The Office of the CTO (OCTO) for Microsoft is chartered with understanding, shaping, and accelerating technologies and their impact across Microsoft, industry, and society. OCTO leads investments in emerging technical bets, provides technical insights, and drives high-priority company-wide AI initiatives, while partnering with our engineering, field, and strategy teams. As part of this, OCTO is responsible for Microsoft’s technical strategy for the use of OpenAI technology across Microsoft. OCTO operates as a high‑leverage organization – partnering deeply across engineering, product, research, and leadership to influence technical direction, execution integrity, and long‑term strategy.
We are seeking a Principal Technical Program Manager to help drive strategic initiatives that span technology, research, engineering, and business organizations. This role requires a combination of technical depth, strategic thinking, and exceptional execution skills. Successful candidates are able to navigate ambiguity, influence across organizational boundaries, create alignment among diverse stakeholders, and lead programs with significant technical and business impact.
As a Principal TPM, you will operate at the intersection of strategy, technology, and execution. You will collaborate with engineering, product, research, and executive leaders to shape initiatives, establish operating models, drive decision-making, and deliver outcomes that advance Microsoft's long-term technical ambitions. You will help transform emerging opportunities into scalable programs, build mechanisms that improve organizational effectiveness, and drive clarity in some of the company's most complex and rapidly evolving areas.
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world.
Responsibilities
- Define and drive strategic initiatives that advance Microsoft's long-term technology priorities by translating emerging opportunities, complex challenges, and executive direction into actionable programs with measurable outcomes.
- Lead highly ambiguous, cross-company efforts that span engineering, research, product, and business organizations, creating clarity, alignment, and execution plans where no established path exists.
- Partner with senior technical and business leaders to shape investment decisions, operating models, roadmaps, and organizational strategies that influence priorities beyond a single team or product area.
- Drive decision-making at scale by synthesizing technical, business, customer, and industry perspectives into data-driven recommendations, frameworks, and executive-ready communications.
- Build and operate mechanisms for execution excellence, including governance models, planning processes, review cadences, success metrics, and accountability structures that improve outcomes across complex stakeholder networks.
- Identify and manage critical dependencies, risks, and organizational challenges across multiple teams, proactively driving resolution and ensuring strategic programs remain on track.
- Translate emerging technologies and technical developments into business and product opportunities, helping leaders assess tradeoffs, prioritize investments, and accelerate adoption of innovative capabilities.
- Influence across organizational boundaries without direct authority, building trusted partnerships and aligning diverse stakeholders around shared goals, decisions, and commitments.
Qualifications
Required Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree AND 6+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- 3+ years of 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:
- Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
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
Technical Program Management IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $165,600 - $296,400 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 $220,800 - $331,200 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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree and 6+ years of experience in engineering, product or technical program management, data analysis, or product development, or equivalent experience
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements
- Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter
- 3+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects
Microsoft Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Microsoft and has not been reviewed or approved by Microsoft.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is presented as broadly competitive overall, with clear role/level/location variation and an emphasis on using posted ranges and band information for apples-to-apples comparisons.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are described as a standout, highlighted by a strong 401(k) match structure and immediate vesting, plus additional plan features for tax-advantaged saving.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-oriented benefits are portrayed as a meaningful strength, with substantial paid parental leave and added supports like back-up care and adoption/surrogacy assistance.
Microsoft Insights
What We Do
At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is grounded in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world.
