Director, Systems Solutions 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.

We are seeking a Director, Sales Engineering as the customer facing, technical leader driving Ciena's solutions portfolio into one of our primary Compute customers in the Seattle area. The ideal candidate requires a strong technical background with an emphasis in architecture, optical networking/transport products/components and datacenter infrastructure. Additional desired experience includes routing/switching products and customer applications, operations automation tooling using common APIs (REST/gRPC), as well as an understanding of hyperscale network architecture and evolution. In addition, the ability to position Ciena's leadership in networking hardware and software solutions as well as how Ciena's offerings differentiate against the competition. This position is based in the west coast of the US, where the selected candidate must reside or be willing to travel to on a regular basis.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the introduction, deployment and support of Ciena's portfolio of products and services including Long Haul/Submarine/Metro and Edge DWDM solutions, Coherent Modems, ZR/ZR+/Coh-lite Coherent Plugs, and Datacenter Interconnect solutions and components.
• Lead a dedicated team of sales engineers to drive product proposals, designs, and quotes for Ciena products and Services to serve this hyperscaler customer. Coordinate closely with PLM, Engineering and Services to define, develop and deliver the customers' roadmap of technology requirements. Including working with and driving product requirements into the R&D organization.
• Ability to drive engagements with the customer and partners to co-develop ASIC, HW and SW programs.
• Perform technical oversight, including on-site customer engagements, support customer and internal architectural discussions and requirements definition into the engineering organizations.
• Be able to create, communicate and articulate the value of solutions to customers.
• Understand the customers current architecture, network, and software applications that drive requirements for new products and their ability to introduce new technology.
• Work with both internal and external organizations to drive solutions for our customers.
• Consult with customers on best practices to design, integrate and automate Ciena's technology into their networks and software infrastructure.
  

General Activities:

• Defining the Technical Strategy of Ciena's Portfolio engagement with one of Ciena's strategic hyperscaler customers.
• Serve as the customer-facing primary contact for advanced technical engagements and forward-looking technology requirements for systems, plugs and components.
• Ability to understand network architectures and their building blocks.
  • Identify and communicate architectural shift and requirements.
  • Assist in the preparation of RFx responses, and forecasts.
  • Collect and assist in assessment of new product features.
  • Assist Customer Product and Technology solution discussions and presentations.
  • Support in the development of pricing strategies and incentives to win business.
  • Plan and support product certification, acceptance testing, and network introduction activities.
  • Prepare designs, quotes, scope of work documents, and network diagrams.
  • Manage and track customer requests and help coordinate sales activities.
  • Assist in tracking of product deliverables and communicating issues to regional teams.
  • Lead the transition of customers from end-of life products to other Ciena solutions.
  • Make independent decisions on routine technical activities in accordance with company policy and procedures.
  • Travel (up to 50%) to customers sites, R&D locations and technical conferences for customer engagements, technical discussions, and presentations.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.

Experience:

• Optical Transport Network Architecture, Design & Deployment, and Operations.
• Building network cost models that drive optimization of network designs.
• Understanding of Data Center architectures, spine and leaf designs, edge networking, routing, switching and optical transport.
• Understanding of Automation SW architecture, SDN Controllers, Common workflows, ZTP methods, Streaming Telemetry, APIs and networking models.
• Familiarity with cloud architecture and deploying / running applications in a cloud environment.
• Construction of product feature / price analysis spreadsheets.
• Deep understanding of the building blocks that make up coherent plugs, modem and WDM systems.
• Experience Codeveloping optical system Components, Plugs, Modems, WDM Systems and Software.
• Sales opportunity and quote tool experience a plus
• Project management, organizational skills
• Problem solving skills
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Strategy development
• Time management skills: ability to plan, prioritize, execute & follow-up within a timely manner
• Professionalism in attitude, conduct, and appearance
• Ability to build strong customer relationships and support an overall sales strategy.
• Technical background and desire to learn new technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to manage on-going activities such as RFP activity, trials, and product acceptance
• Must be able to communicate and work with Ciena engineering organizations and articulate the technical concepts and design to our customers.
• Bachelor's Degree (CS, EE), or equivalent required
• 10+ years communications / data center industry experience
• Sales Engineering, Engineering, Operations or Product Management background required
• Prior Internet Content Provider experience would be beneficial

Compensation and Benefits

The annual total target compensation pay range for this position is $237,500 - $380,000. This includes both base and incentive compensation.

Pay ranges at Ciena are designed to accommodate variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions, and locations, reflecting our diverse products, industries, and lines of business. Please note that the pay range information provided in this posting pertains specifically to the primary location, which is the top location listed in case multiple locations are available.

Non-Sales employees may be eligible for a discretionary incentive bonus, while Sales employees may be eligible for a sales commission. In addition to competitive compensation, Ciena offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision plans, participation in 401(K) (USA) & DCPP (Canada) with company matching, Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), company-paid holidays, paid sick leave, and vacation time. We also comply with all applicable laws regarding Paid Family Leave and other leaves of absence.

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