Transaction, Strategy & Sr. Program Manager

Global Workplace Services (GWS) plans, delivers, and operates Microsoft's global real estate portfolio of approximately 40 million square feet (SF) across an outsourced, multi-region delivery model. This role provides the global operating backbone for Transaction Management and portfolio planning by establishing consistent frameworks, governance, analytics, and decision tools that improve visibility, strengthen controls, and enable more timely, data-informed real estate decisions.

As that portfolio grows more dynamic, GWS needs consistent, well-governed frameworks for how transactions are planned and executed and how portfolio strategy is shaped by data.

The Senior Program Manager will be responsible for creating the methodologies supporting portfolio scenario planning, demand planning, and transaction analytics. The role will translate regional and business requirements into scalable standards, tools, and operating practices. Regional leadership and the GWS leadership team retain accountability for regional and global portfolio strategy and transaction decisions.

Responsibilities

Transaction Management Frameworks & Process

• Define, document, and continuously improve the Transaction Management operating model (playbooks, process flows, templates, and RACI) across the full deal lifecycle of leasing, renewals, acquisitions, and dispositions and the outsourced Tier 1 model.
• Establish minimum global standards for transaction initiation, evaluation, approval, documentation, execution and closeout, driving global consistency, while enabling appropriate regional and market flexibility.
• Lead the global Transaction Management rhythm of business, including pipeline governance, portfolio reviews, escalation management, scorecards, and performance reporting with TM Regional Leads and Tier 1 partners.
• Drive adoption and compliance with global Transaction Management standards, playbooks, tools, and processes, using performance insights, stakeholder feedback and lessons learned to continuously improve the operating model and standardize best practices across regions.
• Partner with TM Regional leads and Tier 1 partners to identify opportunities for improvement and strengthen transaction speed, quality, transparency, and control.

Portfolio Strategy Planning, Scenario Modelling & Decision Support

• Define the frameworks and methodology for portfolio scenario planning and demand planning, translating business and market signals (headcount, growth, consolidation, and hybrid work) into consistent planning assumptions and real estate requirements over a multi-year horizon.
• Build repeatable models, decision criteria, and planning guidance that enable Portfolio Managers and GWS leadership to evaluate alternatives, understand trade-offs and sequence portfolio actions
• Integrate cost benchmarking into portfolio planning, deal strategy, and capital decisions, partnering with Capital Planning and Real Estate & Facilities Finance (REFFIN) on align financial assumptions, NPV analysis, and funding implications.
• Establish a consolidated portfolio-level view of demand, opportunity, risk and transaction pipeline that connects regional planning into one consistent framework.
• Provide portfolio-level insights and recommendations while preserving regional accountability for strategy development, market decisions, and execution.

Portfolio & Transaction Data Analytics

• Define the requirements for, and shape the development of, a global real estate strategy tool and dashboard that consolidates lease and market data into portfolio-level intelligence.
• Establish metric definitions, analytics standards, and data governance for transaction and portfolio data, setting the specifications that support analysts and the Data Platform produce against.
• Translate analytics into decision-ready recommendations, and pilot AI-assisted capabilities such as demand forecasting, scenario analysis, and reporting automation.

Governance, Operating Model & Continuous Improvement

• Establish Controls and exception management processes that identify transaction, financial, data-quality, compliance, and delivery risks and ensure timely escalation and resolution.
• Define authoritative sources, data ownership, and reconciliation requirements for core portfolio and transaction information.
• Ensure processes, tools, and supplier practices remain aligned with applicable corporate approval, records-management, privacy, legal, and financial-control requirements.
• Define the TM specific service requirements, deliverables, performance measures, and governance framework within the Tier 1 operating model, ensuring alignment with corporate transaction policies, capital approval requirements, and enterprise controls.
• Partner on the outsourced (Tier 1) operating model (scope, SOW alignment, scorecards, and RACI) and keep frameworks aligned with corporate transaction and capital-approval policy.
• Define and report program success measures such as cycle-time, data-accuracy, and adoption metrics.
• Lead discovery and value-stream reviews to remove friction and waste and bring corporate real estate best practices and innovation into GWS.

Stakeholder Partnership & Influence

• Partner across GWS regions, Capital Planning, Finance, GWS Technology, the Data Platform, and CELA, together with Tier 1 partners, and influence outcomes without direct authority.
• Represent the transaction and portfolio-strategy platform in business reviews and leadership forums.

Qualifications

Required / Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business management, Real Estate, Finance, Project Management, Data or Business Analytics, or related field AND 6+ years of experience in real estate portfolio management, transaction management, real estate strategy or planning, or related work, OR 8+ years of equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience defining or improving processes, playbooks, or operating models in a real estate, facilities, or comparable enterprise-operations context.
• Experience translating data and analysis into frameworks, standards, or decisions for senior stakeholders.
• Bachelor's Degree in a related field AND 8+ years of relevant experience, including direct experience in real estate transaction management and portfolio strategy or planning.
• Experience with corporate real estate transactions across multiple regions and an outsourced service-delivery (Tier 1) model.
• Experience designing scenario- and demand-planning frameworks and connecting them to space and capital decisions.
• Proficiency interpreting business intelligence and portfolio data (for example, Power BI) and setting metric and analytics standards; familiarity with lease and market data and real estate financial analysis such as lease-versus-buy and NPV.
• Professional credentials such as MCR (CoreNet Global) or an MBA; experience applying AI-assisted tools to forecasting, scenario analysis, or reporting automation.

Skills

Core skills for this role, drawn from the Real Estate Portfolio Management IC4 career-stage profile and calibrated to a frameworks, transaction-management, and analytics remit:

Commercial Real Estate Analysis

Transaction Management

Financial Analysis

Forecasting

Portfolio & Demand Planning

Process Design & Operational Excellence

Governance Methodology & Practices

Program Management

Data Visualization & Business Intelligence

Business Technology Optimization

Change Management

Stakeholder Management

Decision Making

Written & Oral Communication

Business Program Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $116,900 - $203,600 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 $148,400 - $222,600 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.