The Role
Lead Azure Engineering Operations’ AI Operations strategy, translating customer and operational pain points into agentic AI, copilots, and automation systems. Drive cross-functional delivery from experimentation through production, establish evaluation and Responsible AI frameworks, monitor operational performance, and scale AI-enabled support processes. Partner with engineering, data, product, support, and customer teams to improve case deflection, resolution times, reliability, customer satisfaction, and self-service outcomes.
Summary Generated by Built In
Overview
Responsibilities
Qualifications
Preferred qualifications
Are you a customer-obsessed, AI-driven program leader who thrives at the intersection of engineering, operations, and applied AI? The Azure Engineering Operations (EngOps) team is on a mission to transform Microsoft Cloud customers into lifelong advocates by delivering intelligent, scalable, and frictionless support experiences.
Within EngOps, the ACES organization is leading the shift to AI-first support delivery—leveraging agentic AI, LLM-powered systems, and real-time operational intelligence to reduce customer friction, improve reliability, and drive down support volume at Azure scale.
We are seeking a Senior Customer Engineering Program Manager – AI Operations to define and operationalize the next generation of AI-powered support systems for Azure Engineering Direct (AED). In this role, you will combine program leadership, data-driven decision making, and applied AI strategy to build intelligent support experiences that proactively resolve issues, empower engineers, and transform customer outcomes.
Within EngOps, the ACES organization is leading the shift to AI-first support delivery—leveraging agentic AI, LLM-powered systems, and real-time operational intelligence to reduce customer friction, improve reliability, and drive down support volume at Azure scale.
We are seeking a Senior Customer Engineering Program Manager – AI Operations to define and operationalize the next generation of AI-powered support systems for Azure Engineering Direct (AED). In this role, you will combine program leadership, data-driven decision making, and applied AI strategy to build intelligent support experiences that proactively resolve issues, empower engineers, and transform customer outcomes.
In this role, you will transition AED from reactive support to predictive, AI-driven operations by scaling agentic AI systems that autonomously diagnose, recommend, and resolve issues. This transformation will drive measurable improvements in case volume reduction, MTTR, and customer satisfaction, while establishing AI Ops as a core pillar of support delivery excellence.
Responsibilities
• Define and execute the AI Operations strategy for AED, aligning to business goals such as case deflection, resolution time reduction, and support scalability
• Translate customer pain points and operational gaps into AI-powered solutions including agent workflows, copilots, and automation systems
• Partner with engineering teams to bring agentic AI services (LLMs, RAG, multi-agent orchestration) from concept to production
• Drive adoption of AI agents and copilots across ACE workflows (triage, diagnostics, mitigation, knowledge retrieval)
• Define requirements for multi-agent systems, tool integrations, and workflow orchestration to enable autonomous issue resolution
• Ensure solutions are grounded in real-time Azure signals, telemetry, and knowledge systems
• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI-powered operational capabilities: design, experimentation, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement
• Establish evaluation frameworks (success metrics, golden datasets, feedback loops) to measure AI effectiveness, quality, and safety
• Embed Responsible AI practices ensuring systems are safe, compliant, and aligned to Microsoft standards
• Evolve traditional delivery excellence frameworks into AI-augmented operational models
• Standardize and scale AI-enabled support processes, tooling, and playbooks across AED
• Continuously improve operational efficiency through automation, intelligence, and insights
• Define and track AI Ops KPIs such as Case deflection and avoidance, Mean time to resolution (MTTR) and Customer experience metrics
• Partner with data and engineering teams to build observability systems (metrics, logging, tracing) to monitor AI and operational performance
• Lead cross-org initiatives spanning engineering, product, support, and field teams
• Act as the bridge between AI engineering teams and customer engineering delivery
• Drive alignment on roadmaps, priorities, and success criteria across stakeholders
• Engage directly with AED customers and ACEs to identify unmet needs and high-friction experiences
• Incubate and scale AI-first capabilities that reduce toil and improve customer self-service
• Champion a culture of experimentation and rapid iteration
Qualifications
Required qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Math, Business, or related field AND 4+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
- OR equivalent experience.
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.
- Master's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Math, Business, or related field AND 6+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Math, Business, or related field AND 8+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development OR equivalent experience.
- 6+ years of experience in program management, product management, engineering, or technical operations
- Hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, LLMs, or AI-powered products (e.g., copilots, automation tools, RAG systems)
- Familiarity with agentic AI concepts such as multi-agent orchestration, prompt design, and AI workflows
- Experience driving end-to-end delivery of complex, cross-functional initiatives
- Strong understanding of cloud platforms (preferably Azure) and support operations
- Experience using data and metrics to drive decisions and measure impact
- Experience in support engineering, SRE, or ITSM environments
- Knowledge of AI evaluation frameworks, telemetry, and experimentation practices
- Experience working with global, distributed engineering and customer-facing teams
- Strong executive communication and storytelling skills
#EngOps #EngOpsACES
Customer Experience Program Mgmt IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $160,200 - $261,000 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 in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Business, or a related field
- 4+ years of experience in engineering, product or technical program management, data analysis, or product development
- Equivalent experience may substitute for the degree and experience requirements
- Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements
- Ability to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Business, or a related field with 6+ years of relevant experience
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with 8+ years of relevant experience
- 6+ years of experience in program management, product management, engineering, or technical operations
- Hands-on experience with AI/ML systems, LLMs, or AI-powered products
- Familiarity with multi-agent orchestration, prompt design, and AI workflows
- Experience delivering complex, cross-functional initiatives end to end
- Strong understanding of cloud platforms, preferably Azure, and support operations
- Experience using data and metrics to drive decisions and measure impact
- Experience in support engineering, SRE, or ITSM environments
- Knowledge of AI evaluation frameworks, telemetry, and experimentation practices
- Experience working with global, distributed engineering and customer-facing teams
- Strong executive communication and storytelling skills
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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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, with preventive care coverage, vision options, and annual out-of-pocket limits. Feedback suggests medical, mental-health, and disability support are a major strength of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Family support is expansive, including parental leave, family caregiver leave, child-care assistance, family concierge services, fertility options, and college-advising support for eligible employees. Feedback suggests these benefits meaningfully ease caregiving and family planning demands.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing resources include counseling and employee-assistance services, wellness reimbursements, product discounts, and charitable-matching programs. Feedback suggests these extras complement core benefits and support day-to-day quality of life.
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