Director, Corporate Strategy & Development

Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our CEO’s vision of Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge world. The Microsoft Corporate Strategy team is a small, specialized group that advises our CEO and executive leadership team on driving, assessing, and prioritizing the long-term strategic direction and growth for the company across its portfolio of existing and new offerings. The team has built a track record of spotting trends early and subsequently leading change throughout the company. The group broadly focuses on three sets of activities:

Thought leadership on the future state of the industry (e.g., economics of the cloud) and potential impact to Microsoft’s overall strategy;
Counsel to senior executives on multi-billion dollar decisions (inclusive of “needle moving” growth drivers, large strategic acquisitions and partnerships, portfolio optimization, etc.);
Internal projects to ensure Microsoft’s processes and operations enable the company to grow and achieve our mission.

This role puts you in the middle of one of the world’s largest companies ($130B+ revenue) in the midst of several of the biggest disruptions the technology industry has ever seen. As a senior member of the Microsoft’s Corporate Strategy team, you will drive quantitative and qualitative analysis/framing of high-priority, cross-product and cross-functional strategic issues, and the landing of recommendations with senior executives. Consequently, this role requires someone who is highly motivated combining exceptional strategic thinking, superior executive communication skills, project management, managerial experience, good business judgement, and quantitative skills. Example project areas include: strategic acquisition evaluation, value chain assessment, white space opportunity sizing, business model analysis, new initiative ideation, and competitive analysis and game theory.

Responsibilities

Lead key strategy projects and orchestrate workstreams across the Corporate Strategy team; own overall efforts (i.e., full accountability of projects), including project plans, recommendations, impact, and syndication across groups
Act as a thought leader on Microsoft’s strategy, a trusted advisor to VPs+, and a domain expert in select areas over time.
Demonstrated hypothesis-driven, problem-solving orientation with exceptional ability to create structured quantitative and qualitative analyses; sound business judgement and problem framing
Develop deep business knowledge, experiences, and subject matter expertise from MS and industry to develop rich insights; be perceived as a thought leader/contributor within MS on specific topics
Build consensus and effectively influence senior-level stakeholders
Develop a comprehensive understanding of the entire portfolio of Microsoft businesses in order to propose and analyze strategic decisions impacting multiple divisions.
Understand and stay current on tech industry trends, competitive landscape and internal product development efforts.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

10+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, strategic consulting, investment banking, economics, finance, business planning, and/or equivalent experience (e.g., scaling a business, driving change in a large company)

Additional or Preferred Qualifications:

Master’s degree in Business Administration/related field and/or Engineering degree or equivalent with a strong academic background
Demonstrated hypothesis-driven problem-solving orientation with exceptional ability to create structured quantitative and qualitative analyses
Strong oral and written communication skills and ability to formulate and deliver insights around complex business problems in a thoughtful and persuasive manner
Exceptionally strong personal initiative, good business instincts, and comfort with ambiguity
A track record of successfully negotiating across a broad range of potentially conflicted attributes including business, product, technology, branding, channels, and third-party contributions to arrive at the optimum strategy.
Strong financial/business modeling and analysis skills; acquisition deal experience preferred (pre venture integration work)
Passion for technology, with some form of technical or software experience
Deep understanding of software and business technology markets, trends, and dynamics
Track record for growing and mentoring junior talent, as well as leading team-based engagements
Ability to manage multiple simultaneous high-priority projects (often including project management of cross-functional v-teams and strategy analysts / junior managers)

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.