Senior Director, Network Research and Development

Lumen is the trusted network for the AI‑powered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, high‑performance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities.

At Lumen, you'll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what's next, where performance, security, and resilience matter.

This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you're ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AI‑ready connectivity, join us today.

** The Role*
* As the Senior Director, Network Research & Development, you will lead a small, high-caliber team focused on shaping Lumen's future network capabilities through disciplined experimentation, technology validation, and long-horizon innovation. This leader will serve as the single-threaded owner for Network R&D, driving a focused portfolio of emerging technology bets that inform future architecture, product, security, and network strategy.

This role is designed for a decisive, technically credible leader who can connect emerging technologies to practical business and network outcomes. The Senior Director will own the R&D charter, govern the portfolio, establish clear decision criteria, and ensure the team remains focused on learning, optionality, and future capability shaping-not near-term roadmap delivery or business-as-usual execution.

** Location*
* This is a remote opportunity open to candidates located anywhere in the U.S.

** The Main Responsibilities*
* + Lead the Network R&D function as the accountable owner for long-horizon experimentation, technology validation, and future capability development across emerging network technologies.

+ Build and lead a lean core team of dedicated R&D talent, including principal-level engineers, architects, and program/portfolio discipline, while flexing capacity through internal SMEs, vendors, contractors, academic partners, and external specialists.

+ Define and manage a clear R&D charter that distinguishes exploratory research and validation from production delivery, near-term roadmap execution, and business-as-usual architecture work.

+ Develop and govern a portfolio of R&D initiatives across adjacent, emerging, and frontier horizons, ensuring each initiative has a clear hypothesis, learning milestone, kill criterion, and decision value.

+ Prioritize investment areas such as quantum networking, post-quantum crypto-agility, next-generation optical and fiber technologies, autonomous networks, AI infrastructure, programmable networks, edge and distributed compute, and advanced security capabilities.

+ Translate emerging technology trends into practical implications for Lumen's network strategy, product roadmap, architecture decisions, and future-state operating model.

+ Establish disciplined intake, review, and reporting mechanisms to evaluate R&D opportunities, track outcomes, and support quarterly governance discussions with senior leaders and investment stakeholders.

+ Drive strong stop/continue decision-making by quickly ending low-value or non-viable initiatives and reallocating focus toward the highest-potential opportunities.

+ Partner across Network Engineering, Architecture, Product, Security, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and external ecosystem partners to align R&D work with enterprise priorities and future customer needs.

+ Protect the R&D team from being pulled into ongoing operational execution or near-term delivery work while maintaining strong connectivity to the teams that may eventually scale or operationalize validated capabilities.

+ Build a culture of technical depth, curiosity, accountability, disciplined experimentation, transparency, and enterprise-minded decision-making.

+ Interface with and influence enterprise technology strategy by advising executive leadership (EVPs, SVPs, VPs) on disruptive network trends, industry inflection points, and future-state architectures…