Senior Director, Supplier Development, Quality & Technology

Overview

Microsoft Cloud Operations + Innovation (CO+I) is the engine that powers Microsoft’s cloud services. Our datacenter supply chain is critical to delivering the infrastructure, technology, and capacity required to support continued cloud growth.

We are seeking a Senior Director, Supplier Quality, Development & Technology to lead the development of a high-performing, technically capable, innovative, and resilient global supplier ecosystem.

This leader will have a broad mandate spanning supplier quality, supplier development, technical capability, and supplier-enabled innovation. The role will partner across Procurement, Engineering, Operations, and the CTO organization to improve supplier performance, develop supplier capabilities, reduce quality and technical risk, and identify supplier technologies and solutions that can enable Microsoft’s future datacenter roadmap.

The successful candidate will combine deep technical and supplier expertise with the ability to translate business and technology needs into scalable supplier capabilities and solutions.

Responsibilities

Supplier Quality & Performance

• Define and execute global supplier quality strategy, governance, standards, and performance management.
• Drive measurable improvement in supplier quality, process capability, reliability, yield, defect reduction, and corrective-action effectiveness.
• Lead resolution of critical supplier quality and technical issues through structured root-cause analysis and sustainable corrective actions.
• Establish supplier qualification, audit, assessment, and readiness processes appropriate to supplier and technology risk.
• Identify and mitigate supplier risks that could affect datacenter capacity, schedule, reliability, or business continuity.

Supplier Development

• Develop and execute strategies that strengthen supplier technical, engineering, manufacturing, quality, capacity, and operational capabilities.
• Assess supplier maturity and establish development roadmaps that close critical capability and performance gaps.
• Lead supplier improvement, transformation, and recovery initiatives with strategic and critical suppliers.
• Develop suppliers to support future capacity growth, new technologies, new product introductions, and evolving engineering requirements.
• Build deeper technical relationships with strategic suppliers and ensure their investment and capability roadmaps align with Microsoft’s future needs.
• Expand and develop the supplier ecosystem to increase resilience, technical capability, competition, and innovation.

Technology & Innovation

• Serve as a key connection between Microsoft’s supplier ecosystem and the CTO and Engineering organizations, helping translate future technology priorities and technical challenges into supplier opportunities.
• Engage supplier engineering and technology leaders to understand emerging technologies, manufacturing capabilities, materials, designs, and solutions.
• Create a pipeline of supplier-enabled innovation and help advance promising solutions from technical evaluation through qualification, industrialization, and scaled deployment.
• Facilitate supplier technology reviews, innovation workshops, and joint technical development opportunities.
• Partner with suppliers to improve manufacturability, scalability, reliability, sustainability, cost, and deployment velocity of emerging solutions.
• Ensure strategic suppliers understand Microsoft’s evolving technology direction so they can appropriately align engineering resources, investments, capacity, and product roadmaps.

Leadership

• Partner across Engineering, CTO, Procurement, Planning, and Operations, to integrate supplier quality, development, and innovation into broader business and technology strategies.
• Establish strong executive and technical relationships with strategic suppliers.
• Build organizational capability in supplier quality, supplier development, technical problem solving, manufacturing excellence, and technology assessment.
• Use digital tools, analytics, and supplier performance insights to identify emerging risks and drive proactive decision-making.
• Communicate supplier performance, technical opportunities, risks, and business implications effectively to senior and executive leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Materials Science, or related field AND 8+ years experience in procurement, supply chain, sourcing, engineering, operations, or relevant sales-related roles
• OR Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Materials Science, or related field AND 10+ years experience in procurement, supply chain, sourcing, engineering, operations, or relevant sales-related roles
• OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Significant experience in Supplier Quality, Supplier Development, Engineering, Manufacturing, Reliability, Technology, Operations, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated leadership experience within a complex global supplier, engineering, manufacturing, or technology environment.
• Experience developing supplier technical and operational capabilities in addition to managing supplier performance.
• Demonstrated ability to engage supplier engineering and technology organizations to solve complex technical challenges and introduce new capabilities.
• Experience working across Engineering, Procurement, Operations, Product Development, technology organizations, and external suppliers.
• Executive communication, technical judgment, analytical thinking, influencing, negotiation, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Experience in datacenter infrastructure, mission-critical equipment, electrical, mechanical, power, cooling, controls, or other complex technology environments.
• Experience developing and executing global supplier development or supplier quality programs.
• Experience partnering with CTO, R&D, engineering, or technology-development organizations.
• Experience identifying and introducing supplier-generated technical solutions into complex infrastructure or product environments.
• Experience advancing new technologies from concept and evaluation through qualification, industrialization, and scaled deployment.
• Experience with supplier qualification, manufacturing assessments, process capability, structured root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and new technology introduction.

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.

#COICareers | #EPCCareers

Sourcing Engineering M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $165,600 - $296,400 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 $220,800 - $331,200 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: Architecture, Adoption, Business, BSc, Automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Analytics, Account Planning, Value Realization and Outcome Mapping, Sales Organization Leadership

Common previous titles: Director Supplier Quality, Senior Director Supplier Development, Senior Director of Technology, Senior Solution Architect, Vice President Product, Senior Product Manager, Senior Strategist, Partner Director, Senior Director Strategy, Engineer Senior