Principal PM, Data Center Networking for AI

Lumen; Helena (MT); Remote; USD 170,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Life insurance

Voluntary lifestyle benefits

Job summary

Lumen seeks a Principal Product Manager to shape architecture and expansion for data center metro networks. You will own the internal roadmap for network products enabling external services, and lead cross‑functional teams from evaluation through delivery.

Applicants should have deep metro network knowledge, strong financial judgment, and a track record turning complex technical and financial analyses into actionable CEO‑level recommendations. Remote US applicants welcome.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of experience in product management, program management, network planning, or network engineering.
• 3+ years of experience supporting metro, data center, optical, packet transport, or related network infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of metro network architecture, including ring and mesh topologies, route and fiber diversity, POPs, and protection strategies.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross‑functional technical programs through planning and delivery.
• Ability to build and defend quantitative demand, investment, and ROI models with incomplete data.
• Understanding of capital economics, including OPEX, CAPEX trade‑offs, payback, and utilization.

Responsibilities

• Own the product strategy, requirements, and multi‑year architectural roadmap for data center metro network solutions and expansion programs.
• Translate topology, diversity, capacity, transport, optical‑layer decisions into repeatable configurations and reference designs.
• Lead cross‑functional expansion programs from evaluation through delivery, coordinating teams, milestones, risks, and executive status reports.
• Evaluate proposed network investments using demand, utilization, capital efficiency, revenue potential, and ROI analysis.
• Establish a framework for prioritizing, approving, deferring, or redesigning metro network upgrades and expansion efforts.
• Build demand models combining contracted demand, pipeline, market signals, and forecast scenarios.
• Assess whether existing internal products remain the right platforms for future growth, including cost trade‑offs.
• Partner with Product, Network Planning, Engineering, Finance, Operations, Service Delivery, and Sales to drive decisions.

Skills

Metro network architecture

Cross-functional leadership

Financial and analytical judgement

Decisionmaking for senior leaders

Influence across functions

Quantitative modeling

Capital economics

Strategic roadmapping

Education

MBA or engineering degree

Tools

Power BI

SQL

Python

Job description

Lumen seeks a Principal Product Manager to shape architecture and expansion for data center metro networks. You will own the internal roadmap for network products enabling external services, and lead cross‑functional teams from evaluation through delivery.

Applicants should have deep metro network knowledge, strong financial judgment, and a track record turning complex technical and financial analyses into actionable CEO‑level recommendations. Remote US applicants welcome.