Cybersecurity Cloud Solution Architect XDR

Microsoft aspires to help our customers achieve their secure digital transformation, leveraging the power of Microsoft Cloud security solutions and support offerings. Microsoft continues to invest over $1B per year in cybersecurity and research, to provide its customers with solutions that integrate across the ecosystem by connecting and securing all of your identities, endpoints, apps, emails, docs and clouds to help close critical gaps in coverage, reduce risk, and save costs with a streamlined security portfolio. 

We are looking for a Cloud Solution Architect (CSA), specializing in Security who is passionate about driving our customers’ security & AI transformation on the Microsoft Platform. This is a customer-facing role, owning the technical relationship between the customer and Microsoft, helping customers to leverage their Microsoft investments through architecture, implementation, and operational health engagements. This role is flexible in that you can work up to 50% from home.  

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. 

Responsibilities

• Customer Centricity​ 

• Identifies and evaluates security trends, gathers customer insights (e.g., feedback around technical preferences, environments, business needs, competitive landscape), and maps architecture and digital transformation solutions to customer’s business outcomes.  

• Acts as the voice of the customer by driving new feedback, insights, and resources to add and prioritize; connecting with Global Security teams at Microsoft, Engineering and Product teams to remove blockers and influence the solution roadmap. 

• Develops and expands existing impactful relationships with CISOs, security practitioners, C-level technical decision makers (TDMs), and business stakeholders. 

• Uncovers, aggregates, and synthesizes data about customer’s security posture and roadmap, complex technical requirements and issues and various technical strategies being proposed.  

• Actively listens, creates, and sustains constructive tension and trust with customers by respectfully challenging their decisions and/or areas where they might do more and encouraging them to consider alternative architectures/solutions and approaches. 

• Addresses security requirements/issues/strategies with win-win technical architecture(s) and demonstrates and proves the capability and value of those solutions through design collaboration sessions with the customer.  

• Supports customer skilling by leading discussions on technical delivery with other internal and external stakeholders as a technical thought leader to influence customer readiness. 

• Guides other team members to focus on customer experience through efficient delivery and ensuring a seamless and connected customer experience and shares best practices with the wider internal team. 

• Business Impact​ 

• Drives their team in operating and optimizing complex and high-impact situations for strategic customers in collaboration with internal stakeholders (e.g., STU, CSAM, other Account Team members, Product Groups).  

• Anticipates and manages business and security risks, and adapts methodology  (e.g. Zero Trust, Security Adoption Framework, SFI) and applies governance to identify, communicate, and minimize business and security risks.  

• Leverages standard tools to ensure accurate opportunity and milestone execution and pipeline hygiene. 

• Owns complex customers relationships to anticipate, identify, propose resolution, and lead removal of technical blockers through regular security reviews and check-ins to accelerate consumption and usage.  

• Proactively uses deep knowledge of the security portfolio, services, and value propositions of Microsoft and its competitors in customer conversations and to propose and coach others to develop new solutions to scale across multiple customers while demonstrating the business case and presenting alternative scenarios.  

• Creates opportunities to expand or accelerate security usage and consumption (including through security related managed intellectual property [VBD, DE, EDE]) and leads these customer conversations.  

• Leads the adoption of Microsoft’s Security offerings based on analysis/differentiation of Microsoft and competitor products to influence the industry-wide direction for specific architecture(s). 

• Technical Leadership ​ 

• Leverages market insights to assist leadership in defining global security vision by identifying relevant areas in which to drive up-skilling. Role models effective security skilling and influences team to drive their own technical readiness. Drives and engages others to adapt to changes aligned with SA priorities. Acts as a mentor to less experienced colleagues by educating them on security and professional developmental concepts and sharing best practices. 

• Leads virtual teams around technologies and customer challenges by sharing ideas, insights, and strategic, technical input with security teams, internal communities across the field, and the larger virtual team across Microsoft using knowledge of Microsoft architectures and their context in the competitive landscape.  

• Organizes or presents at internal/industry security events (e.g., Ready, Build, Ignite, RSA, etc.). Demonstrates deep industry knowledge and drives recognition for Microsoft solutions through presentations and engagements with external audiences. Participates in external security community events (e.g., conferences, seminars, technical meetups, Webcasts, blogs, hackathons) and shares learnings across internal teams. 

Qualifications

Required/ Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND extensive experience in Cybersecurity, architecture, and/or consulting 
• Solid experience working in a customer-facing role and leading technical projects. 
• Subject Matter Expertise in the following security solutions: 
• Threat protection, Extended Detection and Response (XDR); Exposure management; Cloud Security

Preferred/ Additional Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Cybersecurity is a plus
• Breadth of technical experience and knowledge in foundational AI, architecture design, with Subject Matter Expertise in security. 
• Ability and experience to learn new cloud security technologies and understand relevant cloud security market trends.
• Experience in SIEM and Incident Response;
• Certification in one or more of the following technologies preferred: Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) 

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. 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.