Senior Principal Technical Program Manager

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) team is the engine that powers our cloud services. CO+I delivers and operates the safest, most available and secure cloud in the industry. In alignment with our Microsoft values, CO+I is committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day and is focused on personal and professional development for all employees and offers training and growth opportunities including Diversity & Inclusion trainings and events, and professional certifications.

Cloud Infrastructure Automation and Optimization (CIAO) is the software team that delivers tools, automation, and AI to enable fast, predictable delivery of datacenter capacity, and safe, reliable, and efficient execution of the processes associated with the full datacenter lifecycle including management and operations. We are looking for a Senior Principal Technical Program Manager to coordinate and drive the delivery our software portfolio to enable the next era of Cloud business growth through automation and optimization. This leadership role will be responsible for defining the technical and product strategy, requirements, and delivery plans of complex software and will lead, interact and/or influence technical program managers, SW engineers, business stakeholders and upstream/downstream partners to deliver business value across CO+I. As a leader, this role will have the ability to embody Microsoft's manager expectations of coach, model & care, and to create and maintain a high-performance culture within and outside our organization.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

Analysis of Customer and Business Needs

• Synthesizes complex problem statements, forms hypotheses, and leads experiments to validate solutions across products, services, systems, and infrastructure.
• Leverages AI, telemetry, research, and customer insights to identify trends, root causes, dependencies, and business opportunities while ensuring the integrity of AI-generated insights.
• Drives alignment among customers, stakeholders, leadership, and market needs, influencing feature prioritization, strategic decisions, and cross-divisional improvements.

Product/Service/Solution Definition

• Defines program goals, priorities, and deliverables aligned with organizational strategy and business objectives across multiple functional areas.
• Partners with Engineering, Design, Marketing, Security, and technical architects to design scalable, future-proof solutions and architectures.
• Leads risk management practices using data, AI, and automation to identify tradeoffs, mitigate risks, and support critical decision-making.
• Establishes success criteria, KPIs, and OKRs, ensuring telemetry and measurement frameworks are in place to demonstrate business value and ROI.

Product/Service/Solution Development

• Leads end-to-end planning, scheduling, dependency management, and execution of complex cross-functional programs using AI, automation, and workflow optimization.
• Drives multi-year roadmaps, resource planning, and delivery strategies while ensuring solutions meet quality, security, compliance, and Responsible AI standards.
• Orchestrates collaboration across internal teams, external partners, and stakeholders to achieve alignment, resolve issues, and influence leadership decisions.
• Oversees release planning, KPI evaluation, testing strategies, quality improvements, and compliance with privacy, accessibility, safety, and legal requirements.

Product/Service/Solution Performance

• Monitors and analyzes performance metrics, customer feedback, telemetry, and operational data to identify insights and drive continuous improvement.
• Conducts experiments, validates hypotheses, and implements data-driven actions that improve product performance, customer outcomes, and business impact.
• Enhances supportability through root-cause analysis, AI-driven monitoring, documentation, troubleshooting guidance, and live-site improvement initiatives.
• Serves as a technical leader and trusted advisor, engaging customers and stakeholders, sharing best practices, mentoring others, and driving adoption across organizations.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 3+ years people management experience.

Other Requirements:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local government agency customers and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate's citizenship will be verified via a valid passport.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 15+ years experience engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years people management experience.
• 10+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 1+ year(s) of experience reading and/or writing code (e.g., sample documentation, product demos).

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Technical Program Management M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $165,600 - $296,400 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $220,800 - $331,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.