{"id":3406701,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ciena-corporation-category-lead","title":"Category Lead","company":{"id":1996,"name":"Ciena Corporation","domain":"ciena.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ciena","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":77,"open_postings":27,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.926,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":31,"computed_at":"2026-11-01T06:10:25Z"}},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Quebec, Canada"],"countries":["CA"],"hiring_countries":["CA"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":50000,"max_usd":102000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_cell","sample_n":66},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-28T16:27:39Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-28","last_verified_at":"2026-11-01T16:31:29Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":4,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":4},"description":"As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena builds the critical infrastructure powering the AI era. We’re a technology company shaping the future of networking, guided by innovation, integrity, and collaboration. Through development opportunities, meaningful work, and flexibility, Ciena supports growth and well-being-on and off the job. Connect with a career that matters.\nThe Category Lead plays a key role in developing and executing global strategic sourcing initiatives across indirectspendcategories. The position contributes to cost optimization, supplier performance, and compliance while aligning procurement strategies with businessobjectives. Success in this role drives operational efficiency, stakeholder value, and continuous improvement across the procurement function.\nHow you will make an impact:\nDevelop and implement category strategies for assigned indirect spend categories, including technical and engineering teams, Capex, and MRO.\nConduct market analysis, supplier identification, and spend analysis toidentifycost savings and process improvement opportunities.\nLead end-to-end sourcing activities, including RFI/RFP development, vendor evaluation, contract negotiation, and supplier selection.\nBuild relationships with internal stakeholders to align procurement activities with business requirements.\nManage supplier performance, contract compliance, and supplier issue resolution.\nDrive continuous improvement initiativesutilizingprocurement best practices and technology solutions.\nDevelop and present category performance, savings, and key metric reporting to leadership. The must haves:\nEducation:Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, ora relatedfield. MBA or advanced degree preferred.\nExperience: 5+ years of experience in indirect procurement or strategic sourcing roles.\nExperience: 3+ years in category management.\nProventrack recordof delivering cost savings and processefficiencies.\nStrong negotiation skills and application of procurement contract management.\nDemonstratedability to build relationships with stakeholders and suppliers.\nUtilizationof procurement software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and legal and commercial procurement contract processes, includingDocuSign. Nice tohaves:\nAbility to work independently and within a team environment.\nExcellent written and verbal communication skills.\nPresentation skills supporting stakeholder engagement and reporting. Pay Range:\nThe salary range for this role in Ottawa is: $84, 700 - $135, 300 CAD\nPay ranges at Ciena are designed to accommodate variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions, and locations, reflecting our diverse products, industries, and lines of business. Please note that the pay range information provided in this posting pertains specifically to the primary location, which is the top location listed in case multiple locations are available.\nNon-Sales employees may be eligible for a discretionary incentive bonus, while Sales employees may be eligible for a sales commission. In addition to competitive compensation, Ciena offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision plans, participation in 401(K) (USA) & DCPP (Canada) with company matching, Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), company-paid holidays, paid sick leave, and vacation time. We also comply with all applicable laws regarding Paid Family Leave and other leaves of absence.\nAt Ciena, we are committed to building and fostering an environment in which our employees feel respected, valued, and heard. Ciena values the diversity of its workforce and respects its employees as individuals. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination.\nCiena is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.\nIf contacted in relation to a job opportunity, please advise Ciena of any accommodation measures you may require.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3950,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Canada","iso":"CA","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Telecom Infrastructure","Optical Communications"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-28T16:27:39Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"CA","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Positions approved through LMIA in 12 months: 5","filings_12m":5,"filings_prev_12m":2,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Global Talent Stream; High Wage","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-03T21:10:52+00:00","sources":["ESDC: employers issued a positive LMIA"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":3,"expected_fill_days":31,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-01T06:10:25Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ciena-corporation-category-lead","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ciena-corporation-category-lead.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-01T20:31:09Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":31469,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-02T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1996},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1996"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fciena-corporation-category-lead"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fciena-corporation-category-lead"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fciena-corporation-category-lead"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ciena-corporation-category-lead\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fciena-corporation-category-lead"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3406701}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"ciena.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3406701},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}