Dallas, Texas
Location Flexibility: Multiple Locations in Country
Req Id: 11346
Posting Start Date: 8/14/26
Role SummaryThe Principal Strategist for the Photonics Systems Business Unit (PSBU) serves as the primary strategic thought partner to the Head of Strategy and PSBU leadership. The Principal Strategist brings an external-in perspective, develops and pressure-tests strategic hypotheses, and shapes compelling strategic narratives that inform leadership decisions and portfolio direction. This role does not own strategy governance, planning cadence, or execution. Instead, it exists to sharpen PSBU's strategic thinking and decision quality in uncertain and emerging domains-upstream of formal plans, portfolios, and operating mechanisms.
Core Responsibilities1. Develop Strategic Hypotheses- Develop and articulate clear strategic hypotheses across markets, buyers, technologies, and business models
- Explicitly frame assumptions, constraints, risks, and "what would have to be true" for strategic options to succeed
- Act as a constructive challenger to prevailing assumptions, legacy thinking, and implicit tradeoffs
2. Shape Leadership Decisions- Frame strategic options, tradeoffs, and implications to enable leadership decision-making
- Convert ambiguity into actionable strategic choices, including clarifying where PSBU should not invest or compete
- Influence decisions upstream-before they are embedded into plans, portfolios, or execution mechanisms
3. Bring an External-In Perspective- Maintain an external view of buyer behavior, ecosystem dynamics, competitive moves, and technology inflection points
- Frame competition at the strategic level, including who 1Finity competes with, on which dimensions, and why those dimensions matter
- Synthesize weak signals and emerging trends into insight relevant to PSBU's long-term direction
Qualifications- Experience shaping strategic direction within a complex technology business, including portfolio choices, market positioning, and growth priorities
- Industry experience in optical networking and photonics systems, with exposure to products, portfolio, architecture, or platform decisions
- Ability to operate in high-ambiguity environments, form a defensible point of view, and guide decisions forward
- Ability to translate technical, market, competitive, and business model complexity into clear strategic options, tradeoffs, recommendations, and narratives for senior leadership
- Experience with market and customer discovery, including synthesizing customer conversations, partner input, analyst perspectives, ecosystem dynamics, and competitive intelligence
As we are looking for a remote position, the disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. 1Finity aligns salaries to the specific geographic location in which the work is primarily performed. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the circumstances of each situation. The pay range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to: specific skills, qualifications, experience, and comparison to other employees already in this role. The pay range for this position is estimated at$154,840 to $247,744 USD. Additionally, this role may be eligible for a short-term incentive based on company results and individual performance.#Americas_PriorityRelocation Supported: No
Visa Sponsorship Approved: No
