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 accelerates for cloud and AI networking infrastructure, Supply Chain plays a critical role in enabling resilience, global reach, and scalable growth at Ciena. Reporting to the Chief Supply Chain Officer, the VP of Manufacturing & Network Operations translates growth strategy into scalable, resilient, and globally executable manufacturing capability across a complex contract manufacturing network. This role drives quality, cost competitiveness, supply assurance, and operational readiness to support 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 high-complexity, low-to-mid volume, high-mix networking hardware.

• Drive manufacturing quality systems, including incoming, in-process, outgoing, and RMA/failure analysis processes, to achieve yield, DPPM, field quality, and on-time delivery objectives.

• Partner with NPI leadership and Procurement to enable design-to-build transfer readiness, manufacturing launch preparedness, component quality management, and supplier corrective actions.

• Define manufacturing capacity strategies, including line balancing, dual-sourcing of build capacity, and production re-routing in response to demand shifts, supply disruptions, and geopolitical changes.

• Lead business continuity, disaster recovery, productivity, and cost reduction roadmaps across the global manufacturing network.

The must haves

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering or Industrial Engineering or related field.

• Experience: 15+ years in manufacturing or operations leadership within technology hardware,

• Managing outsourced contract manufacturing at scale within a complex, multi-partner ecosystem.

• Deep knowledge 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 disruptions.

• Strong negotiation and executive relationship management skills with contract manufacturing partners.

Nice to haves

• Experience in optical, photonic, and high-speed networking manufacturing.

• Certifications: Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent certification.

• 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.