Is Ciena a good company to work for as a Senior Software Developer?

Senior Software Developer professionals working at Ciena have rated their employer with 3.6 out of 5 stars in 95 Glassdoor reviews. This is a lower than average score with the overall rating of Ciena employees being 4.1 out of 5 stars. Search open Senior Software Developer Jobs at Ciena now and start preparing for your job interview by browsing frequently asked Senior Software Developer interview questions at Ciena .

Does Ciena pay Senior Software Developer employees well?

Senior Software Developer professionals rate their compensation and benefits at Ciena with 3.1 out of 5 stars based on 95 anonymously submitted employee reviews. This is 20.3% worse than the company average rating for salary and benefits. Find out more about Senior Software Developer salaries at Ciena.

How happy are Senior Software Developer professionals working at Ciena?

48% of Senior Software Developer employees at Ciena would recommend their employer to a friend. This rating has decreased by 27% in the past 12 months. Senior Software Developer professionals have also rated Ciena with a 3.8 rating for work-life-balance, 3.4 rating for diversity and inclusion, 3.1 rating for culture and values and 3.0 rating for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Ciena?

Software Engineer (195) , Senior Software Engineer (93) , Embedded Software Engineer (52) , Lead Engineer (33) , Senior Manager (33) , Intern (32) , Software Developer (32) , Network Engineer (31) , Project Manager (29) , Hardware Engineer (27) , Software Engineer 2B (27) , Software Engineer II (24) , Director (23) , Systems Engineer (22) , Engineer (21)

What are the pros of working at Ciena according to real employee reviews?

"People are great and easy to get along with." ((in 168 reviews)); "Good benefits and pension contribution." ((in 163 reviews)); "Great Culture and Minds" ((in 144 reviews)); "Great Work Culture and Co" ((in 86 reviews)); "Not great but good pay" ((in 83 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Ciena according to real employee reviews?

"Mass resignation in PH cyber team because of poor management" ((in 66 reviews)); "Many of the managers have not been trained and do poor to fair jobs managing effectively" ((in 43 reviews)); "No career growth" ((in 20 reviews)); "too much politics (dirty games) involved within the teams and between different teams." ((in 8 reviews)); "Currently hiring remote workers due to pandemic but once that shifts back to being present in an office, you will see firsthand the lack of diversity." ((in 7 reviews))

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Ciena

Ciena Senior Software Developer reviews

3.6

48% would recommend to a friend

(95 total reviews)

Gary B. Smith

57% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Work/Life balance

3.4

Diversity & inclusion

3.1

Culture & values

3.1

Senior management

3.1

Compensation and benefits

3.0

Career opportunities

Senior Software Developer employees have rated Ciena with 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 95 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Senior Software Developer professionals have a good working experience there. Ciena is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Senior Software Developer professionals compared to other employers within the Telecommunications industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

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Reviews by job title

95 reviews

4.0

Nov 22, 2025

Nice benefits

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits are good. Unlimited PTO is something not for words but you can actually get good PTOs provided work is not impacted.

Cons

Too much shift in priorities at times.

1.0

Oct 29, 2025

Stay away

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

No pros except good work life balance.

Cons

Employees can be terminated at any time. The company frequently undergoes reorganizations, during which new upper management rarely engages with long-tenured engineers. This short-sighted approach to get the finances in place will ultimately cost the company in the long run.

3.0

Aug 8, 2025

decent

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

its okay to start at

Cons

no growth potential slow career growth

Ciena Response

10mo

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you sharing your experience and are glad you’ve chosen Ciena as part of your career journey. We understand your concerns about growth potential and career progression. Supporting our employees’ development is a priority, and we’re continuously working to improve opportunities for growth. If you have specific suggestions, we’d love to hear them—please email us at cienafeedback@ciena.com. Thank you for your input.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 95 Reviews

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Ciena Senior Software Developer reviews

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Nice benefits

Stay away

decent

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