Data Architect

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Position: Professional Services Delivery Architect

The Professional Services Solution Architect is a critical multi-dimension role in the Professional Services organization.  The position is a post sales role and is responsible for the delivery of business-critical solutions for Blue Planet customers, delivering repeatable high-quality solutions with the Professional Services project teams.  This is a regional role and the Solution Architect is expected to collaborate with the global Solution Architect teams to ensure that Blue Planet Professional Services deliver consistently for all Blue Planet customers.

The successful candidate is a strong leader who communicates clearly and knows how to drive performance, with a passion for the business and desire to deliver excellence.  The ideal candidate will have deep technical knowledge of the OSS domain with a focus on Network Inventory, Design and Management, Discovery and Activation, business process workflow, complex systems integrations, and a thorough understanding of a broad range of telecommunications technologies, as well as good understanding of software development and system integration patterns.

The applicant needs to have experience in designing and implementing software solutions that follow a customized off the shelf product pattern.

They will have extensive experience working directly with Telco customers, understanding their requirements around OSS software and possess the ability to translate those requirements software solutions across the Blue Planet Portfolio or similar applications.

What you will do as a Blue Planet Architect?

Your primary activities will include:

• Provide weekly reports and metrics to the Project Management Office (PMO) and Regional Delivery Director including the overall status and health of the projects within the region
• Transition project delivery from the Sales team and assume responsibility for the project and aid the Program Manager/Project Manager deliver the solution on time and on budget
• Provide thought leadership and guidance on resolving complex implementation and solution issues
• Provide thought leadership and guidance on issues, action items, assumptions, questions, requirements, and items requiring follow up
• Review and approve Blue Planet Methods design and development solution documents, internal and external test strategies, plans and scripts
• Educate teams on solutions, best practices, new solutions, competitors, and industry trends
• Educate teams on the implementation best practices for Blue Planet products and solution offerings
• Demonstrate advanced subject matter knowledge for Product(s) and continuously develop depth and breadth skills across entire Blue Planet footprint
• Play a key leadership role in developing consulting and application skills
• Provide thought leadership and expertise on best practices and use/implementation of Blue Planet Solutions
• Contribute as an individual, a team member and a team leader
• Advocate improvements in practice efficiency, services, and processes
• Conduct customer workshops and design sessions and create resulting technical architecture and design specifications that will drive the entire solution to success, while maintaining a view of scope, timeline, and budget
• Manage multiple customer engagements, able to dive into the lower levels and recognize and address issues before they become critical
• Navigate complex client relationships and implementation challenges successfully
• Identify and mitigate implementation risks through best technical practices for Blue Planet products.
• Provide critical application configuration knowledge or extensive business process expertise across a range of Blue Planet solutions
• Demonstrate advanced subject matter knowledge for Product(s) within the defined Practice responsibility
• Provide thought leadership and best or common practices on business process or solution design
• Support configuration design sessions by providing expertise and experience
• Articulate options, risks and benefits during business process and design reviews
• Use advanced level troubleshooting skills for resolving issues
• Support advanced solution design and configuration activities.
• Maintain a detailed understanding of the Blue Planet product offerings and industry solutions
• Manage internal project tasks and activities

Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated expert knowledge of the telecoms OSS domain
• Deep understanding of Telecom Network design and architectures, with broad end to end view across OSS and BSS technologies and ecosystems including associated technologies such as service assurance/analytics, SDN/NFV and cloud infrastructure, service orchestration & OSS automation, mediation, billing & charging, IoT and service exposure. 
• Deep understanding of one or more of OSS Inventory Management, Discovery, Activation, Performance, Fault and Network Device
• Understanding of the Telco OSS ecosystem and knowledge of one or more of the following inventory systems – Amdocs ARM (Cramer), Ericsson Granite, Netcracker, Oracle MetaSolv, etc.
• Network configuration processes from a functional and technical perspective.
• Expert domain knowledge in multiple telecom technologies (DWDM, Ethernet, IP, etc)
• 10+ years overall experience in functional and/or technical lead role
• 10+ years of communications related industry(s) operational experience and/or implementing OSS projects within those markets.
• 7+ years leading large global large complex projects and project teams in a vendor Professional Services organization, with knowledge of Cloud-based architecture (AWS)
• 7+ years managing distributed teams, conducting staff reviews and developing career plans
• 7+ years in the role of hands-on Solution Architecture in the telco OSS and/or BSS areas
• Excellent business and technical communication soft skills
• Project management experience (desired)
• Regularly interacts across functional areas with senior management or executives to ensure unit objectives are met
• A bachelor's degree in computer science, management information systems, engineering or a related field is necessary for this position
• Ability to travel as required

Desired Skills:

• Perceived as expert and visionary in product area by internal organization as well as clients
• Possess Blue Planet Product technology knowledge as well as industry and business process knowledge:  Telecommunications, Broadband, Communications, planning, pricing, etc.
• Possess specific experience in implementing Blue Planet solutions and systems integrations
• Independent judgment and complex problem-solving skills
• Understand applied business practices in more than one of the following:  Telecommunications, Broadband, Communications.
• Possess ability to build rapport with team members and clients
• Possess very detailed written and oral communication skills
• Possess superior time management skills
• Flexible & leads change
• Strong verbal presentation and written communication skills
• Ability to identify and proactively solve problems
• Demonstrated time management skills
• Flexible & easily adapts to change

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Ciena is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

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