Vice President, Manufacturing & Network Operations

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. As demand for cloud and AI networking infrastructure increases, Supply Chain plays a critical role in enabling Ciena’s resilience, global reach, and long-term growth. Reporting to the Chief Supply Chain Officer, the VP of Manufacturing & Network Operations translates growth strategy into scalable, resilient, and globally executable manufacturing capability. This role leads a complex contract manufacturing network to deliver quality, cost competitiveness, supply assurance, and profitable growth at scale.     How you will make an impact:   • Own manufacturing capacity readiness across the contract manufacturing network and align executable manufacturing plans with customer demand forecasts.   • Govern executive-level contract manufacturer relationships, including contracts, SLAs, KPIs, business reviews, cost reduction initiatives, and escalation management.   • Lead manufacturing engineering activities to establish scalable, yield-optimized processes for complex networking hardware.   • Drive manufacturing quality systems and continuous improvement initiatives to achieve yield, DPPM, field quality, and on-time delivery objectives .   • Partner with NPI and Procurement teams to enable design-to-build transitions, manufacturing launch readiness, component quality management, and supplier corrective actions.   • Define manufacturing capacity strategies, including line balancing, multi-site capacity planning, dual-sourcing, and production re-routing.   • Lead business continuity, disaster recovery, organizational capability development, and productivity initiatives across the global manufacturing network.     The must haves:   • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (EE/ME/Industrial) or related field.   • Experience: 15+ years in manufacturing or operations leadership within technology hardware, including 5+ years managing outsourced contract manufacturing at scale in a multi-partner ecosystem.   • Application of manufacturing processes for complex networking, telecom, or datacenter hardware.   • Track record of driving quality, yield improvement, and cost reduction programs within an outsourced manufacturing model.   • Experience managing global manufacturing networks during trade or tariff volatility and supply disruption.   • Executive-level negotiation and relationship management with contract manufacturing partners.     Nice to haves:   • Experience: Experience in optical, photonic, and high-speed networking manufacturing.   • Certifications: Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent certification.   • Experience: Experience building or overseeing global, in-region manufacturing as part of geographic diversification.   • Education: MBA.   #LI-JD 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.