Technical Program Management

With over 17,000 employees worldwide, the mission of the Customer Experience & Success (CE&S) organization is to empower customers to accelerate business value through differentiated customer experiences that leverage Microsoft’s products and services, ignited by our people and culture. Come join CE&S and help us build a future where customers achieve their business outcomes faster with technology that does more.

The Technical Strategy and Innovation team is responsible for helping to build a technology roadmap that aligns with the vision and goals of the CSS organization. The team works with engineering to deliver new and innovative capabilities that improve the customer experience, enhance the agent experience, and decrease efforts. The team also conducts research and analysis on emerging technologies and trends that can create value for the organization and its customers.

The Technical Strategy and Innovation team also serves as a Customer Zero, enabling and interfacing with Customer Service and Support organizations around the world to help them take advantage of technology. The team provides feedback and insights to engineering and product teams on the usability and performance of the technology solutions. The team also supports the adoption and implementation of the technology solutions by providing training, documentation, and best practices to the Customer Service and Support organizations.

In this role you will have an opportunity to use your:

• Technical Proficiency: Including your understanding of complex technical systems and have a commitment to ongoing learning in the tech field.
• Communication and Influence: Utilize your ability to articulate ideas in both written and verbal forms, and to persuade stakeholders to align with project objectives.
• Team Leadership: Share your experience in guiding diverse teams on strategic planning and efficient execution of projects.
• Decision-Making: Identify problems clearly, make data-driven decisions, and manage risks effectively.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Be proactive in identifying client needs and expectations. This includes our Support Engineers at large and our Product Managers within our Organization.
• Flexibility: Adapt to new challenges quickly, handle uncertainty with composure, and change course when necessary.
  
  

This role is flexible in that you can work up to 100% from home.

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.

Responsibilities

Response and Resolution:

• Project Complexity: Lead end-to-end project management efforts, including planning, scoping, resource allocation, and risk mitigation. Technical Depth: Understand the technical aspects of our business operations, systems, and processes to effectively identify areas of improvement. Stakeholder Management: Build relationships with key stakeholders, including business leaders, operations teams, and external vendors.
• Identifies complex opportunities and gaps in the implementation of multiple feature areas. Understands and starts to build experiences across multiple groups or divisions. Creates relationships to drive orchestration and integration efforts for the development and implementation process of multiple feature areas. Team Coordination: Coordinate and guide cross-functional teams, providing direction, support, and guidance throughout the project lifecycle. Acts as a technical advisor to educate and evangelize the feature areas.
• Risk Mitigation: Identify potential risks, develop mitigation strategies, and proactively address issues that may impact project timelines or objectives. Documentation and Reporting: Maintain accurate project documentation and reports, demonstrating your ability to plan, organize, and execute effectively. Contributes to the development of the staging and implementation plan for piloting/release in alignment with Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for multiple feature areas. Quality Assurance: Ensure that project deliverables meet the required quality standards, holding yourself and others accountable for actions, decisions, and goals. Continuous Improvement: Drive initiatives by analyzing operational processes, identifying bottlenecks, and implementing innovative solutions. Manages governance programs and processes to ensure that specific performance requirements and standards are met throughout the development lifecycle.
  
  

Readiness

• Partners with Software and Hardware Engineering to design architecture and integrated customer solutions to complex technical needs for multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service). Proposes design and architecture documents for multiple feature areas. Understands what options are available and partners with others to identify and select best option for needs, and creates new solutions if needed. Collaborates with architects and technical partners to develop architecture. Works with internal and external technical partners and/or architects to represent technical solutions to customers.
• Defines the program(s) goals and prioritization for the multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service) they own. Translates the needs of the organization and other teams into program goals and prioritized deliverables based on data-focused analysis. Engages in active risk management (proactive and reactive) to identify risks and propose mitigations for risks using data (e.g., telemetry, usage, net satisfaction, customer satisfaction).
• Defines success criteria and performance metrics (e.g., Objectives and Key Results [OKRs], Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] such as quality and performance) of multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service) and works with Software and Hardware Engineering to ensure needed telemetry is developed. Deeply understands the return on investment and presents it to key stakeholders.
  
  

Product/Process Improvement

• Creates relationships to drive orchestration and integration efforts for the development and implementation process of multiple feature areas (e.g., product, services) for large and complex cross functional projects with internal teams and external partners. Collaborates and coordinates across organizations to ensure alignment on product management and release, including tradeoffs, adjustments, and improvements as feasible.
• Partners with the engineering team to contribute, prioritize, and deliver on the roadmap for multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service). Understands the value proposition for the multiple feature areas and answers technical questions on the multiple feature areas they own.
• Collaborates with others to track, coordinate, and communicate end-to-end project schedules (e.g., epics, sprint/semester plans, milestones, timelines, releases) for multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service). Works with others to establish and monitor processes, and helps hold stakeholders accountable for following the established schedule and processes.
• Helps track and manage dependencies to enable cohesive, connected user scenarios, and to identify potential risk areas and escalate appropriately. Makes adjustments or course corrections when projects are not aligned to schedules or goals
  
  

Business Integration

• Leads teams to partner with others (e.g., Data Science, Software and Hardware Engineering) to collect performance metrics (e.g., Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] such as usage, quality, speed, and cost), monitor and report on progress (e.g., business reviews), and derive deep insights that lead to productive courses of action to improve development, iteration, and implementation of multiple feature areas (e.g., product, service). Leverages customer listening systems, telemetry, engagements (e.g., interviews, surveys), etc., to develop insights on product and/or service performance and customer needs.
• Shares insights with Engineering and other partners. Forms hypotheses to complex technical needs, performs experiments, and iterates to drive improvement in specific performance metrics. Drives the customer supportability experience and provides documentation (e.g., troubleshooting guidelines, best practices, blogs).
• Monitors how products and/or services are being used; tracks and understands a root-cause analysis for live-site incidents with little guidance from others. Understands and drives improvements in the support process, including both forums and communities. Collaborates with and provides insight to Software and Hardware Engineering, Customer Service and Support (CSS), and other partners (e.g., business-process owners) on broad live-site improvement opportunities.
  
  

Other

• Embody our culture and values
  
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 4+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
• OR equivalent experience.
• 2+ years experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
  

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.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
• OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 1+ year(s) experience reading and/or writing code (e.g., sample documentation, product demos).
  

Technical Program Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $117,200 - $229,200 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 $153,600 - $250,200 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until September 16, 2024.

#CES #CSS

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.