OverviewThe Spares Supply Chain (SSC) organization within CSCP designs, plans, sources, distributes, supports, recovers, and continuously improves the hardware ecosystem that enables Azure fleet availability. Our scope spans the product lifecycle from early engineering engagement and new product introduction (NPI) through deployment, service, repair, reuse, and end-of-life disposition. Our mission is to ensure the right replacement material is available when needed, failed material is recovered, repaired, or appropriately dispositioned, inventory is replenished, and operational and financial records are reconciled. We measure success through service continuity, supplier accountability, recovery performance, lifecycle cost, and the ability to scale reliably.
We are looking for a
Director, Spares Sourcing Strategy to join our team and set the long-term sourcing direction that builds sustainable advantages through the supply chain. Well-defined and executed sourcing and supply chain management ensures reliable on-time performance, optimized cost, prevents urgent and unplanned investments, and provides accurate and timely information across the supply base and internally across the infrastructure organization. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide.
As a Director, Spares Sourcing Strategy, you will own the multi-year sourcing vision and strategy for the spares hardware portfolio, translating Azure fleet growth, technology transitions, and lifecycle economics into sourcing strategies that secure continuity of supply, cost advantage, and supplier accountability. You will lead our most complex, ambiguous, and cross-organizational problems, bringing structured thinking and durable solutions that scale, and you will influence senior leaders across Sourcing, Planning, Engineering, Quality, and Finance. This position offers the opportunity to shape the future of the spares supply chain while making a meaningful impact on Azure fleet availability.
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Responsibilities- I. Sourcing strategy and vision
- Define and own the multi-year sourcing vision and category strategies for the spares hardware portfolio, aligned to Azure fleet growth, technology roadmaps, and lifecycle economics from NPI through EOL.
- Anticipate long-horizon supply, cost, and geopolitical risks (e.g. capacity constraints, tariffs, EOL transitions, single-source exposure) and build proactive, structural mitigation strategies rather than reactive fixes.
- Translate long-range demand, fleet aging, and reuse and recovery outlooks into supplier capacity plans, multi-source strategies, and multi-year commercial commitments that convert secured capacity into supply when and where the fleet requires it.
- Set the decision framework used across the sourcing team for make/buy, multi-source, last-time-buy, reuse, and warranty renewal trade-offs, so that day-to-day decisions ladder up to the long-term strategy.
II. Supplier relationship management and executive engagement
- Lead strategic contract and terms negotiations with key suppliers, ensuring alignment with Microsoft's cross-functional requirements and long-term business objectives.
- Own executive-level relationships with strategic suppliers; serve as the senior escalation point for supplier leadership and establish joint multi-year roadmaps and governance (MBR/QBR and executive reviews) that drive accountability and continuous performance improvement.
- Design the SLA, KPI framework for supplier performance, component pricing, lead time, and multi-source allocation across the spares portfolio to drive supply chain optimization and resiliency.
- Architect RFQ/RFP strategies for large-scale, multi-commodity, or multi-year engagements, lead the most complex negotiations, and coach sourcing engineers and managers on negotiation approach.
III. Total cost of ownership
- Develop and drive multi-year cost roadmaps for NPI, sustaining, EOL, and multi-source initiatives, using should-cost modeling, total cost of ownership analysis, and benchmarking to identify structural cost reduction while ensuring continuity of supply.
- Shape warranty, RMA, and repair and reuse strategies that lower total lifecycle cost while protecting service continuity; partner with Engineering, Quality, and Finance on quality remediation and business cases.
- Build executive-ready business justifications and lead leadership decision-making on significant investments and trade-offs, including tariffs, import/export compliance, and inventory consumption.
IV. Operating model and process transformation
- Identify systemic gaps across the end-to-end spares lifecycle (early engagement, plan, source and supply, warehouse and distribution, support, return and repair, recover and improve) and lead cross-functional initiatives that close them at scale.
- Design scalable sourcing processes, data, and decision frameworks (including AI-enabled tooling and analytics) that raise the effectiveness and speed of the broader sourcing team.
- Act as a thought leader for spares sourcing across CSCP; mentor sourcing engineers and managers and represent the organization in cross-functional and executive forums.
QualificationsRequired Qualifications:- Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 7+ years of technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience.
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:- Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years of technical engineering experience OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 12+ years technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Supply Chain Analytics, or related field and 10+ years supply chain operations, cost optimization with suppliers, sourcing and manufacturing, or related experience OR Master's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Supply Chain Analytics, or related field and 8+ years supply chain operations, cost optimization with suppliers, sourcing and manufacturing, or related experience.
- 7+ years of experience in Cloud or High-tech supply chain
- Demonstrated experience translating long-range demand, technology roadmaps, or commercial commitments into multi-year sourcing strategies and supplier capacity plans
- Experience building or transforming sourcing or supply chain operating models across multiple commodities, suppliers, or geographies
- Proven ability to solve complex, ambiguous problems with structured thinking, sound judgment, and durable, scalable solutions
- Excellent influencing and executive communication skills, with the ability to build relationships across multiple layers of the organization and with supplier leadership
- Deep analytical capabilities and ability to synthesize data to influence leadership decision making
- Strong understanding of data center hardware technologies, including product roadmaps and transitions
- Expertise with various business tools (e.g. Word, Excel, Power BI, PowerPoint)
- AI Hardware Proficiency
Hardware Engineering IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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.
