Microsoft

Senior Business Manager

Microsoft$97K — $188K *
Business Services
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in relevant field or equivalent experience.
  • 4+ years in financial management, business planning, operations management, or related roles.
  • Master's Degree and 6+ years or Bachelor's Degree with 8+ years preferred.
  • Experience with AI-enabled workflow improvement is valuable.
  • Ability to meet Microsoft security screening requirements.

Responsibilities

  • Coordinate resource allocation and workforce planning across DPG.
  • Manage funded headcount and changes in organization design.
  • Oversee operational budgets including OPEX, COGS, and discretionary expenses.
  • Handle employee mobility processes such as relocations and work exceptions.
  • Facilitate the Finance and HR rhythm of business with detailed reporting.
  • Support organizational health and workforce change management.
  • Drive transformation using AI within budget management workflows.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work within a global team across multiple countries.
  • Engagement in building automated systems that enhance operational efficiency.
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams including HR and finance.
  • Exposure to strategic decision-making processes and reporting.
  • Participation in community programs that foster connection across geographies.
Full Job Description
Overview

The Data Platform + Growth (DPG) organization is hiring a Business Manager to join its Executive Office. DPG spans multiple engineering and growth teams across the US, Ireland, and India, and this role is the operational engine behind how the organization allocates its people and its money. It manages the workforce plan and the headcount and backfill pipeline, executes org-design changes and cross-organization transfers, runs the relocation and flex-work exception process, and manages the OPEX, COGS, and discretionary budgets that fund the team. It partners daily with the Chief of Staff, DPG leadership, Finance, HR, Global Talent Acquisition, Procurement, Business Support, and Business Manager counterparts across CAP (DPG's parent organization).

Two things make this role distinct. First, much of the work is genuinely global: DPG's geographic footprint is evolving, and decisions about where roles sit, how sites are supported, and how spend guidance applies across countries carry real equity and fairness implications. Second, the role is expected to change how the work itself gets done, by building centralized tooling and automation that removes manual effort across the organization. This suits someone who is rigorous with data and systems, comfortable holding a line on spend and policy, discreet with sensitive employee matters, and genuinely interested in redesigning a process rather than simply running it faster.

Day to day, the role moves between workforce and budget analysis, system and data reconciliation, leadership reporting, partner problem-solving, reorganizations and site transitions, and improvement of the operating system itself. The consistent expectation is to turn complex and often incomplete information into clear choices, accountable actions, and sustained follow-through. If you've always wanted to sit at the intersection of business strategy and operations, this is the role for you.

Responsibilities

Resource Allocation and Workforce Planning
The role coordinates resource allocation and workforce planning for DPG and the aligned leadership teams. It is responsible for consolidating inputs, developing scenarios, maintaining source-of-truth data, and tracking decisions through implementation; it consults Finance, HR, and managers, and keeps leaders informed of risks and required decisions. The outcome is accurate workforce data, faster action, and resources aligned to approved priorities.

People Budget, Headcount, and Backfill Management
The role manages funded headcount and PCN reconciliation, hiring and backfill plans, transfers, and the execution of organization-design changes across DPG, CAP, and partner organizations. It is responsible for cost center, reports-to-manager, and system actions, and for keeping plans current as priorities shift; it consults Finance, HR, and Global Talent Acquisition to land changes cleanly. The outcome is headcount that reflects approved plans and transitions that complete on time.

Non-People and Discretionary Budget Management
The role manages OPEX, COGS, discretionary, T&E, and morale budgets, including targets, forecasts, controls, and regular reviews. It is responsible for tracking spend, identifying variance, developing options to create efficiencies, and supporting the development and rollout of cross-geo spend guidance; it consults Finance and Procurement and keeps leaders informed of risks and trade-offs. The outcome is disciplined spend, earlier course correction, and investment directed to the highest-value work.

Employee Mobility and Workplace Exceptions
The role manages relocation, remote-work, and flex-work exception processes end to end, including intake, review, system approvals, and escalation where required. It consults HR and Finance on relocation implications and keeps leaders and managers informed of status and precedent. The outcome is consistent, timely, and well-documented decisions that balance business needs and employee circumstances.

Rhythm of Business, Reporting, and Decision Support
The role facilitates the Finance and HR rhythm of business, including agendas, pre-reads, decision logs, action tracking, and follow-through. It is responsible for regular and ad hoc reporting on workforce, spend, and forecasts, and for translating trends, risks, and opportunities into decision-ready recommendations for the Chief of Staff and leadership team. The outcome is shared understanding, earlier action, and clear accountability for decisions.

Organizational Health and Change
The role supports the workforce-related dimensions of organizational health, including org hygiene + workforce and geographic mix. It coordinates workforce-change programs by preparing manager guidance and FAQs, running stakeholder reviews, building communications workbacks, and tracking implementation. The outcome is a healthy workforce plan, durable change, and continuity through transitions.

Business Support, Site, and Community Programs
The role supports Business Support transformation by analyzing coverage, support ratios, service models, and opportunities to centralize work, and supports global site, space, and geographic strategy through analysis, stakeholder coordination, and execution planning. It also coordinates worldwide Business Manager community programs that strengthen connection, consistency, and reuse across geographies. The outcome is a more fungible support model and stronger consistency across sites.

AI-First Operating Practices
The role helps transform the portfolio of recurring workforce and budget-management work using AI. It is responsible for identifying manual work, building centralized tooling and automated workflows with clear guardrails and exception paths, measuring improvements in speed, cost, quality, and effort, and sharing proven prompts, skills, and practices across the Business Management community.

What Will Help You Succeed
  • Solid analytical and financial judgment, with the ability to move from accurate execution to forecasting, scenario analysis, and clear recommendations.
  • Exceptional organization and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, deadlines, and stakeholders.
  • The ability to build trusted relationships across Finance, HR, Procurement, and Business Support, and to present a clear point of view.
  • Sound judgment and discretion when handling sensitive employee, organizational, and compensation-adjacent information.
  • Experience building or improving AI-enabled workflows that enhance human expertise and produce measurable business value.


Qualifications
Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 4+ years experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or business-related roles
    • 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:

  • Master's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 6+ years experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or business-related roles
    • OR Bachelor's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 8+ years experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or business-related roles
    • OR equivalent experience.


Business 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.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services. Microsoft’s devices and consumer (D&C) licensing segment licenses the Windows operating system and related software, Microsoft Office for consumers, and the Windows Phone operating system. The company’s computing and gaming hardware segment provides Xbox gaming and entertainment consoles and accessories, second-party and third-party video games, and Xbox Live subscriptions; surface devices and accessories; and Microsoft PC accessories. Its phone hardware segment offers Lumia smartphones and other non-Lumia phones. Its D&C segment provides Windows Store, Xbox Live transactions, and Windows phone store; search advertising; display advertising; Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal; first-party video games; and other consumer products and services as well as operating retail stores. Microsoft’s commercial licensing segments license server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Windows Embedded; Windows operating system; Microsoft Office for business, including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and related CALs; Microsoft Dynamics business solutions; and Skype. Its commercial segment offers enterprise services, including premier support services and Microsoft consulting services; commercial cloud comprising Office 365 Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure; and other commercial products and online services. The company markets and distributes its products through original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and resellers, as well as online.

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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
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