Customer Technical Advocate

Job description

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. Ciena is seeking a Customer Technical Advocate who strengthens customer relationships by serving as the primary technical liaison throughout the customer lifecycle. This role drives customer retention, advocacy, and service excellence through proactive engagement, escalation management, and technical leadership. The position partners closely with customers and internal teams to improve operational outcomes and customer experience. How you will make an impact: Collaborate with Sales and Customer Service Operations to deliver customer onboarding activities with documented and mutually agreed service expectations. Partner with franchise teams during customer business reviews, improvement initiatives, contract-related activities, and complex customer situations. Develop technical relationships across customer engineering, operations, and implementation organizations. Monitor and prioritize technical support cases to achieve service level objectives and agreements. Lead escalation management activities for highly escalated Services and Support issues, including communication updates and resolution planning. Analyze technical issues and customer experience outcomes through post-mortem reviews and recommendations for operational improvements. Represent Global Technical Support during customer operational reviews while communicating network changes, growth activities, and implementation updates. The must haves: Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Sciences, Electrical Engineering, or Business Administration preferred, or relevant years of work experience in a high-tech environment. Experience: 6–8 years in the technology industry in a technical customer engagement role. Experience with Ciena products, including 6500, 8700, and Navigator, while serving in Technical Support, Technical Account Management, Network Engineering, or Design roles. Application of Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3 networking protocols, optical transport technologies including DWDM, OTN, SONET/SDH, Ethernet, and related test equipment. Experience diagnosing and resolving issues involving fiber optic facilities, Carrier Ethernet, and Ciena CPO products, including case quality assurance activities. Utilization of AI tools and application of datacom and telecom concepts including the OSI Model, TCP/IP, and MPLS. Demonstrated experience creating and delivering technical presentations, reports, emails, and customer-facing communications for technical, operational, and management audiences. Nice to haves: Leadership qualities with high integrity. Out-of-the-box approach that challenges the status quo. Ability to influence through persuasion, negotiation, and consensus building. Strong business judgment applied to complex business issues. Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights. Demonstrated experience retaining customers within a large product and services organization spanning regional countries in the technology sector. Professional presence to communicate and present to leadership audiences within Ciena and customer organizations. #LI-SG1 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.