Optical Engineer, Autonomous Photonic Network

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena is committed to a people-first approach. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a flexible work environment that empowers individual growth, well-being, and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact.

Ciena’s vision of Autonomous Photonic Networks (APN) blends advanced physical modeling, analytics and automation to enable optical networks that self-optimize, self-heal and continuously adapt to changing conditions maximizing both capacity and efficiency without manual intervention.

The Liquid Spectrum (LQS) Applications team develops the algorithms, models and workflows at the heart of this vision. Our mission is to unlock latent performance within photonic infrastructure by combining sophisticated physics-based simulations with intelligent software monitoring and control.

As an Optical Engineer on the LQS team, you will focus on physics-intensive photonic transport modeling, coherent modem performance analysis and DWDM system optimization, helping to realize our APN vision. You will:

• Develop and refine optical transport simulations, integrating coherent modem models with amplifier noise, fiber nonlinear impairment and other source of optical penalties.
• Build expert knowledge of coherent modem technologies and their interaction with DWDM photonic line systems.
• Analyze physical layer trade-offs between transponder behavior and optical impairments, assessing impact on reach, spectral efficiency and stability in metro, long-haul and submarine networks.
• Identify and implement optimal modem-line system operating conditions to maximize performance across diverse scenarios.
• Collaborate closely with software developers, photonic hardware designers, systems architects and lab engineers in an agile, multi-disciplinary environment.
• Rapidly adapt or extend existing codebases to prototype, validate and deploy new optimization algorithms.
• Design lab experiments with coherent modems and DWDM systems to validate models, enhance line system performance and improve automation workflows.
• Contribute to the architecture surrounding the long-term vision of the APN intelligence layer, through theory, simulation, and implementation of autonomous control applications.

• Advanced degree in Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
  • Minimum industry R&D experience (excluding academic research):
    • 2+ years with Ph.D
    • 3+ years with Master’s degree
    • 5+ years with Bachelor’s degree
• Deep expertise in:
  • Coherent modem performance modeling and constraints
  • Optical amplifier behavior and modeling (EDFA, Raman)
  • Nonlinear noise modeling including Gaussian Noise (GN) models
  • DWDM propagation physics with modem-line system integration
• Excellent communication, documentation and proven track record of cross-functional teamwork.
• Proven ability to optimize photonic line systems in conjunction with coherent modem operation in real-world deployments.
• Strong intuition around noise, dispersion, nonlinearities and modem trade-offs.
• Experience conducting optical lab measurements involving coherent transceivers and DWDM setups; skilled at designing experiments for performance validation.
• Proficiency with MATLAB and/or Python and ability to modify and extend simulation codebases; experience with git version control.
• Record of delivering industry-grade outcomes, translating theory into measurable product benefits .

• Understanding of DWDM application spaces and use-cases for terrestrial and submarine networks.
• Experience commissioning, troubleshooting and optimizing DWDM systems in lab or field.
• Experience in automating optical optimization workflows.
• Experience writing production-quality software and tests.
• Familiarity with off-the-shelf photonic simulation tools and ability to reconcile results with in-house models.
• Systems programming experience (i.e., C/C++, go).
• Exposure to agile development methodologies.
• Knowledge of distributed computing and large-scale systems design patterns.

Pay ranges at Ciena are designed to accommodate…