HR Consulting Director - Engineering

Overview

We are recruiting an HR Consulting Director for Engineering and Gaming to join the Consulting Leadership team at a pivotal moment of transformation. In this role, you will empower Microsoft’s business performance and inclusive culture by delivering human‑centered, insight‑driven, and AI‑enabled people solutions that elevate manager and employee experiences across the region.

The Engineering and Gaming HR Consulting team is part of the People Consulting & Engagement organization, providing a unique, end‑to‑end perspective across businesses, geographies, and global priorities. This role combines people leadership, senior consulting, employee relations expertise, and strategic program ownership, with strong influence across HR Business Partners, Engineering and Gaming business leaders, Centers of Excellence, CELA, and global HR stakeholders.

As a people manager and senior leader, this role enables the business to navigate change, strengthen manager capability, and deliver a simpler, more consistent, and more human employee experience across Microsoft.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership & Talent Stewardship

• Leads and develops a high‑performing HR Consulting team through significant transformation, ensuring the organization is equipped to resolve the most complex, high‑risk, and high‑visibility people challenges. Sets clear expectations and accountability for consulting quality, judgment, and impact, while providing broad oversight and direction across the team’s work.
• Coaches and enables the team to deliver effective, insight‑driven consulting to senior and executive business leaders, including one‑on‑one advisory support, organizational health assessments, and capability‑building conversations. Guides the team in surfacing trends and insights across cases and engagements, translating these into clear narratives and recommendations that inform business and HR decision‑making.
• Supports and navigates the team’s partnerships with HR Business Partners and Centers of Excellence to implement and scale enterprise HR programs, processes, and initiatives. Ensures strong alignment to global priorities while enabling flexibility to meet regional and business‑specific needs. Provides input and influence on the identification, design, and rollout of HR projects and programs, including change impact, timing, and feasibility.
• Acts as a steward of talent and capability across the HR Consulting organization by identifying development needs, supporting training and skill‑building, and fostering continuous learning. Models Microsoft’s culture and leadership principles by leading with integrity, inclusion, accountability, and care — attracting, retaining, and developing top talent while supporting individual growth, aspirations, and career progression.

Employee Relations & Workplace Integrity

• Provide senior leadership and oversight for high‑complexity, high‑risk, and high‑visibility employee relations matters across Engineering and Gaming.
• Establish and govern effective escalation and partnership models, ensuring issues are addressed with rigor, consistency, and within agreed timelines.
• Partner with Workplace Investigations, Global Employee Relations, Legal (CELA), Security, and Communications on sensitive cases, including leading investigations where required.
• Design and champion solutions that foster an open, inclusive, and values‑based workplace, balancing short‑term decisions with long‑term precedent and risk.
• Act as a trusted advisor to HR and business leaders on trends, external labor environments, and evolving employee expectations, influencing policy and practice accordingly.

HR Programs, Projects & Operating Model Excellence

• Lead HRC’s partnership with HRBP and COEs to implement and continuously improve enterprise HR programs and cycles (e.g., Rhythm of Business, performance and development, manager excellence communities).
• Ensure strong process integrity, clear ownership, and effective execution, while surfacing insights and improvement opportunities back to global teams.
• Influence the design and rollout of global and regional HR initiatives by providing input on timing, feasibility, risks, and change impact.
• Drive simplification, consistency, and operational excellence across HR Consulting ways of working.

HR Solutions Consulting & Insights

• Set the consulting strategy, aligning HRC services to business priorities and anticipating future needs driven by market, regulatory, and organizational shifts.
• Hold the team accountable for delivering high‑quality, value‑adding consulting to business leaders on HR programs, processes, and organizational health.
• Synthesize trends and insights across the region to inform organizational design, HR strategy, and prioritization of work.
• Partner with regional HR leadership to provide executives with a holistic view of organizational health, risks, and opportunities, enabling informed decision‑making.

AI, Digitalization & Continuous Improvement

• Drives adoption of AI‑enabled, digital and automated HR consulting solutions to improve scale, consistency and impact across the organization.
• Champions continuous improvement by simplifying processes, reducing operational friction and embedding data‑driven decision‑making across HR consulting, employee relations and manager support.
• Partners with HR COEs, Product, Digital HR and Analytics teams to leverage listening systems, insights and automation to anticipate needs, identify trends and proactively shape interventions.
• Builds team capability and mindset to responsibly use AI and digital tools to enhance coaching, consulting quality and operational excellence.
• Ensures AI and digital innovation remains human‑centered, ethical and compliant, strengthening the overall employee and manager experience.

Qualifications

Required / Minimum

• Bachelor’s degree and 9+ years experience in HR or business programs/processes
  or Master’s degree and 6+ years experience
  or equivalent practical experience

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree and 15+ years experience, or Master’s degree and 12+ years experience, or equivalent
• 3+ years people management experience
• 5+ years employee relations experience in complex, multi‑country environments

The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $277,200 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 $165,600 - $303,600 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
US corporate pay information | Microsoft Careers