Operations Planning Director
Microsoft
Operations Planning Director
Multiple Locations, United States
Save
Overview
With more than 45,000 employees and partners worldwide, the Customer Experience and Success (CE&S) organization is on a mission to empower customers to accelerate business value through differentiated customer experiences that leverage Microsoft’s products and services, ignited by our people and culture. We drive cross-company alignment and execution, ensuring that we consistently exceed customers’ expectations in every interaction, whether in-product, digital, or human-centered. CE&S is responsible for all up services across the company, including consulting, customer success, and support across Microsoft’s portfolio of solutions and products. Join CE&S and help us accelerate AI transformation for our customers and the world.
The Global Customer Success (GCS) organization, an organization within CE&S, is leading the effort to enable customer success on the Microsoft Cloud by harnessing leading, AI-powered capabilities and human expertise to deliver innovation solutions that accelerate business value, drive operational excellence and nurture long term loyalty.
The Operations Planning Director also know as Workforce Management Director is a senior operational strategist responsible for designing and governing enterprise-wide workforce planning, scheduling frameworks, and resource optimization across a complex, multi-region service delivery ecosystem. This role ensures operational scalability, service continuity, and cost-effective delivery through precision planning, scheduling excellence, and proactive capacity management.
Acting as a key advisor to executive leadership, this role leads the full lifecycle of workforce and scheduling strategy—from demand forecasting and interval planning to risk mitigation and delivery assurance. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in partner governance, labor compliance, and scenario-based modelling, with a track record of cross-functional leadership and stakeholder engagement.
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.
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 8+ years experience in program management, process management, or process improvement OR equivalent experience.
- 6+ years management (e.g., people, project, process, vendor, change) experience.
- 6+ years of experience in resource planning / workforce planning.
Additional or preferred qualifications
- Master's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 12+ years experience program management, process management, or process improvement OR Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 15+ years experience in program management , process management, or process improvement OR equivalent experience.
- 8+ years people management experience.
- 8+ years of experience in resource planning / workforce planning
Business Program Management M6 - 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: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
Microsoft will accept applications for the role until September 22, 2025.
Responsibilities
Strategic Planning & Scheduling
• Lead global workforce and scheduling strategies aligned to business goals and operational realities.
• Govern forecasting and scheduling frameworks that enable high-accuracy resource predictability.
• Translate strategic objectives into actionable staffing and scheduling plans, integrating partner terms, compliance, and cost levers.
• Co-develop staffing and scheduling strategies with operational leaders to maximize utilization and service performance.
• Own the cadence for monthly and quarterly planning cycles, ensuring visibility and accountability across functions.
• Operationalize interval-level forecasts with sufficient lead time to support downstream readiness across delivery and scheduling teams.
• Embed compliance and auditability into all planning and scheduling processes.
Risk Management & Scenario Modelling
• Design mitigation frameworks to address capacity gaps, scheduling conflicts, and service level risks.
• Conduct scenario modelling to assess potential impacts and secure alignment with budget owners and delivery stakeholders.
Program & Portfolio Leadership
• Provide oversight for complex, multi-stream initiatives including scheduling tool integration, planning process transformation, and operational governance.
• Drive alignment across planning, scheduling, and delivery teams to ensure cohesive execution and measurable outcomes.
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders and delivery owners to align planning outcomes with business priorities.
• Deliver clear, impactful communications across executive reviews and operational forums.
• Shape reporting and visualization standards to enhance decision-making and stakeholder engagement.
Process & Tool Optimization
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across planning and scheduling operations.
• Evaluate and implement advanced tools (e.g., Calabrio, Alvaria, Anaplan) to support scenario-based planning and scheduling agility.
• Champion accessibility and usability in all planning artifacts and dashboards.
Team Leadership & Capability Building
• Mentor cross-functional teams, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Harmonize planning and scheduling methodologies across global teams.
• Lead change management efforts to support organizational transformation and workforce readiness.
• Deliver training programs to uplift scheduling and planning capabilities across the enterprise.
Other