Senior Design Program Manager

Design Program Managers at Microsoft work collaboratively with designers, researchers, content writers, product managers, and developers, leading projects throughout the planning, design, and development lifecycle to implement simple, scalable approaches that amplify our design studios efforts.

As a member of our DesignOps team, you will contribute to our charter of better cross-product integration, imrpoved customer experiences, improved efficiencies at scale, and ultimately a healthy and design culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

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

• Lead cross-functional planning and execution by establishing scalable systems for tracking workstreams, capacity, and priorities across multiple teams and initiatives.
• Partner with project leadership to align milestone delivery with broader organizational objectives and strategic outcomes.
• Conduct research and collaborate with stakeholders to identify and prioritize initiatives for the team roadmap based on impact, urgency, and alignment.
• Drive clarity of ownership and accountability for key deliverables, enabling sustained momentum and delivery at scale.
• Define and operationalize effective team rhythms, ensuring meetings, check-ins, and reviews are structured to support decision-making and progress.
• Develop and lead communication strategies that build alignment, drive engagement, and maintain transparency throughout the program lifecycle.
• Identify systemic gaps and lead operational improvements in workflows, tooling, and cross-team coordination models.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 5+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 4+ years experience working in product or service design.
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ years' experience spearheading internal design processes from concept to scaled operations.

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 in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
• 4+ years experience shipping products, services, or games and/or delivering to customers as a result of an end-to-end design process.
• Familiarity with project management best practices, tools, and methodologies AND Agile, Lean, and/or other modern product development methodologies.
• Familiarity with tools like Figma, Sketch, Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar project management and design tools.
• Familiarity with SharePoint, site creation, document management, and publishing.<