Solution Engineering Manager - Cloud & AI Platform

Overview

As a Solution Engineering Manager Cloud & AI Platform, you lead a team of solution engineers who serve as trusted advisors to customers on their journey to adopt frontier artificial intelligence and cloud technologies. You help customers connect business priorities to modern solutions, enabling them to realize tangible value while you build a strong community of technical experts and partners around them.

Role Scope & Impact

In this role, you guide the team to envision and design end to end solutions on the cloud and artificial intelligence platform, orchestrating the right experts, tools, and programs to win technical decisions. You foster a culture of learning, coaching, and care so your team grows their technical and business skills while delivering consistent, high quality customer engagements. You also represent the technology domain in senior level discussions, using your insight into customer needs, partner ecosystems, and market trends to shape global strategies and scale best practices.

At Microsoft, our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more guides how we partner with customers to deliver trusted, impactful solutions. With a growth‑mindset culture, we innovate responsibly and measure success by shared progress, people, teams, and customers. Join us to do meaningful work that changes the world and helps shape what’s next for everyone.

Responsibilities

HLS Technical Strategy & Architecture Contributions

Contribute to the development and shaping of the technical strategy for HLS solution engineering engagements, collaborating across Azure, Data & AI, Security, Industry Clouds, Hybrid/Edge, and CAIP workloads

Enable and empower your team to develop deep technical expertise, share insights with internal stakeholders, and serve as respected technology leaders across the organization.

Act as a trusted advisor by using broad industry, technical, and professional knowledge to assess customer needs, including security, and guide solution decisions.

Orchestrate team resources and coach the team to maximize the impact of customer engagements through global capacity planning, prioritization, and effective utilization of tools and programs.

Lead the design and delivery of innovative end to end Microsoft solutions, including complex demonstrations and proof of concept activities, ensuring clear success criteria and next steps for deployment.

Drive global strategy by identifying technical and business trends, consolidating patterns from customer blockers, and contributing insights that influence offerings and partner models.

Ensure alignment with Microsoft architectural best practices, including Cloud Adoption Framework, Well-Architected Framework, and responsible AI principles

Deal Shaping & Technical Win Ownership

Act as the escalation point and technical closer for the largest, most strategic, or most ambiguous HLS opportunities

Shape complex deals and provide technical guidance to sales teams, ensuring solutions are cohesive and aligned with CAIP priorities

Cross-Workload Integration & Community Leadership

• Partner with solution area tech specialists (Workplace AI, Security, AI Business Process) to drive end-to-end technical engagement across CAIP solutions
• Champion technical community building (deep-dives, training, industry-leading practices) and foster innovation through technology partnerships
• Influence technical strategy for Azure and cross-solution technical communities, ensuring sellers for Cloud and AI, Security, and AI Business Solutions operate in sync with account plans

Required Qualifications

Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business or related field AND 4+ years technical pre-sales or technical consulting experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 6+ years technical pre-sales or technical consulting experience OR 7+ years technical pre-sales or technical consulting experience OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

8+ years technical pre-sales, technical consulting, or technology delivery, or related experience OR equivalent experience.

6+ years experience with cloud and hybrid, or on premises infrastructures, architecture designs, migrations, industry standards, and/or technology management.

3+ years people management experience (including leading virtual teams).

Solution Engineering M5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $251,900 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 - $272,300 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

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. 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 with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Insights from previous hires

Top skills: Communication, Agile Methodologies, Management, Information Technology, Business Planning, Business Development, Budgeting, Azure Cloud, Automation, Assessment

Common previous titles: Cloud Solution Engineering Manager, AI Solution Engineering Manager, Principal Solution Engineering Manager, Specialist, Senior Tech Support Engineer, Engineer Senior, Technical Lead, Senior Solution Engineer, Senior, Senior Product Manager