Principal Product Manager, Data Center Networks

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.

We are seeking a Principal Product Manager to shape the architecture and expansion strategy for our data center metro networks. This highly visible, internal-facing role combines product leadership, technical diligence, and program execution to ensure network investments deliver meaningful business value.

You will own the roadmap for internal network products that enable external services, evaluate whether proposed expansion efforts offer the right technical solution and expected return, and lead cross-functional teams through delivery. Success requires deep metro network expertise, strong financial and analytical judgment, and the ability to turn complex technical decisions into clear, actionable recommendations.

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

• Own the product strategy, requirements, and multi-year architectural roadmap for data center metro network solutions and expansion programs.
• Translate topology, diversity, capacity, transport, optical-layer, and point-of-presence decisions into repeatable configurations and reference designs.
• Lead cross-functional expansion programs from evaluation through delivery, coordinating teams, dependencies, milestones, risks, and executive status reporting.
• Evaluate proposed network investments using demand, utilization, capital efficiency, revenue potential, and return-on-investment analysis.
• Establish a consistent framework for prioritizing, approving, deferring, or redesigning metro network upgrades and expansion efforts.
• Build demand models that combine contracted demand, pipeline, market signals, customer architecture plans, and forecast scenarios.
• Assess whether existing internal products and architectural solutions remain the right platforms for future growth, including lower-cost alternatives and associated trade-offs.
• Partner with Product, Network Planning, Engineering, Finance, Operations, Service Delivery, and Sales to drive decisions and execution.

• 8-10+ years of experience in product management, program management, network planning, or network engineering.
• 3+ years of experience supporting metro, data center, optical, packet transport, or related network infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of metro network architecture, including ring and mesh topologies, route and fiber diversity, point-of-presence and colocation siting, and protection and restoration strategies.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional technical programs through planning, decision-making, and delivery.
• Ability to build and defend quantitative demand, investment, and return-on-investment models using incomplete or evolving data.
• Understanding of capital economics, including capital and operating expense trade-offs, payback, internal rate of return, utilization, and unit cost.
• Experience translating complex technical and financial analysis into concise, decision-ready recommendations for senior…