SMS Firewall Manager

Our Business
Lebara is a telecommunications company providing services using the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business model to customers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France and Denmark. Additionally, Lebara has license agreements for the use of the brand in further four global markets Spain, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Australia with Nigeria launching soon. Lebara was founded in 2001 with the intent to bring something new to the telecoms industry. Created by three entrepreneurs who migrated to Europe from Sri Lanka, the company name was formed from a combination of the founders’ surnames, and Lebara quickly became one of the fastest-growing MVNOs in Europe.

Lebara became private equity owned in 2017 and our current owners Waterland acquired the business in Nov 2024. Lebara is a business on a transformation journey which has and continues to achieve results and under our new ownership the business is moving from a consolidation phase to a growth phase.
Lebara’s business has evolved based on its customers’ needs, from providing international calls to the migrant community, to becoming a significant value challenger within the wider telecoms category. Lebara offers prepaid and SIM-only mobile tariffs, and in 2017, Lebara launched its first postpaid monthly contract SIMs in the Netherlands. Lebara operates under the Full MVNO model in France and Germany and Light MVNO model in its other markets with the UK and the Netherlands preparing to move to full MVNO.Lebara’s purpose is to consistently provide customers with a better value alternative to the established category players. Lebara supports its 4.7 million customers with a reliable network offering and exceptional customer service (Trustpilot average of 4.6 across the main 5 markets), at an affordable price, all of which makes Lebara the smarter way to connect.

Role Purpose

The SMS Firewall Manager will be responsible for the operations of the Lebara Firewall for 4 European networks. The role is to gather, analyse and report SMS related data with the objective to drive A2P SMS monetization and help secure Lebara mobile subscribers against different SMS related fraud. This is an operational role that will also require to monitor and identify messaging fraud patterns and develop anti-fraud solutions. The role sits within the Commercial division and KPIs are linked to the maximisation of A2P and P2P revenue streams.

Key Responsibilities

Operational responsibilities

• Setting up different type of rules based on Volume, content and bad URL etc.
• Proactive tracking of rules performance – identifying issues, irregularities and false positives.
• Updating IR21 operators database.
• Countries, Operator, HUB, GT ,IMSI and MSISDN lists modification.

Data Management and Analysis

• Identify, gather and analyse SMS firewall transactional and reference data via specific tools.
• Manage and manipulate large and complex SMS related datasets to generate regular and ad-hoc reports to support business teams in their decision-making process.
• Analyse and extract key insights from SMS firewall data to inform business decisions.
• Monitor and report daily and weekly SMS firewall traffic data KPIs.
• Update and modify system reference data such as operators’ database and numbering plans.

Anti-fraud and System Management

• Detect and analyse messaging fraud, report root cause and suggest anti-fraud solutions.
• Create or modify SMS firewall rules that generate alarms for detecting potential fraud.
• Explore new detection methods or system improvements and adjust the firewalls accordingly.
• Liaise with Technology, Carrier and other teams at Lebara about network traffic and system details.

Skills and Experience

• Good communication skills in English, both oral and in writing.
• Analytical and attentive to details, with data-driven mindset.
• Proactive and self-motivated.
• Advanced Excel, working knowledge of Pivot Tables and Lookups is essential.
• Telecom experience. Basic knowledge of SMS traffic flows and numbering plans. Understanding of SS7
• MAP with ability to read and analyse protocol logs is a plus.
• Understanding of telecom messaging network fraud scenarios.
• Knowledge and experience in configuring rule-based telecom systems

Behavioral Role Fit

• Able to work well in high growth, fast paced environment which can lead to change, opportunities, and ambiguity.
• Able to work in a team in a diverse and multinational environment.
• Hands on and operationally capable, irrespective of role profile.
• Can go above and beyond and has ability to work in high performance demanding environments, stress resistant.
• Hands on and operationally capable, irrespective of role profile.
• Able to influence other team members and make decisions.