Group Manager, Operations

Overview

If you love the pursuit of excellence and are inspired by the challenges that come through driving innovations that impact how the world lives, works and plays, then we invite you to learn more about Microsoft Operations - and the value we deliver across Microsoft, our partners, and our customers. We offer unique opportunities to work on interesting global projects in an environment that appreciates diversity, focuses on talent development and recognizes and rewards great work. We make doing business with Microsoft easy.

Microsoft Enterprise Direct Services, within Microsoft Business Operations, provides direct and centralized operations services for Direct Enterprise Agreement customers to transact with Microsoft. We are accountable to design and execute transactional services across the Enterprise customer lifecycle. We relentlessly pursue process efficiency, timeliness, quality and compliance, all while providing world class Customer experience. We are looking for team members to join our team to focused on delivering an exceptional Customer experience with deep expertise in Contracting, Order Management, Billing and Supplier Management and Customer relationship experience.

As a Group Manager, you will be responsible for the delivery of a range of critical operational services that enable compliant, accurate and timely transactions and world class support for our customers. As the leader of this team you will also be required to recruit, develop and support the careers of a talented and motivated team, leading them as the business evolves and changes in support of our customers. You will be expected to model our leadership principles and create an open and inclusive environment to allow individuals to do their best work.

You will also be able to contribute to the strategic direction of the organization and help deliver innovations in our processes, policies, and tools to make it easier to do business with Microsoft. The role will also provide fantastic opportunities to lead and shape next generation experiences for our customers. You will lead an Operations team in Microsoft Business Operations and be at the center of the team’s transformation and success. You will engage with our most valued customers and reach across our most important businesses. Are you ready to make an impact in this exciting and challenging role? 

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 4+ years work experience in program management, process management, process improvement OR equivalent experience. 2+ years management (e.g., people, project, process, vendor, change) experience. Business level fluency to read, write and speak English and Spanish

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 8+ years experience in program management, process management, process improvement OR Master's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 6+ years program management experience, process management, process improvement OR equivalent experience. 4+ years people management experience. Experience working in a customer service environment and in a large matrixed multinational company. Technical, Business, Financial and Marketing background to drive pipeline management, support services, process improvement and business analytics. Experience with similar industry Business Value deal constructions. Experience with Microsoft licensing concepts, including contracts, quotes and invoices, as well as evaluation and review of complex proposals, agreements, and amendments. Experience in complex, global programs where design, development, and implementation of new processes, systems and organizations are required.

Responsibilities

People Management

Managers deliver success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching, and caring. Model - Live our culture; Embody our values; Practice our leadership principles. Coach - Define team objectives and outcomes; Enable success across boundaries; Help the team adapt and learn. Care - Attract and retain great people; Know each individual’s capabilities and aspirations; Invest in the growth of others.

Business Program Planning and Design

Leads teams to perform program landscape research and analysis (e.g., internal and/or external market, sales, delivery), forecasting, and examine business trends (e.g., customer feedback and expectations) to identify audience size and program scope, stay current, agile, and competitive, drive clarity, and deliver energy and results of outcomes impacting the broader unit. Helps teams understand overall business goals, objectives, and strategies, as well as short- and long-term business priorities. Coaches teams to understand and identify current program risks, impact, and mitigation plans impacting the broader unit. Leads teams to identify and scope opportunities to develop new programs and improve current ones impacting the broader unit. Coaches teams to identify and resolve root problems (e.g., root-cause analysis), define the program strategy, gather program requirements, identify resource needs, create the project plan and targets, and work across teams to align on the plan of record. Helps teams improve operations of existing programs by applying industry methodology, defining program issues, assessing various scenarios, and selecting the optimal scenario to resolve issues. Leads teams to drive clarity in complex program issues and strive for simplification. Leads teams to work with cross-functional (e.g., organizational, product, business) stakeholders (e.g., Engineering) to design programs from initiation to delivery. Tactically delegates the need for delivery of collateral (e.g., proposals, strategy walking deck, internal and external pitch content) to incorporate stakeholder needs and ensure the business objectives are met. Simplifies complex inputs into program design. Leads teams to define and track the success criteria and performance metrics (e.g., Objectives and Key Results [OKRs] and Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]), such as quality, adoption, usage, impact, and effectiveness for the program.

Business Program Excellence and Execution

Leads teams to define and execute on a landing and communication plan, such as the target audience(s) and communication strategy, and gets feedback from teams if communication has landed. Helps teams maintain the rhythm of business (ROB) during plan execution to ensure participants and stakeholders are communicating and responding according to the necessary cadence. Leads teams to work across teams (e.g., Landing, Design, Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, Technical Program Management) to ensure all program requirements are understood and can be met. Leads teams to evangelize the program to stakeholders, partners, and customers to gain buy in. Helps teams leverage data and performance metrics (e.g., Objectives and Key Results [OKRs] and Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]) to demonstrate the value of the program and show business impact. Helps teams adapt communication style and storytelling strategy according to audience and business needs.

Business Program Management

Leads teams to overlook a portfolio of projects including the project plan, timelines, milestones, financial management, performance metrics, and resource needs for programs. Ensures capacity of the team is aligned to project workload and complexity. Helps teams communicate the program status to relevant stakeholders and holds them accountable for following the established schedule and processes. Establishes objectives and success criteria for the project in an inclusive collaborative manner with all stakeholders. Leads teams to act as system architects to understand how systems work and impact one another. Helps teams work with other teams (e.g., Supply Chain, Engineering, Sales) to ensure program processes are rigorous and executed efficiently. Helps teams develop processes around scope and scheduled changes for programs, and provides close guidance on how to communicate it to stakeholders. Leads teams to recognize process gaps/inefficiencies and drives strategies for optimization.

Business Program Evaluation and Improvement

Leads teams to conduct cost-benefit analyses to examine performance to value drivers (e.g., profit and loss [P&L], return on investment [ROI]). Helps teams drive monthly business review (MBR) and helps teams run rhythms regularly to identify what is working and what is not and make improvements accordingly. Leads teams to collect and evaluate success criteria and performance metrics (e.g., Objectives and Key Results [OKRs] and Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]), such as acquisition, usage, impact, effectiveness, and customer feedback to use scorecards and dashboards to monitor programs and ensure all activities align with business and program objectives, and to report up to leadership and create leadership visibility. Helps teams use data analytics (e.g., scenario analyses) to derive insights and training that help identify current and/or future program risks and mitigation plans, as well as opportunities to streamline and optimize programs based on lessons learned that impact the broader unit. Leads teams to utilize direction and strategy from leadership to advocate and influence sponsorship regarding business area of expertise in order to create and execute plans that shift current priorities to new organizational initiatives and objectives, and influences others to change behavior accordingly. Helps teams define vision and strategy for change, broad and specific impact, and the flow of communication to the organization. Helps teams ensure buy in and adoption of the new program or change by others in the organization. Encourages teams to develop the collateral required to enable key stakeholders and others to be onboard. Leads teams to drive the training, reskilling, and mapping of individuals in partnership with Human Resources (HR). Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.Industry leading healthcareEducational resourcesDiscounts on products and servicesSavings and investmentsMaternity and paternity leaveGenerous time awayGiving programsOpportunities to network and connect

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