Overview: The Financial Operations (FinOps) team delivers business value for over 300 legal entities through proactive, innovative, compliant, and cost-effective global solutions that exceed stakeholder expectations. As a global team with delivery centers and staff around the world, we combine outsourcing and in-house resources and embrace “AND”—balancing agility with stability and innovation with compliance—to deliver challenging, creative, and deeply impactful work.
Our functions include payroll, accounting, reporting & analysis, statutory compliance, supplier and partner payouts, procurement operations, employee expenses, outbound royalties, controls and compliance testing, and anti-corruption monitoring. FinOps continuously expands its scope and evolves its operating models through intelligent automation, process improvement, and co-innovation with strategic vendors, transforming legacy operations into AI-enabled services at scale.
Job Summary: As a senior compliance individual contributor, you will lead a portfolio of compliance, governance, and risk-management initiatives across FinOps Controls + Compliance. You will translate complex and emerging legal, regulatory, and self-regulatory obligations into scalable standards, operational frameworks, clear business impacts, accountable ownership, and tracked actions. Navigating ambiguity and competing priorities, you will lead multifaceted short- and long-term workstreams; partner across teams to align business innovation and cost-management goals with compliance requirements; strengthen operational, regulatory, control, audit, and supplier-risk readiness; resolve compliance barriers; and drive measurable risk outcomes. Through this work, you will contribute to Controls + Compliance operational excellence and team culture while helping the organization deliver on its commitments with accountability and integrity.
What you'll bring:
- Extensive experience in governance, compliance strategy, and regulatory compliance within complex business environments.
- Proven ability to lead compliance risk management initiatives, including gap analysis and policy development.
- Excellent communication skills to effectively convey compliance information and influence senior leadership.
- Expertise in analyzing regulatory trends and developing strategic responses to evolving legislation.
- Demonstrated capability to manage multiple projects, prioritize tasks, and drive continuous improvement.
- Commitment to upholding ethical standards and fostering a culture of integrity and accountability.
Responsibilities
Lead Controls & Compliance Strategy
Lead the overall Financial Operations Controls & Compliance portfolio, including internal controls, SOX/ICFR compliance, controls monitoring, audit readiness, risk management, compliance operations, and governance programs.
Establish strategic priorities, operating plans, success measures, and execution frameworks that strengthen the control environment while enabling business agility.
Drive continuous improvement of governance, compliance, and risk-management capabilities through standardization, process simplification, automation, and data-driven decision making.
Ensure controls and compliance activities remain aligned to evolving business, regulatory, financial, and operational requirements.
Lead a Multi-Disciplinary Compliance Organization
Lead a team of Controls, Compliance and Risk managers and professionals responsible for governance, controls, compliance, audit coordination, risk management, and operational assurance activities.
Provide leadership across a broader network of matrixed and dotted-line Controls & Compliance resources embedded throughout Financial Operations.
Establish clear operating rhythms, accountability models, governance forums, escalation paths, and decision-making frameworks across the compliance ecosystem.
Coach, develop, and empower leaders and individual contributors while building organizational capability, succession plans, and leadership depth.
Foster a culture of accountability, customer focus, continuous improvement, inclusion, and operational excellence.
Oversee SOX & Internal Controls Programs
Oversee the Financial Operations SOX and internal controls program, including governance, controls monitoring, testing oversight, issue management, remediation tracking, certifications, and audit readiness activities.
Partner with Financial Compliance Group (FCG), Internal Audit, External Audit, Finance leaders, and control owners to maintain an effective and sustainable control environment.
Ensure timely identification, escalation, remediation, and resolution of control deficiencies and compliance gaps.
Drive adoption of scalable controls-monitoring capabilities, reporting, and performance metrics that improve control effectiveness and transparency.
Lead FinOps Risk & Governance Activities
Establish and mature risk management practices across Financial Operations.
Oversee risk assessments, compliance assessments, issue management, corrective action programs, exception governance, and risk acceptance processes.
Partner with business stakeholders to identify emerging risks, evaluate business impacts, and develop mitigation strategies.
Drive governance reviews and executive discussions focused on risk exposure, compliance health, and operational resilience.
Translate complex compliance, audit, and operational findings into actionable recommendations and leadership decisions.
Provide Leadership Oversight for Responsible AI & Emerging Governance Programs
Provide sponsorship and organizational oversight for Responsible AI, automation governance, and other emerging compliance initiatives.
Lead managers and subject matter experts responsible for governance domains, ensuring priorities, investments, and compliance requirements are aligned with broader Controls & Compliance objectives.
Ensure appropriate governance frameworks, controls, and risk-management practices are established for emerging technologies and business transformations.
Promote compliance-by-design principles that enable innovation while protecting trust, accountability, and regulatory obligations.
Drive Executive Reporting & Organizational Governance
Establish meaningful compliance health measures, risk indicators, operational KPIs, and executive reporting mechanisms.
Lead governance forums, leadership reviews, operational risk discussions, and compliance operating rhythms.
Communicate complex compliance, control, and risk information in a clear, actionable manner for senior leaders.
Influence cross-functional stakeholders to drive accountability, alignment, and execution across large-scale initiatives.
Qualifications
Required/Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 4+ years experience in program management, process management, or process improvement OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in compliance, risk management, internal controls, audit, governance, or complex program management, including experience supporting finance operations, procurement, supplier or third-party risk, or another highly regulated business environment.
- Demonstrated ownership of an enterprise-scale policy, compliance, risk, or governance program, including responsibility for program design, stakeholder alignment, implementation, performance monitoring, and measurable outcomes.
- Executive-level written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex compliance, risk, and performance information into clear narratives, decisions, tradeoffs, and actionable recommendations for senior leaders.
- Experience independently defining and leading complex, large-scale cross-functional programs, including plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, executive communications, and measurable outcomes, while managing multiple concurrent workstreams across a highly matrixed organization.
- Working knowledge of regulatory regimes affecting procurement and finance, such as anti-corruption, data protection, and supply-chain due-diligence requirements, with direct SOX/ICFR or broader Controls and Compliance experience in control design, testing, audit support, and remediation.
- Experience translating external obligations into practical policy frameworks, operational standards, guidance, and sustainable business processes that protect compliance outcomes and the user support experience.
- Experience applying AI, automation, or advanced analytics to improve the efficiency, consistency, or effectiveness of risk and compliance operations, with an understanding of responsible-use, governance, and control considerations.
- Strong analytical, financial, and business acumen, with the ability to synthesize qualitative and quantitative information; evaluate business impact, return on investment, KPIs, performance, and value drivers; apply core data analytics; and present actionable recommendations to management.
- Experience designing, implementing, or governing enterprise-scale compliance frameworks, controls, audit-readiness activities, and risk-management processes, including mechanisms to monitor obligations, track remediation, escalate issues, and drive accountability across multiple stakeholder groups.
- Proven ability to build trusted partnerships, influence without direct authority, and drive alignment, accountability, and outcomes across cross-functional stakeholders, business leaders, and multiple manager-led teams.
- Executive-level written and verbal communication skills, including data-driven storytelling and the ability to create clarity from ambiguity, frame risks and tradeoffs, articulate decisions and asks, and present actionable recommendations to senior leaders.
- Demonstrated commitment to integrity, inclusion, accountability, continuous learning, and a learn-it-all culture, with a track record of valuing diverse perspectives, leading inclusive change, navigating ambiguity, and delivering business results with a strong compliance focus.
- Relevant professional certification, such as CPA, CIA, CISA, CRISC, or a comparable credential.
Business Program Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $97,600 - $188,400 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 $125,000 - $206,400 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
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 Business, Operations, Finance, or a related field, plus 4 or more years of experience in program management, process management, or process improvement; equivalent experience may be accepted.
- Experience in compliance, risk management, internal controls, audit, governance, or complex program management.
- Experience supporting finance operations, procurement, supplier or third-party risk, or another highly regulated business environment.
- Ownership of an enterprise-scale policy, compliance, risk, or governance program, including design, stakeholder alignment, implementation, performance monitoring, and measurable outcomes.
- Executive-level written and verbal communication skills, including synthesizing complex compliance, risk, and performance information into actionable recommendations.
- Experience leading complex, large-scale, cross-functional programs with plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, executive communications, and measurable outcomes.
- Working knowledge of anti-corruption, data protection, and supply-chain due-diligence requirements, with SOX/ICFR or broader controls and compliance experience.
- Experience with control design, testing, audit support, remediation, and translating external obligations into practical policies and operational standards.
- Experience applying AI, automation, or advanced analytics to risk and compliance operations, including responsible-use and governance considerations.
- Strong analytical, financial, and business acumen, including data analytics, KPI evaluation, return-on-investment analysis, and business impact assessment.
- Experience designing, implementing, or governing enterprise-scale compliance frameworks, controls, audit-readiness activities, and risk-management processes.
- Ability to build trusted partnerships, influence without direct authority, and drive cross-functional accountability and outcomes.
- Commitment to integrity, inclusion, accountability, continuous learning, and inclusive change leadership.
- Relevant professional certification such as CPA, CIA, CISA, CRISC, or a comparable credential.
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.
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