Senior Lead Architect: AI-Ready Optical Strategy

Lumen; Cheyenne (WY); On-site; USD 132,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Bonus potential

Job summary

Lumen is seeking a Senior Lead Architect to drive bold, scalable architectures for AI-ready connectivity from a remote US location. You will own the strategic vision, craft optical designs across DWDM and ROADM systems, and steer roadmaps, standards, and automation initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Your work will involve collaborating with cross‑functional teams, leading complex initiatives, and contributing to standards bodies while building robust financial models and data

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, optical, or Telecommunication engineering, or 5-7+ years of equivalent experience and training.
• MBA or 5-7+ Years of equivalent experience in financial modeling.
• Fluent in DWDM, Coherent Optics, ROADM/Open Line Systems, Optical performance modeling, and network resiliency.
• Strong analytical approach to solving problems.
• Experience communicating technical solutions from C-Level to entry level employees.
• Has been the technical subject matter expert that has successfully led a new Product introduction into the production network.
• Strong data extraction and analytic skills using tools like SQL and Power BI.

Responsibilities

• Optical Strategist: translate emerging technologies into deployable architecture, standards, vendor requirements, and operational models
• Architectural Recommendations: include technology roadmaps, reference architectures, lifecycle planning, and interoperability requirements.
• Visionary: Envision future optical network over a 1–3-year horizon and turn them into reality
• Original Mindset: Think, how can we do this?
• AI-Enabled Innovation: Use AI tools to accelerate research, network analytics, documentation, automation, modeling, and decision support.
• Standard Bodies Participation: Engage in standard bodies such as an MSA, IEEE, OIF, Open ROADM, etc., to drive Lumen’s initiatives
• Data Mining and Trending Analytics: Utilize strong data mining skills to extract network data and present current and trending demands
• Financial Model Derivation: Fluent in TCO, ROI, NPV, sensitivity analysis, marginal cost, long-run average cost, capital efficiency, and demand-based forecasting.
• Business Case Development: Develop business cases to support architectural designs and decisions
• Automation Vision: Create an automation vision for the Optical Product line

Skills

DWDM

Coherent Optics

ROADM/Open Line Systems

Optical performance modeling

Network resiliency

SQL

Power BI

Education

Bachelor’s degree in electrical/optical/telecommunication engineering

MBA or 5-7+ years in financial modeling

Tools

None

Job description

Lumen is seeking a Senior Lead Architect to drive bold, scalable architectures for AI-ready connectivity from a remote US location. You will own the strategic vision, craft optical designs across DWDM and ROADM systems, and steer roadmaps, standards, and automation initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Your work will involve collaborating with cross‑functional teams, leading complex initiatives, and contributing to standards bodies while building robust financial models and data