The Microsoft Global Workplace Services (GWS) team is focused on enabling every person and every organization at Microsoft to achieve more through the delivery of innovative workplace environments and services that foster collaboration, inspiration, and productivity. Our global portfolio is comprised of approximately 33 million square feet across over 600 buildings in 113 countries, supporting Microsoft’s over 190,000 full time employees.

The Director, Business Operations will be a member of the GWS leadership team directly supporting the Corporate Vice President (CVP) of GWS. This individual is responsible for strategic planning and management for the overall organization including priorities, charters, rhythm of business (ROB), and special events, general and administrative (G&A) budgets, workforce management, and strategic programs and initiatives to ensure leadership and team alignment and adherence to processes and procedures. The Director also represents the CVP of GWS voice at meetings and events as 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 Operations

• Drives the architecture, development, and execution of the rhythm of business (ROB). Drives strategic initiatives and helps facilitate the ROB; proactively plans to inform structure and insights to predict business outcomes. Works with senior leaders across Microsoft and within GWS to drive outcomes. Collaborates with partners to develop plans and articulate potential benefits of partnerships and how they provide mutual value. Drives business review cadence. Informs direction for processes related to adherence to privacy and compliance.
• Executes business plans to ensure continuation of business at all times, including in adverse conditions, in accordance with corporate governance. Ensures checks and balances are in place for the team to ensure Microsoft's best interest regarding strategic partnerships necessary for continuity of business. Strategizes and develops business continuity plans with Microsoft corporate Crisis Management and Business Continuity teams across Microsoft
• Leads strategy execution in partnership with the leadership team across the organization. Leverages knowledge of the business to drive the goals of the leader and business. Leads and oversees processes to ensure alignment across groups. Sets best practices for company strategy by leveraging consolidated information within existing businesses, and advocates and presents business cases to senior leadership. Contributes to organizational design conversation and drives successful implementation of organizational plans and strategies (e.g., translates high-level strategic plans into concrete execution). Shares priorities with leaders to negotiate appropriate level of team's involvement on initiatives to help team drive execution of top priorities. Establishes key performance indicators (KPIs) in alignment with business strategy to help streamline business operations and project delivery. Works with the organization to establish and report against targets and adjusts targets where necessary.
• Ensures that GWS leadership is aligned on the headcount, budget and business strategies and participates in or leads the organizational design for headcount, budget and resource allocation to meet business goals.

Maximizing/ Extending the GWS CVP and Leadership Team

• Leads in conjunction with stakeholders and the GWS leadership team on multiple workstreams (e.g., workforce planning, culture, business health). Leverages key cross Microsoft and supplier partnerships to drive the agenda for the GWS leadership team and ensures follow up. Builds and cultivates relationships with senior leaders and executives across Microsoft as appropriate. Advises senior leaders and key external stakeholders on industry and company insights as a key partner. Acts as a proxy for the GWS CVP and leadership team (leader). Creates alignment within partnerships by providing an objective point of view, ensuring all voices are heard, synthesizing ideas, and creating an action plan.
• Leverages knowledge of the leader's goals and business approach to ensure business activities are aligned with the leader's objectives. Serves in the absence of the leader as needed to share business goals, objectives, and vision. Supports the leader and serves as a thought leader in multiple areas (e.g., setting key goals, priorities, and definitions; team culture and health; communications; budget/finance; industry/specific business knowledge). Synthesizes information into insights that inform business decisions, leveraging expertise to influence leader, leadership team, and across the organization. Helps develop and lands organizational changes (e.g., employee data management, skilling plans, landing quota).
• Drives organizational culture and health for the leader by getting a pulse on organizational health, as well as leading culture initiatives (e.g., Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, hiring, onboarding) while partnering with Human Resources to do so. Capitalizes on organizational strengths and identifies organization wide development areas, strategizing, planning, and executing trainings. In partnership with Human Resources, track Microsoft Signal responses and coordinates a response. Tracks the use of role-based compliance trainings and new trainings; drives the training completion rates. Ensures a healthy compliance scorecard for the organization.
• Drives cross-team projects as needed to meet the changing business environment and to manage complex business needs. Leads project/program management to ensure organization-wide implementation of strategic efforts that require direct coordination across multiple disciplines and business organizations. Leads strategic innovation and experimentation. Creates clarity on ambiguous projects and develops plans for execution.

Our Responsibilities

• Oversees the execution of GWS Global Communications and supports or performs executive-level communication with a variety of audiences. Optimizes the leader's time by structuring the communication strategy for the business and organizing the daily communications of the leader; performs triage and ghostwriting on behalf of the leader to expedite leader's time responding to business related emails. Develops presentations and messaging to articulate the team's mission, key projects, organizational/company strategy, and vision on behalf of the leader. Oversees the management of GWS internal and external messaging of organizational strategy, priorities, and news via email, web, digital signage, social media, videos, executive branding and presentations, and other channels; guide; align art collection to Microsoft brand expression and oversee the management of the assets; oversee the management of the Showcase Program and assets. Ensures alignment with business priorities.
• Oversees the management and execution of the GWS global business continuity and emergency response/preparedness program. Establish the processes and procedures to safeguard Microsoft personnel and facilities from harm and to enable GWS to maintain key business operations during and after an event with minimal disruption. Guides tactical response to crisis situations.
• Oversees the management and execution of the GWS Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Success (MAVS) team. Oversee overall Microsoft acquisition and divestiture efforts and manage the impact to GWS.
• Oversees the management and execution of the GWS Compliance & Audit Program. A program that develops broad risk management strategy for GWS and ensures the adherence of GWS business operations to Microsoft policies by performing regular audits of business procedures and processes.
• Represents the leader with partners or customers.
• Drives accountability for the team and organization in executing core business activities. Reviews performance, commitments, execution, and leverages stakeholders to achieve results. Serves as a point of contact while understanding business status and industry trends. Oversees corporate governance and performance management by providing insight and guidance into prioritizing performance metrics, defining, and monitoring forward-looking key performance indicators (KPIs), communicating to senior leadership on progress, and evangelizing processes from the top levels of the company. Demonstrates achieved implementation and high-impact business value (e.g., executive-level recognition) for partners and the company. Creates clarity in ambiguous situations to facilitate and drive prioritization and decision making for leaders across the organization.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 8+ years work experience in program management, process management, process improvement OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years management (e.g., people, project, process, vendor, change) experience.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• 8 + years people management experience.

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.