scale validation
We verify the actual scale of networks a candidate has built or managed: subscriber base, cell-site count, traffic throughput, and geographic complexity. A candidate who claims 5G experience on a 200-site pilot is evaluated very differently from one who has managed a 15,000-site commercial rollout.
Vendor-stack portability assessment
When the mandate requires vendor transition — Nokia to Open RAN, for example — we formally assess protocol-level understanding versus vendor-tool familiarity. Engineers with deep 3GPP foundations transfer well; those with only vendor-GUI experience do not.
Regulatory and commercial acumen check
For spectrum and regulatory mandates, we validate direct involvement in TRAI filings, auction preparation, and DoT licence compliance — not just awareness. We verify specific submissions authored, committees attended, and policy outcomes influenced.
Track Record
Mandates We Have Run — Anonymised
A selection of recent specialist placements across the telecommunications sector. No client names are shared in line with our confidentiality policy.
Head of Radio Access Network — 5G SA Rollout
Leading Indian private telecom operator with 300+ million subscribers and an active 5G SA rollout programme across 500 cities.
Required 18+ years in RAN engineering with hands-on 5G NR deployment across both sub-6 GHz and mmWave bands. Prior experience managing a rollout team of 50+ engineers and vendor coordination across three equipment suppliers. Placed within 52 days.
OSS Architect — Cloud-Native Assurance Platform
Indian subsidiary of a global telecom technology vendor building a next-generation cloud-native OSS platform for Tier-1 operators in South Asia.
Mandate required deep expertise in ONAP, Kubernetes-based CNF orchestration, and FCAPS assurance frameworks. Candidate needed prior experience migrating legacy OSS to microservices architecture on at least two live operator networks. Placed within 44 days.
VP — Spectrum Strategy & Regulatory Affairs
Major Indian telecom group preparing for upcoming spectrum auction cycle with interests across sub-1 GHz, mid-band, and millimetre-wave bands.
Role required direct experience in at least two prior DoT spectrum auctions, TRAI consultation response drafting, and techno-economic spectrum valuation modelling. Only 12 professionals in India met the full criteria; shortlist of 4 delivered in 38 days.
Start a Search
Share the telecom mandate. We will map the specialist talent pool in five working days.
Whether you are hiring a Core Network Architect, building a 5G engineering team, or placing a Head of Spectrum Strategy — share the brief with us. Our telecom practice team will respond with an initial talent perspective within 48 hours and a detailed research map within five working days.