Sustainability Operations Lead

As the environmental challenges facing the world grow, so too has Microsoft’s commitment to ensuring that the company’s activities are in-line with the best available science and the expectations of leading stakeholder communities. The CELA Environmental Sustainability (ES) team coordinates overall science-based, measurable, and scalable sustainability investments and outcomes across the company – engaging with business groups to set goals related to reductions in the environmental impacts of business operations and positive environmental outcomes resulting from technology and policy development. 

The Ops team Lead manages critical functions including cross-company sustainability planning and rhythm of business (RoB), environmental risk and compliance, tooling, OKR development and target setting. The team also owns our end-to-end measurement strategy, from data collection to the data platform, internal methodology process (including leading the Methodology Governance Council), forecasting, and internal and external reporting, used to monitor progress against our carbon negative, water positive, zero waste and land protection commitments.  

This position requires extensive cross-group coordination at all levels of the company, strong data skills, robust business acumen, excellent communication skills, the ability to synthesize complex business problems and devise and execute on plans which address big challenges and opportunities in the environmental sustainability space. 

Responsibilities

Business Planning and Leadership:

• Lead and coordinate the cross-company stakeholder engagement rhythm and processes to run the business efficiently. Support business groups in the semester planning cycles, related annual targets, and maturity assessments.  

End-to-end measurement strategy: 

• Understanding Microsoft’s carbon, water, waste, and land usage is the foundation for tracking, governance, compliance, and external reporting. Ensuring this data is accurate, precise, timely, auditable, aligned with the latest science, available for analysis and modeling and managed in accordance with documented standards and methodologies allows Microsoft to operate with confidence on the path to achieving our commitments.  

Reporting: 

• Governance requires a set of expectations that everyone is held to; the sustainability scorecard is where those expectations are recorded and tracked. Effectively managing the scorecard process, including semester OKR planning and scorecard reporting is an essential element of governance. Likewise, we’ll continue to meet the highest expectations regarding timely and accurate external reporting against our sustainability commitments.  

Risk & Compliance: 

• To understand Microsoft’s environmental risks ensures we can mitigate those risks.  The goal of this program is to minimize Microsoft’s climate-related risks, maximize climate-related opportunities, and enhance resilience to operations, supply chain, surrounding communities, and systems in a changing climate by identifying, assessing, and integrating climate risk management into Microsoft’s environmental commitments, operational plans, and preparedness and response systems.​ 

Team Leadership: 

• Provide effective leadership and foster an inclusive culture for a team of direct reports covering operational aspects of the sustainability team’s mission.  Grow the team with strong hires and create people development plans to strengthen capabilities and individual growth. 

Business Integration: 

• Identify issues that impede business group success and provide solutions/recommendations. Identify opportunities to create cross group collaboration and synergies.  

Special Projects: 

• Drive high-impact cross-team projects as needed to meet the changing business environment and ensure the team is achieving commitments. Successful project management, including work with strategy consultants and other external agencies, on strategic efforts that require hands-on experience across multiple functional disciplines and business organizations. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: 

• 10+ years of program management experience in a technology or engineering organization, non-profit, or governmental agency, with experience across data, internal line of business applications, operations, planning and business functions 
• 5+ years of experience driving teams to design, build, evaluate, support, and continuously improve complex cross-functional programs 
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Environmental Engineering, Sustainability Science, Business, or other related disciplines, MBA preferred 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Relevant experience in managing environmental sustainability programs with diverse stakeholders  
• Understanding of global sustainability related policies, regulations, standards, literature 
• Attention to detail, strong strategic execution
• Experience with risk & compliance, ESG measurement, reporting and tools 
• Understanding of technology and associated operational environmental impact   
• Success in cross-team collaboration to streamline and standardize communications at multiple levels, and implement effective communication and reporting plans 
• Proven track record in project and business management
• Experience leading and executing projects in a complex organizational environment and working on several diverse projects simultaneously 
• Strong analytical, business acumen and communication skills with the ability to influence across non-direct reporting teams 
• Ability to translate ideas into clear, high impact communications
• Ability to excel in an ambiguous environment

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.