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.
The Partner Leader role at Ciena drives growth by expanding and enabling strategic partnerships that accelerate service innovation for service providers. This position blends partner strategy, consultative sales execution, and service creation to deliver measurable business outcomes across regional markets. The role plays a critical part in scaling Ciena’s partner ecosystem and supporting revenue growth through new services and joint market execution.
How you will make an impact:
Lead and expand partnerships across System Integrators, VARs, Distributors, and CMS partners within the Ciena Partner Network ecosystem.
Develop and execute joint business plans aligned to inflight tenders, regional priorities, and strategic growth opportunities.
Drive service creation initiatives from concept through productization and monetization, ensuring operational readiness.
Translate complex networking technologies into partner-ready solutions that enable adoption and customer value.
Execute coordinated marketing and demand-generation programs with partners and sales teams.
Identify, qualify, and progress consultative sales opportunities and inflight tenders in collaboration with direct sales teams.
Monitor execution against business targets and CPNe program requirements.
The must haves:
Education:
Business degree required; MBA preferred; technical undergraduate degree beneficial.
Experience:
8+ years of experience in Sales, Channel Sales, Business Development, Product Management, or Consulting within telecommunications or IT sectors.
Minimum of 5+ years of experience in a telecommunications-based role.
Background working with global carriers, Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators, regional service providers, MSOs, indirect channels, data center operators, or cloud providers.
Demonstrated application of partner management, sales enablement, and organizational transformation practices.
Nice to haves:
Education:
MBA.
Experience working across multiple partner types within complex, multi-stakeholder ecosystems.
Exposure to service monetization models and business case development for transformation initiatives.
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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.
