Microsoft Principal Hardware Strategic Planning Manager Compute 

United States, Washington 

884418545

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.

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• 12+ years of technical engineering experience

  • OR Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 10+ years of technical engineering experience

  • OR Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 7+ years of technical engineering experience

  • OR Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 5+ 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. 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 electrical, mechanical, computer engineering, or associated engineering fields.
• Understanding or prior experience in datacenter compute, storage, and networking architecture.
• Understanding of key technologies/ingredients such as Microprocessors, Memory, Storage, Networking, offload engines and/or accelerators.
• Prior experience with Data Center HW Infrastructure.
• Ability to balance between technology, business, and strategy to inform roadmap decisions.
• Ability to drive alignment across stakeholders and influence cross-functional leadership to converge on decisions/recommendations that lead to tangible impact and transformation.
• Executive communication skills – the ability to present and lead discussions with leadership team and abstract details to communicate with clarity and relevance.
• Proven customer obsession in prior roles where customer requirements were gathered and implemented into a product.
• Familiarity and previous experience developing programs through phase gate processes.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until May 11, 2024.

• 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