Director Product Line Management Optical Engines
- Ottawa, ON, Canada
Full-time
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Job details
- Job type
- Full-time
- Apply by
- Experience
- 10+ years of experience in optical networking technology, with at least 5 years in product management or product line leadership.
- Posting language
- English
- Posted
Original job description
Welcome!
Our Growth is Creating Great Opportunities!
Our team is expanding, and we want to hire the most talented people we can. Continued success depends on it! Once you've had a chance to explore our current open positions, apply to the ones you feel suit you best and keep track of both your progress in the selection process, and new postings that might interest you!
Thanks for your interest in working on our team!
Position Summary
The Director of Product Line Management for Optical Engines is responsible for defining, executing, and owning the product strategy and lifecycle for Adtran’s optical engine portfolio. This role sets the vision for client pluggables and embedded optical engines supporting access, aggregation, metro, and transport use cases, aligned to Adtran’s open networking and disaggregated systems strategy.
This leader serves as the primary business owner for the optical engine product line, driving market success through close collaboration with R&D, supply chain, sales, marketing, system product management, and key customers and partners.
Key Responsibilities
Product Strategy & Portfolio Ownership
Our Growth is Creating Great Opportunities!
Our team is expanding, and we want to hire the most talented people we can. Continued success depends on it! Once you've had a chance to explore our current open positions, apply to the ones you feel suit you best and keep track of both your progress in the selection process, and new postings that might interest you!
Thanks for your interest in working on our team!
Position Summary
The Director of Product Line Management for Optical Engines is responsible for defining, executing, and owning the product strategy and lifecycle for Adtran’s optical engine portfolio. This role sets the vision for client pluggables and embedded optical engines supporting access, aggregation, metro, and transport use cases, aligned to Adtran’s open networking and disaggregated systems strategy.
This leader serves as the primary business owner for the optical engine product line, driving market success through close collaboration with R&D, supply chain, sales, marketing, system product management, and key customers and partners.
Key Responsibilities
Product Strategy & Portfolio Ownership
- Own the end‑to‑end product strategy and roadmap for Optical Engines (e.g., pluggable optics, coherent engines, embedded optical solutions).
- Define product positioning, value propositions, and differentiation aligned with Adtran’s systems, software, and open network solutions.
- Drive make/buy/partner decisions for optical technologies in alignment with corporate strategy.
- Deliver Market Requirement Specifications and ROI analysis for new product concepts, working with R&D and lead customers to help define the roadmap
- Serve as the voice of the customer, translating service provider, MSO, enterprise, and partner requirements into product definitions.
- Engage directly with Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers on roadmap alignment, feature prioritization, and custom requirements.
- Monitor market trends (coherent optics evolution, DWDM standards, ZR/ZR+, Open Line Systems, power and density advances) and competitive dynamics.
- Own business cases, pricing strategies, margin targets, and ROI for the optical engine portfolio.
- Lead product lifecycle management from concept, development, launch, and growth through end‑of‑life.
- Partner with engineering to ensure on‑time, on‑budget delivery of products meeting performance, cost, and quality targets.
- Work closely with system product management teams to align optical engines with Adtran platforms.
- Collaborate with operations and supply chain on long‑term component strategy, vendor relationships, and cost optimization.
- Support sales, solutions engineering, and marketing with technical messaging, enablement, and customer presentations.
- Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing product line management team.
- Establish best practices across market analysis, roadmap development, and product governance.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related technical field; MBA preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in optical networking technology, with at least 5 years in product management or product line leadership.
- Deep understanding of optical engines and technologies including coherent optics (ZR/ZR+), pluggable form factors, client optics and DWDM systems.
- Proven experience owning a product P&L or equivalent business responsibility.
- Strong customer‑facing and executive‑level communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional teams in a matrix organization.
- Experience with open networking, disaggregated optical systems, or software‑defined networking.
- Prior leadership in semiconductor‑adjacent or optics component businesses.
- Familiarity with service‑provider purchasing models and long product lifecycles.
- Experience working with global suppliers and contract manufacturers.
- Revenue growth and margin performance of the optical engines portfolio
- On‑time delivery of roadmap commitments
- Customer adoption across Adtran platforms
- Cost reduction and supply chain resiliency
- Alignment of optical engine capabilities with system‑level differentiation
More about this job
Responsibilities
Own the strategy, roadmap, business performance, and full lifecycle of Adtran’s optical engine portfolio, including pluggable, coherent, and embedded optical solutions. Lead customer and cross-functional collaboration across engineering, systems, sales, marketing, and supply chain, while building and mentoring the product line management team.
Requirements
Requires a bachelor’s degree in a relevant technical field and at least 10 years of optical networking experience, including 5 or more years in product management or product line leadership; an MBA is preferred. Candidates should have deep knowledge of optical engines, coherent optics, pluggable form factors, and DWDM, along with product P&L experience, strong executive communication, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Skills
- Optical Product Strategy
- Product Line Management
- Optical Engines
- Coherent Optics
- Pluggable Optics
- DWDM Systems
- Product Roadmapping
- Product Lifecycle Management
- P&L Ownership
- Business Case Development
- Pricing Strategy
- Market Analysis
- Customer Engagement
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Supply Chain Management
- Team Leadership
Visa sponsorship
Not detected in the job text
Categories
- Management & Leadership
- Technology
- Engineering
- Sales
- Marketing
Keywords
- Optical Engines
- Pluggable Optics
- Coherent Optics
- ZR/ZR+
- Client Optics
- DWDM
- Open Line Systems
- Optical Networking
- Open Networking
- Disaggregated Optical Systems
- Software-Defined Networking
- Product Strategy
- Product Roadmap
- Product Lifecycle Management
- P&L
- ROI Analysis
- Pricing Strategy
- Margin Targets
- Make/Buy/Partner Decisions
- Supply Chain
- Vendor Management
- Contract Manufacturers
- Service Providers
- MSO
- Access Networks
- Aggregation Networks
- Metro Networks
- Transport Networks
- Semiconductor-Adjacent Businesses