Principal Strategic Program Lead, CISO Operations

Security represents the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all. We want to reshape security and empower every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them with end to end, simplified solutions. The Microsoft Security 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. Security is the foremost concern for Microsoft and our customers in a world increasingly challenged by digital threats, regulatory demands, and estate complexity.

The Microsoft Security organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission to ensure that our company and industry effectively secure digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds across our customers’ diverse environments, as well as our own internal systems. Within Microsoft Security, the CISO organization is dedicated to defending the Microsoft estate and protecting our customers and partners who rely on it with our approach reinforced by the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a company wide effort to evolve how we design, build, test, and operate our products and services to achieve the highest possible standards for security. Our strategy is anchored in stopping adversaries through the integration of advanced threat intelligence, proactive threat hunting, rock solid operations, sustainable governance, and the facilitation of automation and augmentation with AI to anticipate, detect, and neutralize even the most sophisticated attacks. We cultivate a culture focused on growth, excellence, and empowering our teams and leaders to perform at their highest level, leading to innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.

We are seeking a Strategic Program Lead for our CISO Operations organization who will manage a team and oversee initiatives that include the intelligence briefing process, manage and synthesize next-generation security architectures, and drive strategic agendas across cross-divisional teams. In this role, you will be responsible for executing strategic goals, providing leadership in program development, and ensuring alignment across teams to deliver critical outcomes. You will work closely with stakeholders at all levels of the organization, focusing on scalable programs that drive Microsoft’s security vision forward.

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. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute a strategic agenda across multiple cross-functional teams, identifying key opportunities and addressing critical gaps in the implementation of next-gen security architecture.
• Provide executive-level guidance on program objectives, ensuring alignment with organizational OKRs and KPIs, and driving the prioritization of high-impact initiatives.
• Lead teams to ensure they are meeting performance standards and seamless execution of security architecture and a variety of programs.
• Oversee the development and execution of cross-divisional implementation plans for strategic security initiatives, ensuring timely and successful pilots and releases aligned with business goals.
• Drive thought leadership and advocacy for next-gen security features, serving as the key advisor and evangelizing strategic initiatives to senior leadership and relevant stakeholders.
• Lead and mentor cross-functional teams, fostering a high-performance culture, and ensuring alignment with broader corporate priorities and strategic initiatives.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years people management experience.
• 6+ years experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.

Other Requirements:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 12+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years people management experience.
• 10+ years experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 1+ year(s) experience reading and/or writing code (e.g., sample documentation, product demos).
• Proven leadership skills, with the ability to effectively manage programs involving diverse stakeholders across multiple teams and business units.
• Results-oriented mindset, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes and operational excellence.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities, particularly in dynamic and fast-changing environments.

Technical Program Management M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $161,600 - $286,200 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 $209,600 - $314,400 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    

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until February 4, 2025.
 

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.

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