Senior Director, Strategic Accounts

Ciena

Senior Director leading strategic accounts for Ciena, a global connectivity technology leader. Responsible for go-to-market strategies and customer engagement to drive growth.

Posted 5/21/2026full-timeRemote • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $418,000 - $667,800 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Switching

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead and execute short-, medium-, and long-term go-to-market strategies to drive growth in bookings, revenue, margin, and market share across strategic accounts
Own and consistently deliver quarterly and annual financial commitments, including bookings and revenue targets aligned to equal or majority share of customer spend across applicable Ciena solutions
Build, lead, and inspire a high-performing global sales team through coaching, mentorship, and role-model leadership
Engage directly with executive-level customer stakeholders to strengthen relationships, uncover growth opportunities, and differentiate Ciena’s portfolio from competitors
Personally spearhead complex, high-impact sales pursuits as needed to accelerate deal closure and customer outcomes
Maximize lifecycle value by expanding services revenue, including negotiation of profitable long-term maintenance and support agreements
Collaborate cross-functionally to align customer requirements with Ciena’s global product roadmap and marketing strategy

Requirements

What you’ll need

15+ years of progressive experience in senior sales leadership roles within telecommunications, networking, or a closely related technology industry
Proven success owning and growing strategic or global accounts with responsibility for significant revenue and margin targets
Demonstrated ability to lead and scale world-class, geographically distributed sales teams
Extensive experience engaging, influencing, and negotiating with executive-level customer stakeholders
Telecom infrastructure (preferably optical and/or routing and switching) experience and/or large network (service provider) footprint complex sales
Understand hyperscaler business
Running large accounts that have oversized influence on the company's revenue
Strong commercial acumen with a track record of driving revenue growth, market share expansion, and gross margin improvement
Exceptional communication, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills
Bachelor’s degree required; advanced business degree or equivalent experience strongly preferred

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical, dental, and vision plans
participation in 401(K) (USA) & DCPP (Canada) with company matching
Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
company-paid holidays
paid sick leave
vacation time

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

sales leadershiprevenue growthmargin improvementstrategic account managementnegotiationtelecom infrastructurenetworkingcomplex salescommercial acumencustomer relationship management

Soft Skills

coachingmentorshipleadershipcommunicationcollaborationstakeholder managementinfluencingrelationship buildingteam buildingproblem solving

Certifications

Bachelor’s degreeadvanced business degree