Coherent Pluggable Transponder - Systems Engineer

Sorry, this job was removed at 10:14 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, Aug 19, 2025
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Ottawa, ON
In-Office
92K-147K Annually
Cloud • Hardware • Internet of Things • Other • Software • Semiconductor • Utilities
Ciena is a networking systems, services, and software company.
The Role

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena is committed to a people-first approach. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a flexible work environment that empowers individual growth, well-being, and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact.

How You Will Contribute

Ciena’s product portfolio is evolving with the way customers consume networking equipment. This evolution includes the miniaturization of coherent transponders into “pluggable” form factors, and subcomponents for customers integrating in-house transponders. These products address a new and rapidly expanding market of disaggregated solutions, from deep inside the data center (incl. ML/AIinterconnects), through metro/regional and long-reach networks.

SE&I supports the tail-end of a development cycle (readying solutions across optical transport, routing & switching and cloud domains), bringing technical solutions to customers via accounts teams and Sales Engineers (SE).

This role focusses on adopting Ciena transmitter technology into native and 3rd party platforms (h/w and s/w), confirmatory lab tests (incl. software automation), proof-of-concept trials/demos, and design feedback into appropriate internal teams.

The Must Haves:

Expert knowledge of Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS), a plug/host interop standard. You will help customers adopt these technologies into a variety of hosts (native and 3rd party) via technical consultancy, proof-of-concept (PoC) demos, and competitive demos and field trials demonstrating features and performance. You will also work with Ciena Product Line Management (PLM), R&D, Sales, and Services for evolving solutions and capturing customer feedback.

• Integration tests adopting Ciena pluggable transmitters into 3rd party platforms

• Technical consultancy, proof-of-concept (PoC) demos, and competitive demos and field trials demonstrating features and performance

• Lab/field activities maximizing capacity/performance, interoperating with foreign systems, issue resolution and feature demos

• Working with Ciena Product Line Management (PLM), R&D, Sales, and Services for capturing customer feedback and evolving Ciena solution

• Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent

• Meaningful experience related to coherent transponders, especially pluggable form factors. E.g.,

CMIS, C-CMIS, SFF-8024, CFP-MSA, QSFP-DD, CFP2-DCO, etc.

Assets:

• Hardware:

• Good knowledge/experience with CMIS, C-CMIS and CFP-MSA standards and client mappings (e.g., GAUI-n)

• Some experience with routing/switching equipment (e.g., Ciena, Cisco, Juniper, Nokia, Arista, Huawei)

• Some experience with optical transmission (L1), routing/switching (L2/L3), lab instrumentation and/or coherent modems

• Software:

• Some proficiency with Python, JavaScript (Angular.js, Ember.js), C/C++

• Ability to investigate, troubleshoot, determine root causes across functional teams

• Customer-facing experience; proven ability of establishing confidence/rapport across cultural lines

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Multilingual an asset

• Ability for international travel to Ciena facilities and/or customer sites (~5-15%)

• Organized, meticulous team player

Pay Range:

The annual pay range for this position is $91,800 - $146,600 CAD

#LI-WH1

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.

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.

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The Company
HQ: Hanover, MD
9,561 Employees
Year Founded: 1992

What We Do

Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a global leader in networking systems, services, and software. We build the world’s most adaptive networks to enable our customers to deliver richer, more connected experiences for all users. At our core, Ciena is a company rooted in people. We prioritize deep, collaborative relationships within our teams and alongside our customers, partners, and communities around the world.

For three-plus decades, we’ve brought our humanity to our relentless pursuit of innovation. We continue to lead the evolution of networking with a strong track record of industry firsts. As end-user expectations skyrocket, our customers and their networks must transform. Ciena powers this transformation by driving next-generation solutions built for maximum openness and agility—today and into the future.



Corporate/Brand Values:

• Customer First
• Integrity
• Velocity
• Innovation
• Outstanding People

We're the perfect size for you to make an impact. W

Only Ciena has the depth of expertise and the culture of collaboration and partnership required to help our partners evolve. We do this by strategically integrating hardware, services, and software in an open environment to ensure our clients’ networks are ‘fit for flexibility’ today and into the f

Why Work With Us

We are known for our industry-firsts, including the first coherent optical solution, converged packet-optical platform, and intelligence automation platform. Our commitment extends beyond innovation, logging in over 35,000 volunteer hours and $2 million to worthy causes in 2023. We're the perfect size and culture for you to make a difference.

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