Data Cabling Engineer (Telephone Exchange) in Birmingham

Overview

Location: London / Leeds / Birmingham / Manchester / Newcastle (and surrounding areas), with travel across assigned exchanges. Permanent. Salary: Competitive (dependent on experience) + overtime / out-of-hours allowance. Hours: This role may require regular out-of-hours and weekend working.

Summary

We are seeking several experienced Data Engineers with proven UK Exchange expertise to join our team. You will play a critical role in surveying, upgrading, and supporting the UK's leading fibre network by performing hands-on work inside UK telephone exchanges. This includes carrying out audits and surveys, supporting moves, adds, changes (MACs), new installations, decommissions, patching and testing of pre-terminated fibre links to ensure high-quality, reliable broadband and telecom services. This is a hands-on, technical field role requiring strong attention to detail, adherence to NG Bailey and UK safety and quality standards, and the flexibility to work out-of-hours to support hardware and fibre migrations.

Key deliverables

• Adhere to all NG Bailey and UK safety practices and procedures.
• Actively engage in all safety programmes and develop behavioural safety in line with company initiatives.
• Conduct surveys for fibre and copper connections within exchange environments, including patching and equipment reconfigurations.
• Carry out installations and decommissions of fibre equipment, ODFs (Optical Distribution Frames), splitters, and related infrastructure in exchanges.
• Conduct fault diagnosis, rectification, and testing on fibre and associated network elements to restore service quickly.
• Ensure all work complies with NG Bailey and UK working practices, safety protocols (including manual handling, working at height where applicable, and exchange access rules), and quality standards.
• Complete accurate job records, updates in work management systems, and reporting (e.g., via mobile devices or exchange logging).
• Collaborate with internal teams, partners, and UK stakeholders to coordinate access to minimise service impact.
• Participate in planned engineering works and out-of-hours shifts as required to support 24/7 network availability.

What we're looking for

• Proven experience working in UK telephone exchanges (e.g., DSLAM, OCR, ODF).
• Demonstrable expertise in UK exchanges.
• Strong knowledge of UK fibre network infrastructure, processes, and standards (e.g., Full Fibre, exchange-based fibre distribution).
• Experience with moves, adds, changes (MACs), installations, and decommissions in telecom exchange settings.
• Familiarity with fibre patching, ODF management, and basic exchange equipment (e.g., HD frames, cabinets, power systems).
• Full UK driving licence (commercial vehicle for business use will be provided).
• Ability to work at heights (where required), in confined spaces, and follow strict health & safety procedures.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail under time pressure.
• Internal and external customer service skills.
• Work well independently or as part of a team.

Desirable Skills & Qualifications

• Relevant UK accreditations or SmartAwards training (e.g., fibre splicing modules, exchange access, N23/N34 equivalents, or similar telecom fibre qualifications).
• NRSWA (New Roads and Street Works Act) certification or equivalent streetworks knowledge would be an advantage but not essential.
• Experience using diagnostic tools such as OTDR, power meters, and light sources.
• Previous telecoms field engineering background (UK, BT, or alt-net experience preferred).
• Current DBS or SC clearance would be beneficial, alternatively the individual should be prepared to progress through the clearance process.
• Perform fibre optic splicing (fusion splicing) and testing in UK exchanges using specialist tools and testers (e.g., fusion splicers, light source and power meters).

Next Steps

As a business, we're on a journey to build on our culture where everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. This starts with recruitment and how we bring people into the organisation. We'll do our best to outline the recruitment process to you ahead of time with plenty of notice. If you require any accommodations to participate in the application or interview process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure your needs are met.

About Us

We are one of the leading independent engineering and services businesses in the UK. Founded in 1921, with a turnover of £500m and 3000 employees, we are proud of our history of developing great people through our investment in training. Working across a variety of sectors within the building and infrastructure industry, our innovative, responsible and forward-thinking approach allows us to work on fantastic ground-breaking projects, providing solutions using the latest tools and technologies. Progression is something we value, and we will make sure that when you join us you have a clearly defined development path, supported by regular reviews, training and ongoing support to enable you to be the best you can be.