Director, Customer IP Solution Architecture

Ciena is committed to our people-first philosophy. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a personalized and flexible work environment that empowers an individual’s passions, growth, wellbeing and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact. Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community to get relevant job alerts straight to your inbox. Ciena offers leading network infrastructure solutions, intelligent software and a comprehensive services practice to many of the largest, most reliable and sophisticated Internet content provider, service provider, enterprise, government, and research and education networks across the globe. Achieve your ideal career at the forefront of innovation with Ciena. We know the importance of life outside of work, which is why our employees enjoy flexible paid time off and the freedom of working remotely. Ciena empowers our teams with competitive salaries and incentives, community volunteer programs, professional development resources, and support for our mental and physical health—all experienced within a diverse and inclusive culture. To put it simply, we’re a technology company driven by our humanity. How You Will Contribute: We’re looking for a highly motivated individual based in North America, who will contribute to the business success of Ciena’s Broadband and Routing Portfolio. As part of the broader Broadband and Routing Portfolio PLM Organization, this role will lead and build a newly formed team tasked with ensuring customer IP solution deployments are designed and executed successfully. Drawing on a tight coupling with the broader IP Software/Platform PLM organization as well as close engagement with a wide range of internal teams (e.g. Sales, Services Delivery, Customer Support, Solutions Engineering) the successful candidate will lead overall Project Delivery teams for specific customer deployments. As Ciena continues to drive increased revenue and market share of its IP Product Portfolio this role will be crucial for ensuring customer deployments are successful and meet customer expectations. This is a global role and the scope of the decisions made will impact major service providers, Cloud Providers and large Enterprises in all parts of the world. This role requires both technical hands-on IP networking skillset as well as experience leading a team of customer-focused IP Solution Architects. The ideal experience to enable success in this role: Deep operations and/or architecture experience with IP/MPLS networks across Tier 1 Service provider, Cloud Provider and Large Enterprise segments. Previous experience in customer IP Network Architecture & Design, including managing successful customer engagements from initial requirements gathering, to HLD/LLD creation/validation, MOP execution and deployment. Ability to drive extended teams to achieve successful project delivery/deployment. The following attributes would help a candidate be successful in this role: Excellent working knowledge of IP Networking protocols including: Routing Protocols (OSPF, IS-IS, BGP) Underlay technologies (LDP, RSVP-TE, Segment Routing (SR-MPLSv4, SRv6) Service Overlay technologies (L2VPN/L3VPN, EVPN) Supporting infrastructure protocols (Synchronization, OAM, QOS) Northbound OSS integration toolkits (Netconf/YANG, gNMI, SNMP, logging) Networking Security technologies (ACLs, SSH, MACSEC, IPSec, etc.) Extensive IP Network Architecture/Design experience in planning and/or deploying IP/MPLS networks across a multitude of customer networks architectures (Access, Residential, Aggregation, Core, Peering, Data Center). Ability to extract network design requirements through customer engagement and balance them with existing product capabilities to create a realizable/deployable design. Proven success leading cross functional teams to deliver customer IP network designs and solutions. Ability to interact with customers and explain technical issues clearly and concisely. A broader understanding of End-to-End network integration including 3rd party device interop, OSS integration, Automation, etc. Logical decision making and prioritization skills across a wide range of project priorities and asks. Collaboration with stakeholders Other SW and Platform PLM and Product Architects Customer Program Management Field Support teams Service Delivery Engineering Sales & Sales Engineering What Does Ciena Expect of You? Initiative – you’re a self-starter who works with limited direction and is accountable for resolving issues quickly and delivering against aggressive deadlines. Relationship builder – you’re capable of building trusted internal and external working relationships quickly and influencing thinking and outcomes. Customer first – what’s important to the customer is equally important to you. You make understanding their needs, expectations and circumstances a priority. A high level of comfort in working independently or as part of a diverse and matrixed team network. You embrace change – thriving in a multi-faceted environment of ever-changing and often competing priorities. Communication expertise – you possess the ability to clearly articulate technical issues and tailor your message to the audience to ensure understanding and agreement. A dedication to ongoing learning – with a desire to continuously expand your knowledge and explore emerging learning techniques and technologies. The Must Haves: Define Solution Architecture engagement model considering key stakeholder requirements (Sales, Services, Support, Solutions Engineering). Act as Lead Technical prime on customer IP deployment projects driving creation, validation and deployment of customer IP Network designs. Create network and service delivery blueprint documentation, process and toolkits to drive field enablement. Build and manage a team of IP Network Design Engineers responsible for leading customer specific network design activities. Lead creation of High-Level Design/Low-Level Design documentation, and assist/review testing results and MOP creation. Work with PLM Product Owners to drive new product/feature innovation based on learnings from customer network design engagements. #LI-WH1 #LI-Remote Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community to get relevant job alerts straight to your inbox. At Ciena, we are committed to building and fostering an environment in which our employees feel respected, valued, and heard. Ciena values the diversity of its workforce and respects its employees as individuals. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination. Ciena is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity, please advise Ciena of any accommodation measures you may require.