Principal Hardware Strategic Planning Manager (Compute)

Do you want to be at the forefront of innovating the latest hardware designs to propel Microsoft’s cloud growth? Are you seeking a unique career opportunity that combines both technical capabilities, cross team collaboration, with business insight and strategy? Join our Strategic Planning and Advanced Architecture Team (SPARC) team within Microsoft’s Azure Hardware Systems & Infrastructure (AHSI) organization and be a part of the organization behind Microsoft’s expanding cloud infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission.   

Microsoft delivers more than 200 online services to more than one billion individuals worldwide, and AHSI is the team behind our expanding cloud infrastructure.  We deliver the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's cloud businesses including Microsoft Azure, Copilots, Bing, MSN, Office 365, OneDrive, Skype, Teams and Xbox Live.   

The SPARC organization within Azure drives advanced hardware architecture and manages hardware roadmap planning and program management from concept through production for platforms supporting all of Microsoft’s current and future on-line services. Well-defined and executed strategic planning ensures products meet the requirements for performance, features, and time-to-market. The ability to draw insights from a deep understanding of the cloud Hardware (HW) Infrastructure landscape, Azure third and first party workload characteristics, and industry trends is critical in informing the roadmap and planning decisions. 

We are looking for an experienced Principal Hardware Strategic Planning Manager (Compute) to join the team to help drive HW platform architecture and planning for Azure’s Compute products. The person will be responsible for managing a team of experienced product & program managers, and working closely with stakeholders across Azure to define and maintain Azure’s compute hardware and infrastructure roadmap.

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

• Engage with Microsoft cloud business units to define future hardware platform requirements and align recommendations for executive approval.
• Partner with engineering and architecture teams to define platform design objectives which meet technical and business goals.
• Recommend internal and external process improvements and help establish principles for decision-making to help set, manage and change roadmap plan of record (POR).
• Operate in ambiguity, applying judgement to leverage existing processes, or define new processes where necessary.
• Build trusted partnerships with executives across stakeholder teams and business groups, and foster a culture of inclusivity, collaboration, and shared decision-making.
• Manage a team of experienced Product and Program Managers that work across stakeholders to define Hardware Platform SKUs that meet the business, customer and market needs.
• Mentor and coach the team and invest in the growth and development of each individual.
• Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of technical engineering experience
  • OR Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 7+ years of technical engineering experience
  • OR Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years of technical engineering experience
  • OR Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years of technical engineering experience.
• 10+ years of technical product management experience, including products within datacenter Hardware systems and/or Cloud infrastructure. 
• 10+ years of experience creating product roadmap(s) from conception to launch, driving end-to-end program execution, defining product go-to-market strategy, and leading program direction discussions.
• 5+ years of experience building and managing a team of Product Managers.

Other Requirements

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. Thes