Full-Time
Consultant
Sales Engineering
Posted on 12/13/2025
Ciena
10,001+ employees
Delivers adaptive optical networking services
Compensation Overview
$139.2k - $208.3k/yr
Company Does Not Provide H1B Sponsorship
San Jose, CA, USA
Hybrid
Partial telecommuting may be allowed; hybrid role with on-site presence in San Jose, CA.
 Sales & Solution Engineering (1) |
|---|
- Employer will accept a Master’s degree or foreign equivalent in Engineering Management, Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field and two (2) years of experience in the job offered or in a Sales Engineering-related occupation.
- Position requires 24 months of experience in the following: DWDM technologies deployed in large-scale Global Content Delivery or Cloud Operator DCI, Metro and regional/long-haul optical transport networks; Programable NBIs such as NETCONF, RESTCONF, OpenConfig as well as legacy NBIs such as TL1 and SNMP; Providing customer support with New Product Introduction activities, laboratory system configuration and debugging activities; Providing training support and technical consultation with platform integration into customer back-office systems as well as delivering training courses and performing course audits; Project and Release Management - managing product features, defects, and software releases; Presenting engineering updates and account statuses to both internal and external stakeholders; and Managing service and hardware purchase orders and quotes.
- Provide support with laboratory product evaluation efforts for all Ciena platforms currently deployed within large GCN backbone networks, including Waveserver, 6500-S Series, and 6500-RLS.
- Offer ongoing support to customer Engineering teams, providing technical assistance and guidance for Waveserver, 6500-S Series, and 6500-RLS.
- Translate customer defined use cases into internal product technical requests and manage the technical feature request list throughout its lifecycle.
- Manage the list of existing product defects impacting GCN customer field deployed applications, both internally and externally.
- Work closely with customers and internal engineering teams to ensure timely resolution.
- Collaborate with Ciena Product Line Management team and represent the customer in all internal activities related to software release management.
- Work with Ciena Quality Management teams to ensure that commercially agreed quality standards are met for all hardware, software, and services provided.
- Act as customer representative in all internal quality discussions.
- Continuously collaborate with Ciena PLM and R&D organizations to communicate customer use cases and ensure that requested customer applications are being assessed and implemented or added to future roadmaps.
- Support ongoing live presentations of Engineering Action Item Register to external audiences.
- Follow up with internal and external stakeholders to ensure alignment and timely closure of action items to the customer's satisfaction.
- Assist with Network Inventory activities, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records are available and shared with internal Ciena Operations teams.
- Provide customer support for network design related to all deployed Ciena products, including Waveserver, 6500-S Series, and 6500-RLS.
- Respond promptly to critical customer technical issues, providing necessary technical expertise when required with the goal of minimizing network downtime or operational impact.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to address emergency design and logistics issues as they arise.
- Support customer question and answer forums on platforms such as Workplace, providing expert technical insights and assistance.
- Assist with remote or in-person technical training sessions, ensuring that Meta engineering and operations teams, as well as internal Ciena Technical support teams, have the necessary product knowledge and skills to operate and maintain the Meta backbone network.
- Provide support for services and hardware purchase order and quote processes.
- Present weekly account status updates to the broader Meta sales team, ensuring effective communication and collaboration.
Ciena designs and sells optical and routing hardware, automation software, and professional services to build adaptive networks for telecom providers, cable operators, governments, and enterprises. Its systems combine physical networking gear with software that automates traffic routing and resource management so networks can adjust in real time to changing demand. It differentiates itself by offering an end-to-end solution—hardware, software, and services—plus a large global customer base and close collaboration with customers and partners. Its goal is to enable richer, more connected experiences by helping customers deploy flexible, scalable networks that meet evolving digital needs.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Linthicum, Maryland
Founded
1992
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- $7B AI backlog from hyperscalers drives 33% Q1 FY2026 revenue growth to $1.43B.
- Stifel raises price target to $430 post-OFC 2026 AI-networking showcase.
- FTSE All-World Index inclusion boosts liquidity for backlog execution.
What critics are saying
- Hyperscalers like Meta cut orders, cratering $7B backlog in 18-24 months.
- 305x P/E overvaluation triggers $20B market cap wipeout in 12-18 months.
- Lumentum steals AI share, outperforming with 958% 52-week gains.
What makes Ciena unique
- WaveLogic 6 Extreme deploys 1.6 Tb/s optics in Vodafone Idea India networks.
- Quantum-secure 1.6 Tb/s networking demos with Quantum Computing Inc. at OFC 2026.
- Hollow core fiber testing cuts latency 33% for AI data center interconnects.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Company Match
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Company Paid Holidays
Paid Sick Leave
Vacation Time
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Ciena is partnering with Vodafone Idea to deploy its WaveLogic 6 Extreme platform across India's largest carrier transport networks, introducing the country's first 1.6 Tb/s coherent optical technology supporting services up to 800G. The deployment aims to modernise Vodafone Idea's network for hyperscalers and enterprise customers. Ciena's share price stands at $494.01, representing a 100.8% year-to-date gain and 18.9% weekly increase. However, the stock trades 45% above the $340.94 analyst price target and 411.7% above estimated fair value. The company's price-to-earnings ratio sits at approximately 305, significantly higher than the communications industry average of 41. Analysts have flagged concerns about valuation stretch and one-off items affecting earnings quality, despite strong recent momentum in the optical networking sector.
Ciena Corporation has received a raised price target from Stifel analyst Ruben Roy, who increased it from $320 to $430 whilst maintaining a Buy rating. The upgrade followed the analyst's attendance at the company's investor breakfast and meetings with management at OFC 2026. Stifel highlighted Ciena's AI-networking and optical-technology portfolio, including higher-capacity optics, AI-driven network management and data-centre interconnect solutions. During its fiscal Q1 2026, Ciena delivered 33.09% year-over-year revenue growth to $1.43 billion, beating Wall Street expectations by $28.88 million. EPS of $1.35 exceeded forecasts by $0.18. The company manufactures networking hardware and software for telecommunications and network operators, helping them increase capacity and automate operations.
Ciena, a network technology company, has seen its share price surge 66% over the past three months and 57% year to date, pushing its market capitalisation to $51.6 billion. The stock recently closed at $388.23, despite a 9.58% pullback over seven days. With annual revenue of $5.1 billion and net income of $229 million, Ciena now trades well above analyst consensus price targets of $120.40. The most followed valuation narrative places fair value at approximately $237 per share, suggesting the stock may be overvalued by 64%. The company's price-to-sales ratio of 10.7x sits below the peer average of 12.7x but above a fair ratio of 6.2x. Analysts highlight risks including potential customer order cuts and margin pressure from emerging networking technologies.
Vodafone Idea eyes optical transport prospects. Vodafone Idea turned its attention to its optical transport network a day after detailing a 5G expansion, tapping Ciena to provide technology enabling terabit data rates as it targets AI workload opportunities. The vendor explained its WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optical technology will enable Vodafone Idea to meet growing demand for bandwidth-intensive services. Vodafone Idea CTO Jagbir Singh identified AI workloads as the reason the operator is upgrading its transport network capabilities. He said it would establish a foundation to target "growth opportunities through enterprise, mobility" and data centres. Ciena asserts its WL6e is the "industry's first 1.6Tb/s coherent optical technology", a rate the operator hit when connecting two sites in its meshed Data Centre Interconnect network using a single optical channel. The technology provides all operators a means to maximise fibre capacity, Ciena explained. Amit Malik, VP and GM for Asia Pacific, Japan and India, said the rates on offer means Vodafone Idea should be comfortably able to provide 800G services consistently, and be ready to meet future traffic growth and connectivity demands.
Ciena Corporation's shares rose 16% following its addition to the FTSE All-World Index and a demonstration of quantum-secure optical networking technology at OFC 2026. The company partnered with Quantum Computing Inc. to showcase 1.6 Tb/s AES-256-GCM encryption with post-quantum algorithm support and QKD interoperability. The index inclusion may boost liquidity and visibility, whilst the quantum-security demonstration reinforces Ciena's positioning in AI and cloud data centre infrastructure. However, analysts note customer concentration remains a key risk, particularly if major hyperscalers reduce spending or adopt alternative architectures. Ciena's narrative projects $6.5 billion revenue and $590.5 million earnings by 2028, requiring 12.5% annual revenue growth. Some fair value estimates suggest the stock may be worth significantly less than its current price despite the optimistic outlook.