What does your role as Head of Fibre involve day to day?
My role involves overseeing multiple fibre builds, contracts, and projects across the business.
Day to day, I support project coordinators in planning and managing works, while using my hands-on engineering background to provide technical guidance across all projects. I also focus heavily on implementing standardised processes—ensuring consistent quality, clear communication, and efficient delivery through structured project management and operational best practices.
A major part of my role now centres around Hollow Core Fibre (HCF), which has become a key workstream for the business. My hands-on experience with field installations and installation techniques means I’m heavily involved in this area—spending a lot of time in design and planning, as well as being hands-on out on site supporting and delivering installations alongside the teams.
Client engagement is also a key part of delivery and operations. It’s often overlooked, but it ensures we’re truly understanding and delivering against client requirements—not just our interpretation of them—and helps maintain strong alignment with all key stakeholders.
What attracted you to joining NPS?
What attracted me to NPS was the ambition of the business. When I joined, there was a clear vision to move beyond just building FTTP networks and step into the world of carrier, hyperscaler, and data centre networks across the UK, Europe, and globally—an area where my background sits.
In the five short years since I arrived, we’ve achieved exactly that. We’ve become a trusted partner in the sector, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry and delivering some of the most ambitious and technically challenging projects there are.
Being part of that journey and helping drive it forward was a huge draw for me.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your role?
One of the biggest challenges is managing multiple complex and high-density fibre builds while maintaining consistently high standards across every stage of delivery.
The growth of Hollow Core Fibre has added another layer to this. As an emerging technology, HCF brings unique engineering challenges—particularly when meeting specific customer requirements. We’ve had to overcome a number of technical hurdles along the way, often requiring new approaches and problem-solving on live projects.
That said, the reward is just as significant—the sense of satisfaction that comes from developing solutions to these challenges and successfully delivering cutting-edge infrastructure is huge.
What excites you most about NPS?
What excites me most is the mindset across the entire company. At every level, there’s a real drive to be the absolute best at what we do, combined with a genuine belief in what we can achieve.
The ambition here is huge—and not limited to just telecommunications. Whether it’s across telecoms, utilities, or other sectors, the potential for growth and where the business can go feels almost limitless. Being part of that journey and helping shape it is incredibly motivating.
Do you prefer being in the office or on site – and why?
I prefer a balance of both.
Being on site allows me to stay close to the engineering teams and ensure builds are delivered to the highest standards, while office time is key for planning, design, and driving consistency across multiple projects and teams.
Outside of work, what do you do to unwind?
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family and keeping active. Having worked in fast-paced, high-pressure environments, it’s important for me to switch off and recharge when I can.
Three words to describe yourself
Experienced, methodical, driven
Steven Wilkinson — Head of Fibre
Steven Wilkinson is Head of Fibre with over 18 years of hands-on experience across every stage of fibre network build, from planning and installation to maintenance, renewal, and advanced testing (OTDR, OLTS, CD/PMD, iOLM). He has led multiple large-scale fibre builds and contracts.
Specialising in Hollow Core Fibre — as an accredited installer who has carried out and supervised numerous HCF deployments — alongside critical, high-density fibre infrastructure projects.
