We are looking for a Principal Program Manager to join our growing Lighthouse Extensibility team. This new role will drive inbound and outbound partner feedback loops, participate in design and planning with various engineering teams as well as Microsoft divisions and/or disciplines, drive systematic adoption & progress in research & development lifecycle for most partner consumed Azure Management and Platform tools with and thru others. Driving and designing early adopter engagement initiatives, community leadership for ecosystem focus, driving tools & process for customer/partner insights as well as product planning will be amongst the responsibilities for this new role.

Almost all partners at Azure work with and work thru capabilities built within Azure Management and Platform today. Looking into the future, growing application and services partner ecosystems around strategic technology bets becomes even more essential for customer success. ISVs (tech and app partners), appliance/device providers, MSPs, system integrators will continue to learn, adopt, and expand technology innovation built by the broader team to drive their business forward, while being conduits to customer adoption. This brand-new program manager is going to work with that promising energy and will be the glue that brings many depth components together for a cohesive execution. She or he will have the opportunity to seed innovation in the ecosystem, influence early proof points and implementation, shape systematic programs, plus bring platform and partner business feedback into engineering semester planning.

If you love being part of a dynamic team in new and growing businesses, melding partner/ecosystem know-how with tech roadmap, are keen to design and refine systems & initiatives, you might find joy in this role! If collaboration, appetite to learn new tech and concepts, bringing clarity to ambiguity are appealing, you might find yourself pleasantly stretched and growing in our team.

Our team is part of Azure Core, within Azure Management and Platform. We call ourselves the Lighthouse Extensibility Ecosystem team and we work in collaboration with technical program manager crews, various sibling product groups, product marketing and global partner solutions team in building new products and enabling partner ecosystems at the platform. We’re a fast-paced team with a start-up like culture where we like to tackle tech and business ambiguity to drive clarity for partners. We love to add value to our customers, partners, and each other! We strive to live by our Trust Manifesto.

Responsibilities

The individual will work at the intersection of platform and ecosystem/partner insights and will drive results, adding value to immediate and extended team, as well as building on the ideas of others. Collaborating in building adoption & implementation paths for select and prioritized partners, representing team in various internal division plans, driving planning initiatives with/thru others (divisions and program managers), engaging select prioritized partners for adoption and insights will be part of every day for the role. Hybrid, control plane extensibility, delegated resource management with security themes, evolving future compute management platforms will be areas of near-term focus where the individual will overlay her/his functional expertise.

Qualifications

Required:

6+ years of Program Management, Product Management, Product Planning, Business Development, Partner Development and/or Management, Customer Management, Customer Success Management, Project Management, Technical Program Management, Software Engineering, Architecture, Cloud Solution Architecture, Consulting, Customer Software Engineering, Field Engineering, Technology Specialist, or similar experiences

Bachelor's degree or 4+ years of equivalent work experience

Preferred:

Experience in building programs, initiatives, and systems in context of partner/customer adoption/success of technology

Ability to guide internal and external stakeholders and/or customers in designing initiatives that incorporate platform insights, strategy, and needs

Experience in product planning, product design and feature prioritization – both content & systems

Experience working early phase technology, in collaboration with developers, evangelists, sales teams and product management

Enterprise-scale technical experience with cloud and hybrid infrastructures, architecture designs and/or app development patterns

Advanced knowledge and experiences with Azure and/or other public/private cloud platforms

Avid learner, who enjoys researching new business models and technology frameworks

Strong problem-solving skills and persistence

Experienced in advocating for customer and partner success

Effective presentation skills and experience with simplifying messages for various internal and external audiences

Effective in rapidly evolving environments and working across organizational boundaries

Self-starter, skilled-listener, strong collaborator, strong writing skills

Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, engineering, and/or related disciplines

Advanced degrees (MBA, MS or PhD)

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.

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.