Sr. Associate – Commercial Management

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.

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You know what your ideal career looks like: a competitive salary, freedom to live your life as you like, and recognition for your accomplishments—all in an inclusive and diverse people-first environment. Our success is driven by a supported, thriving team; this is why Ciena upholds these benefits for all our employees. Ciena empowers you with flexible paid time off, reimbursed and in-house development resources, support for mental and physical well-being, and assets you may need to attain your goals both at and away from work.

How You Will Contribute:

As a Service Business Operations Associate, you will report to the senior manager, Resource Management to bring commercial management of external labor spend that includes PO, Timesheet reporting, Invoice Processing and Reconciliation, Cost Rates Management, Forecasting & Reporting. You play a crucial role in ensuring smooth operations and accurate financial tracking of external labor Spend.

What Does Ciena Expect of You?

Following key responsibilities will help effectively manage external labor commercial management.

• Invoicing & Invoice Reconciliation
  • Receive all invoices and delegate them to the appropriate approvers (If required)
  • Reconcile invoices (for multiple areas of the business) against timesheet entries to ensure
    • Accuracy
    • No variances
    • Correct PO issued against
    • Currency
    • The details referenced in the invoice are correct
  • Work with the accounts payable department using established processes and external partners to cancel and re-submit any invoices from the partners that may have any variances or discrepancies
  • Ensure partners are current with invoices for offboarded resources/converted resources
  • Act as a single point of contact for partners surrounding invoicing, PO, and payment questions
  • Works with Accounts Payable team to resolve any unapproved invoices, and/or cancelled invoices that remain outstanding with partners

• Purchase Order Request, Maintenance & Closures
  • Requesting of funds PO for;
    • New resources
    • Contract extensions
    • Expenses
  • Provides PO details to Partners (PO numbers, Billing Entities, etc…)
  • Identify opportunities for cost of goods reduction by auditing and closing existing (and open) PO’s which have been fully invoiced and have remaining balances
  • Initiate discussions with partners regarding invoices when required

• Reporting & Forecasting
  • Maintain Resource Cost Master Sheets
  • Track contingent worker rates from partners (for rate increases and invoicing/PO descriptions etc.)
  • Maintain partner forecast for blanket PO's based on demand
  • Provide end-of-month projected invoice forecast to Finance for partners
  • Send out a timesheet report to each partner highlighting key areas to be addressed directly with resources;
    • missing time
    • unlogged time
    • rejected time

• Contract Management
  • Support executing standard NDAs
  • Ensure compliance with contract terms and conditions.
  • Report Contract Renewals ahead of time
  • Manage Contract Repositories
  • Support onboarding of new Partners with Procurement

The Must Haves:

• Education:
  • A degree in Commerce, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred.
• Experience:
  • Previous experience in a similar role, particularly in PO, invoicing, and contract management.
  • Familiarity with timesheet processing and payroll systems.
• Skills:
  • Strong organizational and time management skills.
  • Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
  • Proficiency in Power BI, Workday, and Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to work across multiple teams

Assets:

• Certifications:
  • Certification in procurement or contract management is a plus.

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