Blue Planet Data Management Lead

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena is committed to a people-first approach. Our teams prioritize a flexible work environment that empowers growth, well-being, and belonging. We are a technology company that leads with humanity, driving business priorities alongside social, community, and societal impact.

Ciena is advancing intelligent, automated networks through its Blue Planet portfolio by enabling data-driven innovation and AI-powered operations. This role defines data strategy, architecture, and productization for telecom data, enabling scalable digital twin capabilities and data platforms that support next-generation network operations. The position aligns data foundations with AI, automation, and product innovation across the portfolio.

• Define and own the canonical telco data model and ontology across network topology, service lifecycle, inventory, assurance, and OSS domains.
• Align data models with industry standards including TM Forum Open APIs, SID/eTOM, Open Digital Architecture, YANG/NETCONF, and TOSCA.
• Drive adoption of ontology models across product teams as the semantic foundation for data exchange, AI training, and digital twin deployment.
• Develop and lead the data fabric product architecture, including federated access, streaming pipelines, virtualization, metadata management, and lineage tracking.
• Translate data architecture vision into scalable, cloud-native and microservices-based implementations in collaboration with engineering teams.
• Define and deliver the telco digital twin strategy, including use cases such as network optimization, predictive maintenance, and simulation.
• Engage with customers, partners, and industry forums to validate solutions, influence standards, and position the portfolio in the market.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Software Engineering with telecommunications, networking, or communications systems concentration, or equivalent experience.
• Experience: 15+ years in the telecom software industry with at least 5+ years of product line management experience.
• Experience with telecom data modeling, schema design, graph or ontology structures, and enterprise data management tools.
• Experience applying AI and ML data requirements including feature stores, training data pipelines, data lineage, and model grounding techniques for GenAI or LLM use cases.
• Background in OSS environments including network automation, orchestration, inventory, assurance, and network management systems.
• Exposure to telecom network domains including fixed, mobile or RAN, and cable or MSO across core, transport, and access layers.
• Experience introducing complex technical products or architectures into Tier-1 CSP or network provider environments.

• Background in cloud-native architectures including Kubernetes, microservices, and cloud data platforms.
• Exposure to multi-cloud environments.
• Collaboration across engineering, product management, marketing, and field organizations.
• Engagement with industry analysts and participation in analyst briefings.
• Contribution to industry forums such as TM Forum, MEF, ETSI, or ONF.
• Development of technical content including whitepapers, blogs, or conference presentations.
• Support of go-to-market strategy and product positioning.

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.