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.
As the Director Project Managment, this role drives the successful delivery of complex network transformation programs, ensuring seamless migration from legacy optical systems to modern Ciena platforms. The position plays a critical role in delivering high-quality customer outcomes while aligning execution with organizational goals and operational excellence. This role contributes to building long-term customer trust through effective leadership and consistent program delivery.
How you will make an impact:
- Lead execution of large-scale migration programs from legacy optical equipment to current platforms
- Drive program planning, scheduling, and delivery to meet customer and organizational objectives
- Ensure achievement of target service margins and alignment with revenue recognition requirements
- Communicate program risks, deviations, and mitigation actions to stakeholders
- Build and maintain relationships with internal teams, partners, and customers to enable successful delivery
- Translate customer requirements into structured plans, milestones, and execution frameworks
- Implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance delivery quality and reduce costs
The must haves:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree or relevant years’ work experience.
- Experience: 10+ years of experience in the technology industry
- Demonstrated track record of managing large technology, network transformation, and migration programs
- Application of methods required to migrate complex next-generation telecommunication networks
- Utilization of written, verbal, and client-facing communication skills in program delivery environments
- Ability to operate with high-level departmental goals to drive execution
- Ability to work effectively within high-performance teams
Nice to haves:
- Certifications: PMP certification (preferred, in process, or planned)
- Customer-oriented approach demonstrated through active partnership with clients
- Application of critical thinking to analyze multidimensional and ambiguous problems
- Demonstration of judgment in assessing long-term impacts and risks
- Ability to make decisions involving risk with consideration of business impact
- Adaptive leadership style with delegation across team environments
- Organizational awareness to navigate culture, climate, and internal dynamics
The annual pay range for this position is $144,200 - $230,400 USD
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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.
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent years of relevant work experience
- 10+ years of experience in the technology industry
- Proven track record managing large technology, network transformation, and migration programs
- Experience applying methods to migrate complex next-generation telecommunication networks
- Strong written, verbal, and client-facing communication skills for program delivery
- Ability to operate with high-level departmental goals to drive execution
- Ability to work effectively within high-performance teams
- PMP certification (preferred, in process, or planned)
- Customer-oriented approach demonstrated through active partnership with clients
- Critical thinking to analyze multidimensional and ambiguous problems
- Judgment in assessing long-term impacts and risks and making risk-informed decisions
- Adaptive leadership style with delegation across team environments and organizational awareness
Ciena Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Ciena and has not been reviewed or approved by Ciena.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is often characterized as competitive or above-market in certain roles and regions, with references to market-aligned salary ranges and transparency around pay bands.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is frequently framed as comprehensive, including medical, dental, and vision, with indications that coverage can extend to dependents and is viewed as a meaningful component of total rewards.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off offerings are described as flexible and generous, including Flex/uncapped PTO in many cases and additional paid time for volunteering.
Ciena Insights
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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