Customer Advocacy Engineer

Non-CA Pay Range (Annual):

$121,000.00 - $224,600.00

At Infinera, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. Your actual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. This role may be eligible for equity grants, discretionary bonuses, or commission payments. The amount of these incentives is based on the terms of the Company’s incentive plans, the Company’s financial performance, and/or individual employee job performance.

Infinera also offers paid leave, medical, 

dental, and vision coverage, 401(k),

life, and disability insurance to

eligible employees.

The Customer Advocacy Engineer (CAE) is aligned with Global Services & Support but collaborates closely with Technical Support, Product Line Management, Hardware & Software Engineering, and System Test to enhance customer experience, product quality, and successful customer onboarding. The CAE focuses on critical customer management, ensuring seamless onboarding, demonstrations, lab certifications, and escalation handling. The role also involves contributing to Serviceability Requirements to improve product usability, which are reviewed and implemented in Infinera products. The CAE supports the Product Lifecycle Process, guiding products from First Customer Ship (FCS) to General Availability (GA).

The CAE leverages experience and feedback from Global Services & Support to refine customer onboarding processes, develop customer test plans for new hardware or software features, and provide hands-on support for early customer trials, demonstrations, and critical escalations. The CAE monitors customer issues post-FCS, flags key concerns for resolution or documentation by GA, and ensures high-touch customer management to drive satisfaction and adoption.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead critical customer onboarding, including setup, configuration, training, and troubleshooting to ensure successful deployment and adoption.
• Act as the primary point of contact for customer management, fostering strong relationships and addressing customer needs during onboarding and early adoption phases.
• Support and lead customer demonstrations, lab certifications, and early product trials to showcase product capabilities and ensure certification requirements are met.
• Handle escalations for critical customer issues, ensuring timely resolution, clear communication, and follow-through with stakeholders.
• Generate customer test plans for newly released hardware or software features to validate performance in customer environments.
• Contribute to Serviceability Requirements based on customer feedback to enhance product usability and quality using the Product Lifecycle Process.
• Act as a customer advocate in cross-functional meetings to provide feedback that improves customer experience and product quality.
• Provide initial escalation support for new Infinera Hardware & Software Releases from FCS to GA.
• Reproduce early field issues, assist with lab testing, and create technical collaterals for broader communication.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams across regions to align on customer needs and product improvements.
• Maintain a consistent feedback loop with customers and internal teams to drive enhanced customer satisfaction and product quality.

Experience Necessary For Success:

• Proven experience in customer management, onboarding, and relationship-building in technical environments.
• Prior experience with Long Haul and/or Metro Optical Networks required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead customer demonstrations, lab certifications, and early field trials.
• Strong escalation management skills, with a track record of resolving critical customer issues effectively.
• Detail-oriented with excellent problem-solving skills, applicable to complex network scenarios.
• Prior exposure to automation (Python, SDN, NetConf, gNMI, OpenROADM, SNMP, NMS, controller, CLI) is a plus.
• Practical knowledge of Ethernet, DWDM, client interfaces, SONET/SDH (not mandatory), and OTN network concepts & use cases.
• Knowledge of TCP/IP networking, L2/L3 routing, and switching.
• Experience with optical test sets such as OTDR, OSA, BERT, and optical power meters.
• Experience with IP L2/L3 traffic generators and analyzers such as Spirent, IXIA, or Agilent.
• Hands-on testing experience with ROADM, EDFA, Raman amplifiers, and coherent transponders.
• Prior system test, QA experience, or knowledge of the product development lifecycle is a plus.
• Proficiency in creating PowerPoint presenta