VP, Information Technology Strategy Leader

Ciena Government Solutions•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

Ciena is seeking a VP, Information Technology Strategy Leader to define enterprise technology strategy and lead technology governance, integration, engineering enablement, and business experience. The role sets the enterprise technology stack vision and roadmap in alignment with business priorities, while partnering with R&D to align enterprise and product engineering on platforms, architecture, developer tools, DevSecOps, CI/CD, observability, and reusable capabilities. The position drives technology innovation and modernization, evaluates emerging technologies such as AI, automation, and cloud-native platforms, and advises the CIO, CISO, and business executives on technology investments and priorities. It establishes enterprise technology standards and governs choices across applications, data, integration, and infrastructure, including platforms such as Salesforce, Oracle ERP, and Workday. The role also leads the Integration Center of Excellence and enterprise integration strategy, and builds foundational engineering practices and tools. Additionally, it leads UX/UI specialists in delivering consistent, intuitive experiences across internal and customer-facing applications. Ciena describes itself as a global leader in high-speed connectivity and emphasizes innovation, integrity, collaboration, employee growth, flexibility, and well-being. The company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not tolerate discrimination.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive technology leadership experience.
5+ years leading enterprise architecture at scale in a global, complex organization.
Software engineering and R&D leadership background, with technical depth and credibility to partner with product engineering leaders and influence technology-stack, platform, and engineering-tooling decisions.
Proven track record leading enterprise-wide modernization and innovation programs that delivered measurable business outcomes.
Hands-on depth and architectural leadership across Salesforce, Oracle ERP (Cloud or EBS), or Boomi ecosystems.
Demonstrated experience building and scaling AI/ML architecture practices in an enterprise setting.
Proven experience leading an Integration Center of Excellence and modern integration platforms such as MuleSoft, Boomi, Oracle Integration Cloud, Kafka, or equivalent.
Experience establishing enterprise engineering capabilities, including RPA, DevOps, CI/CD, GitHub, automated testing, and code quality.
Track record of leading or partnering with UX/design organizations to elevate user experience.
Deep fluency in cloud architecture (Azure, AWS, or GCP), integration patterns (API-led, event-driven, iPaaS), data architecture, and security-by-design.
Strong grasp of AI/GenAI architecture patterns, including LLM integration, RAG, agentic frameworks, and responsible AI governance.
Experience with architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent, and modern delivery methods such as Agile, Lean, or SAFe.
Ability to translate business priorities into technical strategy and explain technical strategy to business leaders.
Strategic thinking, pragmatic innovation, and execution discipline.
Executive presence and ability to influence at the C-suite and Board level.
Collaborative, low-ego approach and enthusiasm for building high-performing teams.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field is required.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MS or MBA) preferred.

Responsibilities

Define and own the enterprise technology stack vision, strategy, and roadmap in alignment with business priorities and growth ambitions.
Partner with R&D to align enterprise and product engineering on development platforms, architecture patterns, developer tooling, DevSecOps, CI/CD, observability, and reusable capabilities.
Identify, evaluate, and adopt emerging technologies, including AI, automation, and cloud-native platforms.
Ensure architectural decisions balance cost efficiency, time-to-value, scalability, and long-term resilience.
Advise the CIO, CISO, and business executives on technology investment, platform strategy, and modernization priorities.
Establish and govern enterprise technology standards, reference models, and design principles across applications, data, integration, and infrastructure.
Oversee technology choices across core enterprise platforms, including Salesforce, Oracle ERP, Workday, and their integration fabric.
Balance buy-versus-build choices and drive platform simplification and rationalization to reduce technical debt and total cost of ownership.
Partner with data and AI, security, and governance teams to embed responsible AI principles into solutions.
Lead the Integration Center of Excellence and define and govern enterprise integration strategy.
Develop reusable integration patterns, accelerators, and an API catalog; ensure integrations are scalable, observable, secure, and resilient.
Drive integration governance, lifecycle management, and FinOps discipline across the integration portfolio.
Build and operate foundational engineering tools and practices, including RPA and intelligent automation, GitHub and source control standards, code standards and peer review, quality gates, CI/CD and DevOps tooling, automated testing, developer experience, observability, and platform engineering.
Lead UX/UI specialists in delivering consistent, intuitive experiences across internal and customer-facing applications.
Champion human-centered design and embed UX early in architecture and product decisions.
Lead or partner with teams to deliver enterprise-wide modernization, innovation, and engineering capabilities.