Customer Engagement Manager

Ciena; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Ciena in Raleigh, NC is seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager for customer engagement and managed services. You will oversee onboarding from quote to activation, drive project scope, and coordinate across Services, Product, Supply Chain, Sales, and partners.

You will lead executive updates, manage risks, and ensure high customer satisfaction through clear communications and proactive issue resolution.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of ICT experience with program or project management responsibilities in managed services, optical, cloud, or virtualization delivery projects.
• Experience in negotiation, collaboration, customer-facing communication, and statement of work management.

Responsibilities

• Drive managed service onboarding projects from quote acceptance through service activation and ongoing performance reporting.
• Deliver project scope while optimizing schedules, costs, resources, and third-party deliverables.
• Lead customer engagement activities and serve as the escalation point for managed service delivery matters.
• Manage multiple customer projects and coordinate stakeholder communications.
• Present executive-level project updates, tracking reports, and status communications.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with Services, Product, Supply Chain, Sales, partner, and customer teams to achieve project objectives.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder communication

Risk management

Negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or CS or Business

Job description

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena builds the critical infrastructure powering the AI era. We're a technology company shaping the future of networking, guided by innovation, integrity, and collaboration. Through development opportunities, meaningful work, and flexibility, Ciena supports growth and well-being - on and off the job. Connect with a career that matters.

Customer Engagement Management plays a critical role in ensuring successful managed service delivery and customer satisfaction across complex technology programs. This position works closely with customers, partners, and cross-functional teams to deliver projects that align with business objectives while maintaining a high-quality customer experience. Success in this role contributes to effective project execution, operational excellence, and long-term customer relationships.How you will make an impact:

How you will make an impact:

• Drive managed service onboarding projects from quote acceptance through service activation and ongoing performance reporting.
• Deliver project scope while optimizing schedules, costs, resources, and third-party deliverables.
• Lead customer engagement activities and serve as the escalation point for managed service delivery matters.
• Manage multiple customer projects and coordinate stakeholder communications.
• Present executive-level project updates, tracking reports, and status communications.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with Services, Product, Supply Chain, Sales, partner, and customer teams to achieve project objectives.
• The must haves

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, business, or equivalent experience.

Experience:

• 8+ years of relevant experience in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) field with program or project management responsibilities supporting managed services, optical, cloud, or virtualization delivery projects.
• Application of negotiation, influence, collaboration, customer-facing communication, and statement of work management practices.
• Monitor incident management activities and coordinate resolution in alignment with service level agreements.
• Manage customer communications, escalated incidents, action items, and service delivery activities to support customer satisfaction.
• Coordinate technical support and field engineering activities to address operational issues and critical equipment maintenance requirements.
• Demonstrated skills utilizing desktop applications, project management tools, financial tools, and the ability to travel in support of customer projects.

Nice to haves:

Experience:

• Experience with managed services and build-operate-transfer projects.

Certifications:

• PMP certification and virtualization or networking technology certifications.

Education: