Principal Strategic Operations Lead

The Cloud & AI organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. Microsoft is one of the largest enterprise service companies in the world. 

AI-driven vulnerability discovery is producing findings at machine speed against operating structures built for human speed. Cyber Defense Operations (CDO’s) operating model needs to be aligned to this reality. AI is the connecting factor: rapid remediation must absorb machine-speed findings, evictions and escalations must compress response timelines driven by AI-accelerated threats, and CDO’s broader AI adoption needs intentional structure. This role owns that redesign. 

We are looking for a Principal Strategic Operations Lead to join the team!

“Strategic Operations” here means designing how CDO operates, not running day-to-day operations. The role identifies where the operating model needs to more closely align with the emerging threat landscape, design the target-state architecture, and build the structures that close the gap. The work begins in the Incident Management portfolio and extends across CDO where cross-functional integration requires broader coordination. This role is expected to grow into a small strategic capability as charters scale. 

• Identify emerging gaps in CDO’s operating posture, including those created by AI-accelerated threat timelines, and define strategic responses before they become crises.
• Define and drive CDO’s operating model evolution: what needs to change, what needs to be built, and how the organization should sequence the work.
• Advise CISO org leadership on operating model design, organizational integration, and AI adoption strategy based on cross-functional insights and external landscape analysis.
• Design and stand up operating structures for priority strategic projects, then decrease involvement as functional leads take ownership.
• Drive AI adoption strategy for CDO: use-case intake, prioritization frameworks, governance guardrails, and maturity measurement.
• Serve as the connective layer across functional leads, ensuring dependencies are visible and cross-cutting work streams stay synchronized.
• Surface early signals when a charter is stalling — missed deadlines, shifting goalposts, adoption gaps — and escalate with clarity and recommended action. 

Required Qualifications:

• 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:

• Demonstrated experience designing and operationalizing cross‑org operating models, including RACI, decision rights, escalation, and governance forums.
• Proven ability to run a portfolio of stakeholder relationships and drive structured collaboration frameworks that reduce friction.
• Excellent executive communication: ability to synthesize ambiguity into crisp narratives and decision points.
• Operational rigor and systems thinking (service rhythms, governance patterns, repeatable processes).
• Experience operating in incident response / cyber defense environments where “incident pace” and role clarity are essential.
• Experience working with security governance models that distinguish risk ownership from execution, and managing the seams between them.

Technical Program Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.