Join us in the Gaming Ecosystem Organization (GEO) and be part of our mission to empower game creators to realize their dreams by delivering the world’s best tools and services from Xbox to Azure. We are looking for people who are energized by innovating the tools that support every stage in a game’s life cycle. As game creators evolve to deliver their titles as Games-as-a-Service, we are supercharging our developer tools to support accelerated production environments, agile back-end infrastructure, and live ops services. 

Microsoft is uniquely positioned to accelerate the game industry’s transformation to cloud-based gaming, thanks to decades of experience developing category-defining titles (Halo, Forza, Minecraft, Flight Simulator), operating our Xbox gaming platform and reliably delivering the Azure global cloud infrastructure, which features pre-built gaming services

Azure is the most innovative cloud platform in computing today, and Microsoft is hiring the leader for the Gaming Cloud Solution Management team in the worldwide Game Developer Relations organization. The Cloud Solution Management team’s main goal is to educate, evangelize, and help create technical solutions to enable game developers to succeed using Microsoft Cloud technology and as its leader you will direct the strategy for impact for the team and represent the cloud needs for game developers across Microsoft. You will work in a team to enable customers through digital transformation by leveraging Azure Game Stack solutions. The Director of Cloud Solution Managers is expected to be an Azure technology and game development subject matter expert and as a leader be able to use that expertise to help the team and our game developer partners succeed in our ecosystem leveraging our platforms, tools, services and technology. 

As the leader Gaming Cloud Solution Management organization, you will be an important bridge between the Microsoft Gaming and Cloud businesses and will be an advocate for your team and their customers. You will represent Microsoft leadership principles and foster a culture of inclusion where everyone feels welcome.   

Responsibilities

People Management & Leadership: Lead and motivate a diverse and global team of Cloud Solution Managers; set strategy and prioritization for engaging developers and drive the team integration across gaming and Azure organizations. Model, coach and care Microsoft and team values for team members and managers; attract and retain diverse and inclusive talent; build & strengthen team culture 

Cloud Solution Leadership for Game Development: Improve and transform the way game developers can leverage the capabilities of Azure and other Microsoft Game Developer services to help them delivery their best work. Represent and advocate for the needs of game developers with internal stakeholders, feature owners and executive leadership. 

Developer Engagement: Build and own game developer engagement plans that align and support our gaming and Azure ambitions. Capture, analyze and report key performance indicators, insights and metrics and drive informed feedback internally to improve execution plans and outcomes.

Qualifications

Primary accountabilities for this role include: 

People Management & Leadership: Lead and motivate a diverse and global team of Cloud Solution Managers; set strategy and prioritization for engaging developers and drive the team integration across gaming and Azure organizations. Model, coach and care Microsoft and team values for team members and managers; attract and retain diverse and inclusive talent; build & strengthen team culture 

Cloud Solution Leadership for Game Development: Improve and transform the way game developers can leverage the capabilities of Azure and other Microsoft Game Developer services to help them delivery their best work. Represent and advocate for the needs of game developers with internal stakeholders, feature owners and executive leadership. 

Developer Engagement: Build and own game developer engagement plans that align and support our gaming and Azure ambitions. Capture, analyze and report key performance indicators, insights and metrics and drive informed feedback internally to improve execution plans and outcomes.

Experiences Required: Education, Key Experiences, Skills and Knowledge: 

7+ years of experience leading technical teams, with a proven history of building and leading teams through growth and transformation

Strong people management and coaching skills; commitment to Microsoft’s model, coach, care philosophy 

Strong people skills, cross-boundary collaboration skills, ability to lead with empathy, and demonstrate open and honest feedback and interactions 

Experience defining and improving operational processes 

Global/International experience to lead multi-cultural diverse and remote teams

Leadership and confidence required to challenge customer status quo  

Demonstrated expertise in Azure cloud service offerings as they apply to game development and game operation scenarios 

Deep understanding of key competitive technologies and/or specific industries  

Talent and skill to influence and motivate global virtual teams and other valuable stakeholders.   

The ability to articulate the advantages of Microsoft technologies to C-Level and senior business decision makers  

Preferred skills: 

Knowledge of Game Development process, Game LiveOps, and gaming monetization strategies

Understanding of Azure platform, Xbox online services (Identity, Multiplayer, and Chat) and PlayFab services 

Strong understanding of cloud platform competitors (AWS, Google, IBM, local hosters), game related services, and capabilities

Knowledge of graphical tools like Autodesk, Maya and cloud rendering

Strong understanding and experience of Open Source game development technologies such as PHP, Node.js, Python, Chef, Puppet, Ansible, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Hadoop, NoSQL (MongoDB, etc.), Redis, Memcache, Linux Server VMs, clustering, etc.

Knowledge of VR/AR/MR/UWP game development 

Education: 

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience required

Certifications in Azure or competitive cloud platforms preferred

Certifications in information security preferred

#Xbox #MicrosoftGaming #DeveloperTools #GEOjobs 

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.