Senior Director, People Operations

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.

The Senior Director, People Operations leads Ciena’s global HR technology, HRIS, and employee-services functions (People Connect). This leader owns the HR technology roadmap, modernizes the HR tech stack, and drives responsible adoption of AI and automation.

The role ensures employees and managers receive efficient, consistent, high-quality support across the employee lifecycle. It requires strategic HR-operations expertise, technology and product management skills, process-improvement discipline, and strong change leadership.

Key Responsibilities

HR Technology and HRIS

• Own the global HR technology strategy, roadmap, architecture, budget, vendors, and delivery governance.

• Lead the HRIS function, ensuring reliable, secure, integrated core HR systems (HCM, payroll interfaces, benefits, time, ATS, learning, performance, compensation, analytics, employee-service platforms).

• Partner with IT, Finance, Legal, Privacy, Security, and business leaders on priorities, integration standards, data governance, and access controls.

• Run HR technology like a product: prioritized roadmap, business cases, success metrics, releases, and adoption across regions.

• Apply a “global process first, technology second” approach: standardize processes, limit customization, and balance global scale with local legal and works-council needs.

• Own HR data quality and protecting employee privacy.

• Define and execute the HR AI and automation strategy across employee services, HR operations, talent, and workforce planning.

• Deploy AI-enabled capabilities such as virtual assistants, knowledge management, case triage, policy Q&A, analytics, and workflow automation.

• Establish responsible-AI guardrails with IT, Legal, Privacy, Security, and works councils covering privacy, bias, explainability, and human oversight of employee-impacting decisions.

• Build HR-team AI fluency and measure impact (cycle time, deflection, service quality, satisfaction, cost savings, capacity released).

Employee Services and Shared Services

• Own the global People Connect organization, including HR shared services, case management, policy administration, onboarding/offboarding, and employee inquiries.

• Design an employee-services model that balances global consistency, local relevance, self-service, and high-touch support.

• Deliver a modern service experience: self-service, searchable knowledge base, guided workflows, omnichannel support, and clear escalation paths.

• Use process mapping, journey design, and continuous improvement to reduce friction, rework, and resolution time.

• Manage service metrics (case volume, first-contact resolution, resolution time, backlog, quality, satisfaction, cost per case, self-service adoption).

• Lead workforce planning, coaching, and performance for the team, shifting work from transactional tasks to complex cases and knowledge stewardship alongside AI.

• Partner with HR COEs, HR business partners, Payroll, Benefits, Legal, IT, and vendors.

Leadership and Transformation

• Build and retain a high-performing global team across HRIS, employee services and process improvement.

• Lead large-scale transformation: system implementations, services redesign, process standardization, and AI adoption.

• Translate people strategy into an HR-operations roadmap with clear priorities, owners, risks, and outcomes.

• Influence executives, regional leaders, and partners with data; manage competing priorities.

• Manage budget, forecasts, vendor spend, and value realization.

The Must Haves:

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field; advanced degree or certification a plus.

• 12+ years in HR operations, HR technology, HRIS, shared services, or HR transformation, including 7+ years leading multi-site or global teams.

• Proven ownership of an HRIS/HCM platform at scale (e.g., Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle HCM), including implementations, integrations, upgrades, and vendor management.

• Experience designing or leading global shared-services or employee-services organizations.

• Process-improvement expertise (Lean, Six Sigma, service design) and practical experience scaling AI, automation, chatbots, or RPA.

• Strong analytics and business-case skills, with excellent stakeholder management, change leadership, and ability to work across time zones.

 Nice to Have:

• Experience in a global company of roughly 5,000–20,000 employees across multiple countries and regulatory environments.

• Familiarity with modern HR tech ecosystems (HCM, ATS, LMS, payroll, integration middleware, HR data warehouses, BI, case management).

• Experience with AI governance, privacy-by-design, and employee-data protection.

• Experience with low-code workflow automation, process mining, conversational AI, and works councils or complex international employment law.

Success Measures

The Senior Director will be accountable for outcomes such as:

• Reliable, secure, adopted HR platforms with better data quality and integration health.

• A clear, funded HR technology and AI roadmap aligned to business priorities.

• Higher self-service adoption, faster resolution, better first-contact resolution, lower backlog, and stronger employee satisfaction.

• Reduced cost-to-serve, cycle time, and manual effort.

• Responsible, governed AI deployment with measurable benefits.

• A scalable global services model and an engaged, resilient team.

Leadership Attributes

• Strategic and systems-oriented: Connects technology, process, data, people, and business outcomes.

• Employee-centered: Designs services around employee needs, not internal silos.

• Pragmatic innovator: Pursues AI and automation where value, feasibility, and responsible use are clear.

• Operational rigor: Uses metrics and root-cause analysis to improve performance.

• Collaborative leader: Builds trust across HR, IT, Legal, Finance, and regions.

• Change catalyst: Helps employees and HR teams adopt new ways of working.

Pay Ranges:
The salary range for this role in Canada is $177, 100 - $282, 900
The salary range for this role in the USA is $204, 100 - $326, 100

Pay 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.

Non-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.
At 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.

Ciena is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

If contacted in relation to a job opportunity, please advise Ciena of any accommodation measures you may require.