Director, Communications and Speech Writing

We are looking for an experienced and dynamic communications leader to provide communications and speechwriting support to our Chief Marketing Officer for Commercial Cloud & AI overseeing the Azure and Industry Marketing team. This role will report to the Chief of Staff and will be responsible for working across teams to develop all communications and speeches for this executive. You should have a passion for technology and cloud services, a belief in the broader company mission, and the ability to tell a compelling and creative story. We are looking for a dynamic individual with the experience to develop and execute an effective communications strategy that positively influences perceptions across multiple audiences and stakeholders.

The Commercial Cloud and AI marketing team is responsible for accelerating Cloud products and services across the Azure portfolio of Infrastructure, Data and AI, and Digital Applications, priority industries, and experiences while taking a One Microsoft, customer-first view of our priorities.

This is a deeply collaborative and strategic role that calls for close partnerships, excellence in speechwriting, and the ability to orchestrate work across senior leaders on the leadership team including: key stakeholders in Communications and Marketing, public relations, analyst relations, investor relations, and Microsoft subsidiary teams around the world. You will have significant opportunities for executive visibility, to show thought leadership, and to drive business impact. A successful candidate will be a creative storyteller, an exceptional speechwriter, one who is self-motivated & self-directed, able to operate in a fast-paced environment, and manage ambiguity while striving for high-quality results. This person must work well in a team to drive impact quickly and operate with the highest levels of integrity and trust. The best candidate will have had experience supporting senior executives, and writing for various audiences and environments ranging from small forums to large arena style keynotes.

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.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates across the organization to develop a comprehensive communications plan and workback schedule for external audiences that influences perceptions and drives effective actions and outcomes with our audiences, while aligning with current business priorities 
• Effectively uses data and insights to inform and evolve storytelling across all external communications and speaking engagements
• Proactively engages with internal and external stakeholders to develop stories that land with diverse audiences and seek out speaking and authorship opportunities
• Leverages technical experience, and knowledge of successful communication campaigns to determine the appropriate formats of a given story for varied and evolving target audiences
• Writes speeches, blogs, LinkedIn posts and articles, press quotes, social media content, video scripts, and other talking points and relevant content
• Thinks beyond individual product capabilities and collaborates across teams, partnering with key stakeholders to land an aligned narrative
• Monitors, tracks, and analyzes the impact of messaging and storytelling, and adjusts messaging materials to achieve greater impact across all speechwriting and customer and partner meetings and engagement
• Develops and writes speeches, talking points, briefing materials, scripting/messaging for keynotes, presentations, media engagements, social media posts, and other presentation materials for the executive, ensuring alignment with overall communication goals and strategies
• Maintains an up-to-date understanding of industry trends, competitive landscape, and emerging technologies to inform speechwriting and communications strategies
• Provides strategic communication counsel to senior leadership on message development, narrative frameworks, and delivery techniques
• Manages a speaking event calendar and owns related development of operational rhythm of business, as well as workback scheduled for speaking engagements; ensures operational rigor in our process and sufficien