Senior Associate - Indirect Procurement

Ciena is committed to our people-first philosophy. Our teams enjoy a culture focused on prioritizing a personalized and flexible work environment that empowers an individual’s passions, growth, wellbeing and belonging. We’re a technology company that leads with our humanity—driving our business priorities alongside meaningful social, community, and societal impact.

Why Ciena:

· We are big proponents of life-work integration and provide the flexibility and tools to make it a reality with remote work.

· We believe an inclusive, diverse and barrier-free work environment makes for empowered and committed employees.

· We recognize the importance of well-being and offer programs and benefits to support and sustain the mental and physical health of our employees and their families and also offer a variety of paid family leave programs.

· We are committed to employee development, offering tuition reimbursement and a variety of in-house learning and mentorship opportunities.

· We know that financial security is important. We offer competitive salaries and incentive programs, and an employee share option purchase program.

· We realize time away to recharge is non-negotiable. We offer flexible paid time off!

· Great work deserves recognition. We have a robust recognition program, with ongoing and enhanced awards for exemplary performance.

“ Ciena is a global leader in optical and routing systems, services, and automation software. We build the world’s most adaptive networks to address ever-increasing digital demands for richer, more connected experiences for all users. For three-plus decades, we’ve brought our innate sense of humanity to our relentless pursuit of innovation. We prioritize deep, collaborative relationships within our teams and alongside our customers, partners, and communities—local and global.”

How You will Contribute:

The role focuses primarily on Procurement transactional/spot buy activities. He/she drives better spend compliance & consolidation by checking and channeling the purchase through the right procurement process. The person will help maintain master data, set up the vendors in the procurement system COUPA (including onboarding and risk assessments.). He/she will assist in Help Desk type role (both internal and for suppliers), and work on contracts to support stakeholders.

Work in full compliance with the company Procurement Policies, educating and driving the correct behaviors:

• Build and maintain effective stakeholder relationships with our internal customers and suppliers
• Acts as a liaison in dealings between vendors and requestors, including expediting.
• Proactively support effective delivery of Indirect Procurement metrics by supporting projects and initiatives identifying root cause of issues and corrective actions
• Support Category and Stakeholders teams in identifying savings and e-catalog opportunities, running tenders and negotiations
• Constantly improve P2P process and any associated administration through creation and maintenance of catalogs, supplier onboarding, contract creation and maintenance, vendor performance dashboards, etc.
• Support change initiatives and continuous improvement projects aimed at improving the efficiency of procurement processes
• Set-up and maintain supplier master data for procurement network
• Meet service level agreements (SLA) for standard tasks (e.g. PR validation, vendor set-up, contracts maintenance, etc.)
• Support internal stakeholders and suppliers with the Procurement (COUPA) or process requests

What Does Ciena Expect of You?

· Initiative – You’re a self-starter who works with limited direction and is committed to delivering against aggressive deadlines.

· Agility – you are readily able to make key decisions and manage competing and ever-changing account priorities and largely driven by the product development lifecycle.

· Communication expertise – the ability to influence and tailor your message and ideas.

· The flexibility to work independently and as part of a broader team – you thrive in a multi-disciplinary team environment, but are comfortable working independently as required.

· Relationship builder – with a proven ability to influence, you’re able to get work done through others.

· A commitment to innovation – you keep abreast of the market and competitive developments and are always keen to formulate new ideas and problem solve.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• Autonomy to innovate and deliver new approaches that impact the bottom and the top line;
• Grow in a fast-pace environment;
• Being surrounded by inspiring and diverse individuals;
• Learn from people with a wide variety of professional backgrounds;
• Ability to develop new skills and opportunities through lateral or functional moves.

The Must Haves:

• Fluency in English
• Effective listening, communication (verbal and written), and negotiating skills
• Bias for action and result driven mindset, good time management skills
• Problem-solving and analytical ability
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Team-player
• Ability to make effective escalation decision
• Bachelor’s degree with at least 3 - 5 years’ professional experience in Procurement
• Experience with COUPA

Ciena is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, simplify and build.

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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.