Partner Accelerator- EMEA

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.

Your Role

Responsible for overall execution of the Partner Program and Partner Sales support within the EMEA Region. This integral team member will manage the individual program plans into an overall business plan; develop, track and manage Partner priorities and assist with funnel development and closure.

Your Responsibilities

Partner Program

• Develop simplified resources for internal teams to understand and leverage existing partner programs (e.g. Opportunity Registration, NFR, etc.)
• Establish clear points of contact and escalation paths for internal program and processes inquiries.
• Business Plan Facilitation: Assist partners with template creation (branding, formatting) and administrative tasks (submission, approvals).
• Support the development of post-training follow-up mechanisms for enablement activities (Planner Plus, Quote Plus, webinars, etc.) to measure effectiveness and sustain partner engagement.
• Viewed internally as a CPNe Champion and as such, will be measured by Partner program adoption rate, and operational success within the Partner market.
• Develop program processes and templates required to fulfill the measured requirements.
• Work as part of the Regional Partner Team to ensure efficient execution, strategic alignment and consistency.
• Lead onboarding activities with new partners and new employees within existing partners. For new partners assist with contract submission and completion. Guide partners through onboarding and ramp process to ensure program fluency and enablement velocity.
• Document and share regional feedback on program elements/processes with GPO program owners.
• Participate in regional internal and partner team calls/meetings as required.
• Assist with preparation of slide presentation content to support GPO initiatives.
• Prepare weekly, monthly and quarterly partner activity report.

Partner Sales Support

• Create and manage the operational metrics for the relevant Regional Partner Leader and Partner Primes in region and partner success/level attainment. Work closely with Business Data Analyst to create/capture key metrics in dashboards.
• Provide comprehensive support for deal registration, including background processes and proactive engagement with partners potentially facing submission challenges.
• Commercial Management Assistance: Streamline and expedite the commercial management approval process for price adjustments on smaller deals with regional channel account managers retaining primary responsibility.
• Partner Database Optimization: Provide assistance in scrubbing and maintaining accurate partner database to ensure efficient communication and program targeting.
• Compliance & Cross-Team Coordination: Facilitate seamless interactions with the compliance & legal teams for document signoffs and communication workflows.

Minimum Qualifications

• 2+ years of progressive experience in the Operations / Channel industry.
• BA / BS or Masters, preferably in a quantitative field or in Business or relevant work experience.
• Background in business / sales operations that maintain the focus on partners attaining sales success while achieving their CPN target metrics.
• Strong understanding of business issues.
• Proven track record.

Preferred Qualifications

• Outstanding operational skills, the ability to quantify and report on partner success in sales and satisfying CPN metrics.
• Business Development and sales skills.
• Collaborative and influencing skills with ability to work across regions and across different leaders and individual contributors.
• Strong communication skills, creativity, tenacity and high energy.
• Ability to work within a team-oriented and innovative environment.
• Excellent written and presentation skills proven at all levels inside and outside of the company.
• Strong interpersonal, analytical, negotiations and problem-solving skills.
• Strong Operations Skills.
• Ability to understand / articulate technical solutions and translate these into demonstrable business benefits.
• Highly motivated professional with the ability for self-management and strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to handle many competing priorities within multiple opportunities.
• Constantly demonstrate a sense of urgency and ability to handle many competing priorities.
• Works with colleagues internally and externally in a collaborative way for mutual benefit.
• A team player with a good sense of humor that transmits his / her energy and enthusiasm to others.
• Trustworthy with a strong sense of integrity.

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