Solutions Engineering

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.

What Ciena is looking for:

We are looking for a highly motivated, knowledgeable and versatile new grad or junior engineer to join our Solutions Engineering & Introduction (SEI) team within the Product Line Management (PLM) organization to support Ciena's Optical Systems portfolio.

As a key technical contributor on this customer-facing engineering team, you will work directly with Research and Development (R&D), PLM, Sales Engineering (SE) and Services organizations to ensure the engineering readiness in bringing Ciena's innovative optical systems portfolio products and solutions to market.

Key responsibilities and accountability:

• Help manage lab assets and upkeep the optical lab systems in pristine condition meeting requirements of team members.

• Define, create, and validate customer-facing deliverables such as customer technical presentations, test plans, release notes, and engineering guides. All deliverables are vital technical documents both for internal knowledge transfer, and to facilitate the introduction of Ciena's Optical Systems portfolio into our customer networks, covering a huge installed base of Global Cloud Networking operators and Service Providers.

• Under guidance of senior engineers, prepare for and execute customer engagements which include product presentations, product demonstrations, lab or field trials, deployments, and tests for varying solutions. In the process, capture any product issues and feed them into R&D for resolution. Capture any customer requests for incremental enhancements that could potentially be rolled into upcoming releases.

• Support the global sales community with pre- and post-sales activities that include technical responses to customer bids, corresponding solution evaluation and design, market trial execution, and technical consultation for general customer queries or as part of trial or field-trials.

• Assist in the development of a test-case automation suite for a specific product and release, based on a negotiated customer test plan. This includes writing code to execute scripts to run corresponding test-cases, the verification and documenting of results.

Specific Job Skills:

• Knowledge of telecommunications and network engineering concepts across transport layers of operation, notably Photonic layer/Layer 0, Layer 1 (OTN), and Layer 2 (High Speed Ethernet) and Layer 3 (TCP/IP) networking.

• Hands-on experience via lab testing and/or deployment work, covering the troubleshooting of Ciena flexible grid optical-fiber transmission systems using high-speed coherent optics, is highly desired.

• Proficiency with test instrumentation and test methodologies across different layers of signal transport is favored, including 100GE/OTU4 and faster client rate BER testers, as well as experience with optical measurement test gear (e.g. OSA, fiberscopes, and power meters).

• Understanding of northbound interfaces (NBI), for instance REST, NETCONF, or gRPC/gNOI, streaming telemetry, and related YANG (Ciena, OpenConfig) data models.

• Work experience in developing testcase automation scripts for shell-based interfaces based on different NBIs mentioned above, using Python or other language.

• Must be organized and meticulous, with excellent English communication skills (verbal and written).

• Outstanding presentation skills for both technical and non-technical audiences. 

• A team-player able to operate calmly under pressure, in a fast-paced evolving environment, with the ability to adapt and to appropriately prioritize tasks.

• Be passionate about learning, keeping abreast of and embracing the latest technologies and ideas that improve the day-to-day work of the team and the customer experience.

• Capable of working with people in different time zones and cultures, as part of a cross-functional team within Ciena, and externally with customers and partners.  

Education: 

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Communications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Engineering Physics or a related discipline. Several years of work experience is an asset.

Location/Travel:

• Ideally based in Ottawa, Canada, and the candidate is expected to spend a significant amount of time in the lab.  If Montreal-based, candidate is expected to regularly travel to Ottawa office from a few days to a few weeks at a time.

• Ability to travel globally, with periods varying from a few days to a few weeks at a time, to other Ciena facilities or customer locations.

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.

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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.