OFC Strategy Product Line Manager

Role Purpose

The OFC Strategy PLM owns the end-user-informed fiber-and-cable strategy and alignment across Corning Optical Communications (COC)—OFC, OCS, DCBU, and PCS—to maximize product value and speed-to-market, with a primary planning horizon of 18+ months.

What this role owns

• A shared “north star” for application-driven fiber-and-cable attribute targets and platform direction, grounded in end-user voice of customer (VoC)
• Application-based roadmaps (e.g., Scale Out, Scale Up, CPO, Long Haul, etc.) and the translation of those roadmaps into clear product requirements
• Early visibility and alignment on manufacturing, capacity, and portfolio tradeoffs that impact roadmap feasibility
• Clear decision rights and an operating rhythm for requirements intake, prioritization, and escalation across OFC/OCS/DCBU/PCS (steering-team level engagement; not day-to-day project management)
• Demand-to-capacity translation to align OFC and OCS capability/capacity ramps (fiber, cable, and connectivity dependencies)

Location: Charlotte, NC Headquarters, or any NC Plant location (Hickory, Newton, Trivium Facility, Concord, Winston Salem or Wilmington, NC

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain direct VoC signal for key applications and translate it into product requirements, attribute targets, and roadmap choices
• Serve as the single strategic interface across OFC/OCS/DCBU/PCS; document decisions, drive alignment, and escalate when needed
• Partner with OFC operations and OFC/OCS/DCBU/PCS planning to define investment triggers for fiber and cable capacity/capability
• Ensure OFC is consistently represented when cross-division decisions impact future fiber-and-cable requirements
• Influence without authority: lead through executive-ready synthesis, clear tradeoffs, and structured recommendations
• Measures of success
• Published and adopted application roadmaps with clear attribute targets, decision rights, and review cadence
• Stronger, more quantifiable product value propositions tied to end-user outcomes
• Improved time-to-market through earlier alignment and fewer late changes/rework
• Higher utilization of assets across fiber, cable, and connectivity through aligned demand-to-capacity planning

What this role is not 

While residing within the PLM organization, this role is not responsible for P&L ownership, product team people leadership, plant priority-setting, day-to-day expediting, project management, or operational execution

Experiences/Education - Required

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Business, or related technical degree required

• 10+ years industry experience in optical communications and/or adjacent industry such as semiconductor, AI infrastructure, optical connectivity, advanced packaging, data center, or related technology markets strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success owning product strategy/roadmaps across a complex, cross-functional organization with competing priorities
• Strong customer-facing and VoC translation capability (turning ambiguous application needs into crisp requirements/attribute targets)
• Ability to synthesize complex tradeoffs (technical, manufacturing, capacity, and portfolio) into decision-ready recommendations for senior leaders
• Proven ability to influence across peer organizations (leading without direct authority); comfort driving alignment and escalation
• Comfort operating in the gray; demonstrates high tolerance for risk and the ability to frame, quantify, and communicate tradeoffs (vs. defaulting to “no” when outcomes aren’t fully known)

Experiences/Education - Desired

• MBA or advanced technical/business degree preferred
• Experience in optical communications, network connectivity, datacenter infrastructure, or adjacent systems-level product environments