Director Product Line Management Optical Engines

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Position Summary

The Director of Product Line Management for Optical Engines is responsible for defining, executing, and owning the product strategy and lifecycle for Adtran’s optical engine portfolio. This role sets the vision for client pluggables and embedded optical engines supporting access, aggregation, metro, and transport use cases, aligned to Adtran’s open networking and disaggregated systems strategy.

This leader serves as the primary business owner for the optical engine product line, driving market success through close collaboration with R&D, supply chain, sales, marketing, system product management, and key customers and partners.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Portfolio Ownership

• Own the end‑to‑end product strategy and roadmap for Optical Engines (e.g., pluggable optics, coherent engines, embedded optical solutions).
• Define product positioning, value propositions, and differentiation aligned with Adtran’s systems, software, and open network solutions.
• Drive make/buy/partner decisions for optical technologies in alignment with corporate strategy.
• Deliver Market Requirement Specifications and ROI analysis for new product concepts, working with R&D and lead customers to help define the roadmap

Market & Customer Leadership

• Serve as the voice of the customer, translating service provider, MSO, enterprise, and partner requirements into product definitions.
• Engage directly with Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers on roadmap alignment, feature prioritization, and custom requirements.
• Monitor market trends (coherent optics evolution, DWDM standards, ZR/ZR+, Open Line Systems, power and density advances) and competitive dynamics.

Execution & Lifecycle Management

• Own business cases, pricing strategies, margin targets, and ROI for the optical engine portfolio.
• Lead product lifecycle management from concept, development, launch, and growth through end‑of‑life.
• Partner with engineering to ensure on‑time, on‑budget delivery of products meeting performance, cost, and quality targets.

Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Work closely with system product management teams to align optical engines with Adtran platforms.
• Collaborate with operations and supply chain on long‑term component strategy, vendor relationships, and cost optimization.
• Support sales, solutions engineering, and marketing with technical messaging, enablement, and customer presentations.

Team Leadership

• Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing product line management team.
• Establish best practices across market analysis, roadmap development, and product governance.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related technical field; MBA preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in optical networking technology, with at least 5 years in product management or product line leadership.
• Deep understanding of optical engines and technologies including coherent optics (ZR/ZR+), pluggable form factors, client optics and DWDM systems.
• Proven experience owning a product P&L or equivalent business responsibility.
• Strong customer‑facing and executive‑level communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional teams in a matrix organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with open networking, disaggregated optical systems, or software‑defined networking.
• Prior leadership in semiconductor‑adjacent or optics component businesses.
• Familiarity with service‑provider purchasing models and long product lifecycles.
• Experience working with global suppliers and contract manufacturers.

Key Success Metrics

• Revenue growth and margin performance of the optical engines portfolio
• On‑time delivery of roadmap commitments
• Customer adoption across Adtran platforms
• Cost reduction and supply chain resiliency
• Alignment of optical engine capabilities with system‑level differentiation