Cloud Solution Architect Skilling & Enablement Lead

Overview

MCAPS-Core accelerates customer outcomes and business growth. By uniting product, engineering, marketing, sales, customer success, and partners around a common customer mission, we help customers realize value faster and turn innovation into measurable business impact. Through deep technical expertise and differentiated go-to-market execution, we win competitively, capture market share, and scale repeatable growth motions. We differentiate through value creation - delivering world-class, AI-powered customer experiences that accelerate adoption, strengthen loyalty, and create sustainable competitive advantage, driving growth that outpaces the market.

The Commercial Solution Area and Cloud and AI Platforms (CAIP) Solution Area is pivotal in helping customers translate cloud and AI ambition into measurable business outcomes. The organization connects strategy, programs, investments, partners, and execution to simplify customer transformation and help the field compete and win.

Accountable to ensure Cloud Solution Architects (CSAs) across all Operating Units (OUs) achieve and maintain required technical skills, certifications, and Unified accreditations.

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.

Responsibilities

Own the worldwide CSA skilling and technical readiness strategy, ensuring CSAs maintain the capabilities required for their roles.

Drive attainment and maintenance of required technical certifications, credentials, and Unified accreditations.

Define role-based skilling requirements and learning paths aligned to evolving technologies, solution priorities, and delivery expectations.

Establish and execute scalable skilling programs that build technical depth and customer delivery readiness across the CSA community.

Partner with technical and business stakeholders to identify emerging skill requirements and translate them into actionable readiness plans.

Measure CSA technical readiness, identify capability gaps, and drive targeted interventions to improve proficiency and accreditation.

Establish governance, reporting, and operating rhythms to track skilling progress, certification attainment, accreditation, and readiness gaps.

Continuously evolve skilling programs based on technology changes, business priorities, field feedback, and measured readiness needs.

Drive program performance, evaluation, and business value: Define and measure success through KPIs, OKRs, ROI, and other metrics, conduct cost-benefit and risk analyses, monitor program health through dashboards and reviews, and continuously optimize or retire programs based on business impact and lessons learned.

Lead change management and stakeholder adoption: Develop and execute change strategies, secure stakeholder buy-in, create communication and onboarding plans, drive adoption of new initiatives, and coordinate training, reskilling, and partner readiness efforts.

Manage complex programs and cross-functional execution: Lead project portfolios, governance, timelines, resources, budgets, risks, and dependencies; maintain rhythm of business; and collaborate across teams to ensure program requirements, compliance, and operational goals are achieved.

Design and improve strategic business programs: Conduct research, forecasting, and business analysis to identify opportunities, define program strategy and success criteria, solve complex problems, improve existing operations, and deliver secure, compliant, and scalable solutions aligned with organizational priorities.

Develop and lead a global CAIP CSA community to accelerate practitioner success, with scalable mechanisms for knowledge sharing, reusable asset discovery, technical office hours, customer-story exchange, feedback collection, and open dialogue.

Maintain a close relationship with CAIP CSA Managers and CSA Champions to reinforce the role bar and activate priority practices.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years’ experience in business consulting, sales, sales operations, information technology (IT), account management, business development, marketing, IT field sales, or a related field.

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

Previous field experience as a filed Cloud Solution Architect or equivalent role.

Understanding of cloud, data, AI, application, and developer technologies, with the ability to translate evolving technical priorities into role-based skilling requirements.

Experience developing and executing technical skilling, readiness, certification, or accreditation programs at enterprise scale.

Demonstrated ability to build programs that drive measurable technical proficiency, not simply training participation or completion.

Experience working with technical field roles and understanding the skills required to support complex customer engagements and solution delivery.

Knowledge of technical certification, credentialing, assessment, and accreditation models.

Experience identifying capability gaps using readiness data, field feedback, and business priorities and translate those insights into targeted interventions.

Experience leading cross-functional programs across technical, engineering, field, learning, and business stakeholders.

Program management and operational discipline, including establishing goals, governance, measurement, reporting, and continuous improvement experience.

Ability to operate effectively in a global organization and scale programs across geographies, roles, and technical disciplines.

Communications and influencing experience, with the ability to align senior stakeholders around technical capability priorities without direct authority.

Experience in customer-facing cloud or technical delivery roles.

Experience with Microsoft Cloud technologies and technical role expectations.

Experience with professional certifications, technical assessments, and accreditation programs.

Experience building learning journeys that combine formal training with hands-on, applied, and experiential learning.

Experience using data and telemetry to measure technical readiness and prioritize capability investments.

Business Program Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $97,600 - $188,400 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 $125,000 - $206,400 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: Change Management, Business Analysis

Common previous titles: Technical Program Manager, Skilling & Enablement Lead, Business Program Manager, Sr Business Program Manager - Skilling, Project Manager, Director Project Management, Architect, Senior Solution Architect, Senior Data Scientist, Specialist