Manager Network Planning & Strategic Communications

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*
* The Manager, Network Planning & Strategic Communications is a hybrid strategist and communicator within Network & Digital Platform Planning. This role leads a small, high-performing team while serving as the organization's primary voice for translating complex network planning initiatives into clear, compelling executive narratives. The ideal candidate is a strategic generalist-equally comfortable analyzing network headroom data, constructing a capital investment thesis for the VP/SVP audience, and architecting polished presentations that elevate critical programs and accomplishments across internal and external stakeholders.

This position blends deep data-analytic fluency with exceptional strategic communication skills-the ability to distill technical complexity into outcome-focused, audience-calibrated messaging that drives alignment and action at the senior leadership level.

** The Main Responsibilities*
* ** Strategic Narrative Development Executive Communications*
* + Own the development and continuous refinement of outward facing strategic messaging that elevates the teams' critical initiatives accomplishments and forward-looking investment priorities

+ Develop executive level presentations PowerPoint board decks Steer Co materials SLT status updates that synthesize complex strategies program milestones and business outcomes into structured persuasive content tailored for senior audiences

+ Partner with senior directors and VPs to shape organizational messaging for leadership forums cross functional reviews and customer facing engagements

+ Establish a cohesive communication framework that connects network planning activities to Lumens enterprise priorities AI backbone Lumen Digital network modernization ensuring strategic coherence across all touchpoints

** Network Planning Strategic Generalist*
* + Serve as a cross-domain planning generalist across IP transport metro and fiber infrastructure synthesizing inputs from specialized teams into unified strategic views

+ Monitor capacity trends headroom policies and network investment plans translate findings into data backed recommendations and actionable insights for leadership

+ Support capital budget planning and governance by developing clear justification narratives, variance analyses and investment prioritization summaries

+ Collaborate cross functionally with Product Architecture Engineering Finance Sales GCO and Operations to align priorities timing and investment decisions

** Data Analytics AI Driven Insight*
* + Leverage data analytics visualization tools and applied AIML techniques to identify trends model scenarios and generate insights that inform network strategy and executive decision making

+ Build and maintain dashboards, scorecards and automated reporting that improve transparency forecast accuracy and operational efficiency

+ Champion the adoption of AI enabled tools e.g. Copilot advanced analytics platforms to accelerate insight generation and reduce manual reporting burden

+ Ensure data integrity governance and linkage across planning systems and reporting outputs

** Team Leadership*
* + Lead mentor and develop a small team of analysts and planners to set clear goals, build accountability and foster a culture of curiosity, ownership and continuous improvement

+ Manage workload prioritization resource allocation and professional development for direct reports

+ Drive…