Ciena SME Consultant

We are looking for a Senior Consultant Field Engineer w/ SME experience of Ciena products.

***This position can be 100% offsite***

This position involves leading complex optical/Ethernet network deployments, migrations, and troubleshooting, often for hyperscaler or major telecommunications clients.

You would offer high-level technical mentorship to field staff, and develop methods of procedure (MOPs), while ensuring network integrity. 

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Direct complex deployments, in-service upgrades, and "hot cuts" of Ciena optical/Ethernet equipment.
• Mentorship: Provide technical guidance and mentorship to field service engineers and technicians.
• Consulting & Design: Work with sales engineering to validate technical orders, create customized MOPs, and provide expert-level technical consulting.
• Troubleshooting: Solve advanced technical problems during deployment and upgrades, often analyzing root causes of failures.
• Documentation: Review and implement Field Service Bulletins (FSB) and create site-specific documentation.
• Customer Facing: Maintain high customer satisfaction through proactive communication and on-site expert support. 
   

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, or Computer Science.
• Experience: 3–8+ years of hands-on experience in optical/Ethernet technology, specifically with DWDM Optical Networks.
• Technical Knowledge: Deep expertise in Ciena’s product portfolio and network architectural standards.
• Communication: Strong interpersonal skills to mentor and communicate with both customers and internal cross-functional teams.

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate complex technical challenges into practical field solutions.
• Problem-Solving: Proactive troubleshooting in live network environments.
• Project Management: Understanding of project milestones, scheduling, and documentation.

Experience

• Fundamental knowledge of various Ciena products, possess a strong technical aptitude, and have a desire to learn new products and technologies.
• Advanced knowledge of one or more major Ciena product lines.  (Ciena 6500, RLS product knowledge is essential.
• Strong understanding and experience troubleshooting photonic layer, including EDFA and Raman amplification.
• Knowledge of routers and L2/L3 networking is preferred.
• Experience with Site Manager and network troubleshooting tools (onboard OTDR, TDS scripts, etc.) is essential.
• Ability to perform advanced provisioning and troubleshooting activities, as well as network software upgrades.
• Knowledge and experience to direct other technicians during live traffic maintenance window activities, and to provide mentoring and instruction to trainees and peers.
• Work independently from an offsite location, without direct supervision, collaborating as part of a team to meeting business objectives.
• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent Customer Service interaction skills.               
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment.              
• Technical Degree or bachelor’s degree (CS,EE), or relevant equivalent work experience.
• Min 7+ years working with field deployment team and service partners is desired.
• Familiarity with various North America customers, specifically in the realm of network deployment or Network Operation Center (NOC) support.
• Previous network turn up and test support experience on Ciena products.
• Ability to diagnose, troubleshoot and debug complex system level issues.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills.
• Team player.  Must be able to work well in a collaborative team environment that promotes sharing of knowledge and experiences.
• Experience in providing technical support; preferably through an equipment vendor.