Datacenter Program Manager - Network

Microsoft • Chicago, IL

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About The Position

Microsoft is hiring a Datacenter Business Operations Program Manager focused on reducing stranded capacity through deployment planning and optimization of IT capacity. The role works closely with Electrical Engineers and Critical Environment Field Service Engineers and supports Microsoft Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I), which delivers infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's online services, including Bing, Office 365, Xbox, OneDrive, and Azure.

The position enables datacenter capacity through increased Infrastructure Utilization Effectiveness and Power Harvesting, leading retrofit efforts to upgrade legacy datacenters and harvest capacity across the existing fleet. The program manager owns end-to-end execution of datacenter initiatives, coordinating projects across IT, network, infrastructure, remediation, and modernization in live production datacenters. Work must follow applicable safety, security, change-management, and operational standards while balancing execution speed, quality, and service stability.

CO+I supports employee development through training and growth opportunities, including Career Rotation Programs, Diversity & Inclusion trainings and events, and professional certifications. Microsoft describes its infrastructure as a global portfolio of more than 100 datacenters and 1 million servers, supporting services for customers and businesses worldwide.

Requirements

• High school qualification or equivalent and 3+ years of experience supporting IT equipment or related technology, or delivering server and network deployment projects in large-scale environments; or equivalent experience.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Verification of U.S. citizenship to meet federal government security requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's or technical college degree in Computer Science, Math, Telecommunications, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related field and 8+ years of experience working in physical IT infrastructures; alternatively, a high school qualification or equivalent and 10+ years of such experience, or equivalent experience.
• Experience with physical IT infrastructures such as servers, SANs, networking, capacity, datacenter racks/enclosures, or structured cabling.
• Applicable certifications, such as APICS/Inventory Control, CompTIA, Microsoft, Network Certifications, CCNA, ITIL v3 Foundation, or Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) certifications.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end project execution for datacenter initiatives from intake through close-out, maintaining service quality, completeness, and customer experience across IT, network, infrastructure, remediation, and modernization projects.
• Build and manage project plans, schedules, milestones, and dependencies across parallel workstreams; review schedules to avoid conflicts and offer alternatives when defining customer solutions.
• Execute projects in live production datacenters in compliance with safety, security, change-management, MOP/SOP, and access-control requirements, and promptly report safety or security concerns.
• Assess and communicate potential customer impacts from operational events such as lock-downs and maintenance windows, planning to minimize disruption.
• Serve as the coordination point among Datacenter Operations, Engineering, Construction, IT/Network teams, vendors, integrators, and contractors; clarify, document, and meet expectations.
• Manage stakeholder expectations, resolve conflicts, maintain alignment, and communicate solutions and alternatives.
• Identify schedule, technical, safety, and operational risks; propose ways to reduce maintenance risk and develop mitigation and contingency plans with relevant teams.
• Troubleshoot service incidents and escalate appropriately to meet SLAs and OLAs while minimizing disruption.
• Track project costs and resource utilization and help keep work within approved budgets and timelines.
• Balance execution speed with operational stability and quality, in line with management priorities and company culture and values.
• Embody Microsoft's culture and values.

Benefits

• Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.
• Training and growth opportunities, including Career Rotation Programs, Diversity & Inclusion trainings and events, and professional certifications.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED