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.
At Ciena’s Blue Planet division, you will join an agile, innovative team advancing the automation of the world’s most complex networks. You will have the opportunity to work with leading-edge networking technologies, cloud-native architecture, and large-scale automation systems that power global communications.
How You Will Contribute
Design, implement, and maintain cloud-native microservices using Python with FastAPI/asyncio frameworks.
Develop async services to manage Ansible Runner execution and event workflows.
Create and optimize REST APIs for configuration, operational data, and telemetry delivery.
Integrate services with Apache Kafka to coordinate inter-service communication, track job execution, and publish status updates.
Develop, optimize, and maintain Ansible playbooks (YAML) and Ansible Runner integrations to automate provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management for network devices.
Design and manage relational database schemas (PostgreSQL/MySQL), optimize queries, and ensure data integrity for automated workflows.
Participate in branching strategies, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines for automated build, test, and deployment.
The Must Haves
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
A minimum of 7+ years of hands-on experience in Python development, including async programming (FastAPI, asyncio).
Strong working knowledge of Apache Kafka (topics, partitions, consumer groups, message serialization).
Expertise with Ansible, Ansible Runner, YAML playbooks, and custom network device automation modules.
Proficiency in PostgreSQL/MySQL schema design, data modeling, and performance tuning.
Experience with Docker, Kubernetes/OpenShift, and microservice scaling strategies.
Familiarity with network security best practices including SSH key management and password vaulting.
Nice to Haves
Past experience developing network orchestration systems or telecom-grade automation solutions.
Familiarity with multi-vendor network environments and SDN/NFV concepts.
Experience implementing secure API gateways and service mesh architectures (e.g., Istio).
Contributions to open-source automation frameworks.
Knowledge of Prometheus/Grafana for metrics and ELK/OpenSearch for log aggregation.
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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.
Top Skills
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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