Principal Technical Program Manager

Microsoft Silicon, Cloud Hardware Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) is the team behind Microsoft’s expanding Cloud Infrastructure and responsible for powering Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” mission. SCHIE delivers the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's over 200 online businesses including Bing, MSN, Office 365, Xbox Live, Skype, OneDrive and the Microsoft Azure platform globally with our server and data center infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability solutions. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide.

As Azure business continues to grow the ability to deploy new service offerings and HW infrastructure on time, in high volume with high quality and lowest TCO is of paramount importance. Azure Firmware Center of Excellence team is instrumental in defining and delivering operational success for Azure that exceeds our customers’ expectations.

To achieve this goal, we are looking for an experienced Security focused Technical Program Manager who will be the leader of our Security Vulnerability workstream for Azure Hardware/Firmware. If you have been working in the HW/FW security space and want to take the next step in your career, to come help us shape, define, develop, implement and track innovative security solutions for Azure Cloud, then this is a great opportunity for you. As the Security PM Leader for HW Security CoE team, you will be responsible to drive cross-org security programs to increase the security posture across Azure Cloud; a critical one being leading E2E Vulnerability Management across all Firmware payloads including our recently announced 1P offerings of MAIA (AI SoC) and Cobalt (Compute SoC).

Microsoft is a highly innovative company that collaborates across disciplines to produce cutting edge cloud technology that changes our world. The Silicon Cloud Hardware and Infrastructure Engineering (SCHIE) team in Microsoft’s Azure C+E division is responsible for delivering server infrastructure for Microsoft’s online services. The hardware for operating these services (over 200 and counting), comprises hundreds of thousands of servers spread globally and applications that reach hundreds of millions of users every day. Our customer-base is growing rapidly, our infrastructure investments are multiplying, and the size of our global infrastructure is increasing by the day; along with the scale of our challenges. Learn more about our team and projects here Azure Hardware Infrastructure

We are looking for a Principal Technical Program Manager to join our team. In order to be successful in this role, you should have passion and interest in security technologies, be able to drive collaboration with multiple teams and have a willingness to develop holistic approaches to product solutions, work through discussions on Security severity, drive the right decision making involving trade offs at the cross section of security, performance, schedule and cost.  You should also have a good understanding of Hardware and Firmware, and their intersection with Security and Compliance.

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.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 6+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 5+ years of experience in security related HW/FW programs e.g. Root-of-Trust, Cryptography, Attestation, Threat Modelling, Security Assessment, Vulnerability Management.
• Knowledge of building low-level SW to run on HW e.g., Firmware, UEFI, BMC, BSP, etc.

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.

Preferred Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science/Computer Engineering/EE or equivalent experience
• Good program management skills to drive cross-org collaboration and ability to drive teams to deliver results without direct authority.
• Proven ability to synthesize and communicate solutions to complex technical problems.
• Exceptional organization and project management skills, e.g., experience with SW/FW agile project management methodology, TFS, DevOps, JIRA or similar
• Experience in managing complex cross-org, cross-business, cross-disciplinary programs and presenting updates to senior leadership team.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity, prioritize multiple strategic and tactical options and drive issues to resolution without compromising on quality.
• Experience with SW development/testing strategy and requirement creation
• Familiar with the E2E development process of SoC product development
• Data center HW/SW project experience from inception to go live
• Ability to deal with ambiguity, prioritize multiple strategic and tactical options, and drive issues to closure with a high bar on quality
• Technical savvy. Know how to solve the hard problems, and demonstrate ability to work independently
• Proficient communication skill and interpersonal skill
• Experience working with software code in one or more languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, etc.

Technical Program Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $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: US corporate pay information | Microsoft Careers

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until October 17,2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

• Strategic Leadership: Define and execute the roadmap for HW/FW security initiatives, including vulnerability management across diverse firmware components.
• Cross-Org Collaboration: Partner with key stakeholders across engineering, compliance, and product teams to drive security investments and present regular updates to executive leadership.
• OKR Development: Lead the creation and tracking of security-focused OKRs, aligning them with cross-functional engineering goals to measure impact and drive continuous improvement.
• Security Hardening: Manage multiple workstreams focused on hardening Azure’s hardware infrastructure and increasing its security posture.
• Technical Execution: Collaborate with Security Engineering and Firmware Development teams to conduct penetration testing, triage advisories, and drive secure firmware deployment plans.
• Requirements Definition: Define security requirements for Azure’s hardware platforms through active engagement with internal stakeholders and external partners, ensuring alignment with Microsoft’s security-first principles.
• Emerging SKU Engagement: Work closely with engineering teams on new hardware SKUs (AI, high-memory, next-gen compute) to ensure comprehensive security integration from design to deployment.
• Agile Delivery: Lead agile execution across sprints, backlogs, and milestones, leveraging in-fleet telemetry to refine diagnostics and improve security features and response mechanisms.

Base Level Responsibilites

• Define and manage requirement and functional specifications for new hardware/firmware features.
• Lead semester planning and sprint backlog execution with engineering teams.
• Drive Azure hardware requirements with external partners (Silicon Vendors, ODMs, OEMs) and coordinate development across Microsoft engineering teams.
• Establish and scale systematic software/firmware development practices.
• Facilitate global program execution through effective communication with internal and external stakeholders.