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.

The Commerce + Ecosystems (C+E) Commerce team is working to enable an easier experience for customers and partners to grow, as well as to buy and do business with us by delivering a dependable, safe, and secure commerce infrastructure. The Ecosystems team is committed to driving discovery and awareness of Microsoft within our ecosystem of products and services, as well as reaching technical communities around the globe.

Microsoft for Startups is a global team that takes a 360-degree approach to build success. We work with VCs, industry organizations, customers, and our field teams to identify the most promising startups. We then partner side by side with their leaders to leverage Microsoft assets and drive success through our global market footprint in the B2B space. This role will be a part of the Depth program team where we work hand in hand with the early-stage startups of our Strategic Partners (VCs and Accelerators) to be successful on the Microsoft AI Technology stack. This individual will play a pivotal role in catalyzing the success of a portfolio of startups as they leverage Microsoft technology. They will serve as the primary point of contact to offer direct assistance or coordinate the involvement of specialized resources. This role demands a solid grasp of both the technical and business aspects of the startup's goals and a proficiency in fostering positive relationships with the startup.

Responsibilities

Customer Centricity

• Gathers startup insights and leverages these insights to design architectures, provide expertise/guidance, develop, propose and deliver Microsoft solutions to achieve startup business outcomes and drive to completion the resolution/unblocking of their issues, resulting in accelerated consumption.
• Is a trusted advisor and represents the voice of the startup within Microsoft to ensure alignment with customer feedback and strategy. Enhances customer satisfaction by delivering a positive startup experience. Shows a deep understanding of the key success factors for startups. Identifies dissatisfied customers and initiates remedial actions, including post-mortem reviews when necessary.
• Actively listens and respectfully challenges startups when going in the wrong direction and escalates appropriately.Engages other internal resources (e.g., roles, Microsoft Technology Center, demo sites, virtual sites), mapping out and leveraging foundational resource knowledge for key areas of technology as needed to overcome technical blockers on assigned technology set.
  
  

Business Impact

• Independently identifies issues and advises startups to operate and optimize performance in accordance with Microsoft best practices. Escalates issues to senior team members or manager, as needed. Applies methodology and governance to minimize business and technical risks and adhere to quality assurance while ensuring excellence in contributions to design and/or delivery of solutions. Adheres to quality assurance standards and calculates risks while ensuring excellence in the design and/or delivery of solutions. Leverages standard tools to ensure accurate opportunity and milestone execution.
• Independently works with the startup to identify, determine root causes, and resolve blockers to accelerate consumption and solution implementation (e.g., by application of technical capabilities). Identifies non-technical issues and escalates for removal by the appropriate party. Applies business and technical knowledge of architecture or other Microsoft solutions to meet business and information technology (IT) requirements and resolve identified technical constraints. Helps to shape and enhance startups requirements. Leverages knowledge of the products, services, and value propositions of Microsoft and its competitors in startup conversations to assess startup needs and independently identify growth opportunities. Leverages an existing architecture approach or reference architecture to propose a solution or achieve Microsoft's Customer Promise. Contribute to the startup’s increase in Azure consumption
• Understands the competitor's architecture solutions and identifies Microsoft's strengths over competitive solutions to demonstrate Microsoft's value to startups.
  
  

Technical and Business Leadership

• Leverages development opportunities (e.g., mentorships, role-based resources, trainings, internal events such as Ready, Build, Ignite) to learn new technologies and business trends as advised by leadership team/manager.
• Shares ideas, insights, and technical input with team members using a working knowledge of specific Microsoft products and programs.
  
  

Other

• Embody our culture and values
  
  

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 4+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting.
• OR equivalent experience
• 2+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external).
• 2+ years experience working on technical projects.
• Experience with early-stage startups to understand their technical needs and constraints.
  

Additional Or Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 8+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting
• OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 6+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting.
• OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external).
• 4+ years experience working on technical projects.
• Technical Certification in Cloud (e.g., Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, security certifications).
  

Customer Solutions Architecture IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $112,000 - $218,400 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 $145,800 - $238,600 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 is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.