Role Summary:

Ekfrazo is looking for a highly experienced telecommunications project manager to lead the end-to-end delivery of Project MARS VENUS, a business-critical reciprocal radio access network (RAN) sharing and roaming initiative between MTN and Vodacom.

You will be embedded in the MTN Network Deployment team and will translate approved technical, commercial, legal and regulatory decisions into a controlled deployment programme, from mobilisation and cluster definition through design readiness, site deployment, integration, testing, acceptance, operational handover and closure.

You are not the technical design authority, commercial approver or legal/regulatory decision-maker.

You do need enough network depth to manage dependencies, challenge delivery assumptions and escalate material risks early.

About the Project:

MARS VENUS will establish a reciprocal RAN sharing and roaming model in selected geographic clusters.

MTN may host Vodacom traffic in some clusters and Vodacom may host MTN traffic in others, with the aim of balanced, measurable benefits across the portfolio while protecting coverage, capacity, quality of service (QoS), customer experience, regulatory compliance and resilience.

Delivery starts with a limited number of low-traffic rural clusters and may scale, subject to phase-gate approval:

- Pilot and validation: limited reciprocal rural clusters; validate delivery, performance, operating model and cost assumptions.

- Rural expansion: further rural clusters with approved reciprocal business cases.

- Smaller towns and roads: qualifying towns and road corridors with tighter capacity, resilience and transmission controls.

- Selective metropolitan scale: only approved metro clusters supported by capacity, spectrum, legal and commercial constructs.

Spectrum pooling is the preferred model where permissible and approved; MORAN or another approved configuration applies where it is not.

Project objectives:

- Reduce duplicated RAN infrastructure and the combined cost of providing coverage in approved clusters

- Maximise sustainable OPEX savings and avoid or defer future CAPEX

- Create balanced hosting, roaming and anchor-tenancy value across the portfolio

- Maintain or improve coverage, capacity, QoS, customer experience and resilience

- Build a repeatable delivery model that scales from rural pilots to more complex markets

- Stay aligned with spectrum strategy, technology evolution and legacy sunsets

- Maintain legal, licensing, regulatory, health and safety, security and governance compliance

Key Responsibilities:

Mobilisation, governance and planning:

- Identify the sponsor, owners, workstream leads and external counterparts; establish the project organisation and terms of reference

- Prepare, secure approval for and maintain the Project Charter, WBS, RACI, integrated master schedule, milestone baseline and resource plan