Microsoft

Senior Business Planner

Microsoft$106K — $203K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in relevant field and 4+ years experience in product management, strategy consulting, or finance
  • OR equivalent experience
  • 8+ years experience preferred or an MBA with 6+ years in relevant fields
  • Proven ability to structure ambiguous business challenges and drive strategic execution
  • Strong analytical and financial synthesis skills
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence senior leaders
  • Familiar with designing pricing and monetization models for cloud or infrastructure businesses

Responsibilities

  • Define long-term monetization strategies for hyperscaler capacity
  • Develop pricing and value constructs balancing customer needs and financial goals
  • Build business cases and financial models for quantifying strategic opportunities
  • Translate complex contract terms into executable pricing structures
  • Support strategic customer engagements and executive reviews
  • Define product requirements from business strategies
  • Track business performance and convert insights into repeatable strategies

Benefits

  • Opportunity to influence Azure's commercial agreements and platform capabilities
  • Exposure to senior leaders and cross-company partners
  • Ownership of defined workstreams from strategy to execution
  • Path for strategic scope expansion in high-growth areas
  • Focus on collaboration, transparency, and inclusion within the team
Full Job Description
Overview

We are looking for a Senior Business Planner to help define how Azure monetizes and transacts hyperscaler capacity. This is a distinct, at-scale business where customers buy clusters, cores, storage, and networking through complex, long-term commercial agreements-not simply individual virtual machines. You will shape business models, pricing constructs, and platform requirements for strategic hyperscaler engagements. Working alongside the strategic product lead, you will own defined workstreams from strategy through execution, partnering across Infrastructure Engineering, Commerce, Finance, and customer-facing teams to turn bespoke commercial requirements into scalable Azure capabilities. This role is well suited for someone who combines strategic thinking, commercial judgment, analytical depth, and a bias for execution. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, structuring complex problems, and influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority.

This is an opportunity to help define a new, high-growth product area at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, capacity economics, commerce, and strategic partnerships. The work will directly influence how Azure structures major commercial agreements, monetizes constrained capacity, and builds the platform capabilities required to serve its largest customers at scale. You will have meaningful ownership from day one, broad exposure to senior leaders and cross-company partners, and a clear path to expand your strategic scope as the hyperscaler business matures.

We are looking for someone who brings a growth mindset, customer obsession, sound judgment, and a commitment to inclusion and collaboration. You will be expected to model Microsoft's values while operating with transparency, accountability, and respect across a highly visible, cross-functional environment.

Responsibilities
Business Model and Monetization Strategy
  • Help define the long-term monetization strategy for hyperscaler capacity across dedicated and non-dedicated infrastructure.
  • Develop and evaluate pricing, packaging, commitment, and value-tiering constructs that balance customer needs, capacity economics, and Microsoft's financial objectives.
  • Build business cases, financial models, and scenario analyses to quantify opportunities, tradeoffs, and expected impact.
  • Use market, competitive, and customer insights to identify new monetization opportunities and improve the transacting experience.
Commercial Design and Deal Support
  • Partner with the core deal team to evaluate complex commercial agreements and translate contract terms into executable pricing and billing constructs.
  • Support strategic customer engagements, including working sessions with hyperscaler customers and internal executive reviews.
  • Develop clear recommendations and decision frameworks on business model, pricing, capacity, billing, and implementation tradeoffs.
Productization and Platform Requirements
  • Translate business strategy and contract requirements into clear platform, commerce, billing, telemetry, and customer-experience requirements.
  • Partner with Infrastructure Engineering and Commerce teams to prioritize capabilities and drive them from concept through launch.
  • Help build reusable, capacity-native capabilities-including contract-aware pricing, capacity catalogs, entitlement views, signal-driven billing, and unified telemetry-rather than one-off solutions.
Insights, Performance, and Scaling
  • Define success measures and track business performance, adoption, revenue, yield, and customer outcomes with Finance, Data Science, and partner teams.
  • Synthesize complex technical, financial, and customer inputs into concise insights and executive-ready recommendations.
  • Convert learnings from individual engagements into repeatable strategies, operating mechanisms, governance, and readiness across the broader hyperscaler portfolio.
Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Build trusted relationships across product, engineering, finance, commerce, legal, sales, and operations.
  • Drive alignment across stakeholders with different objectives, surface risks early, and keep complex workstreams moving.
  • Communicate strategy, decisions, and progress clearly to senior leaders and help lead the change required to adopt new commercial models.


Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications
  • Bachelor's Degree in Business Planning, Product Management, Strategy Consultant, Finance, Business, Corporate Development or related field AND 4+ years product management, strategy consulting, finance, business/corporate development, or related experience
    • OR equivalent experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications
  • Bachelor's Degree in Business Planning, Product Management, Strategy Consultant, Finance, Business, Corporate Development or related field AND 8+ years product management, strategy consulting, finance, business/corporate development, or related experience
    • OR Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA), or related field AND 6+ years product management, strategy consulting, finance, business/corporate development, or related experience
    • OR equivalent experience.
  • Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous business problems, develop recommendations, and drive cross-functional execution.
  • Analytical and financial skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights and decisions.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience influencing senior leaders and technical partners.
  • Ability to manage multiple complex workstreams in a fast-moving, highly matrixed environment.
  • Experience designing pricing, packaging, commitment, or monetization models for technology, cloud, infrastructure, or other capacity-constrained businesses.
  • Experience translating business strategy into product, platform, commerce, billing, or operational requirements.
  • Experience developing business cases, financial models, and scenario analyses for large-scale strategic investments or commercial agreements.
  • Working knowledge of cloud infrastructure economics, usage-based business models, and enterprise commercial constructs.


Business Planning IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $106,400 - $203,600 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 $137,600 - $222,600 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.

Microsoft Careers

Join Microsoft today and be part of a company that values innovation, leadership, and diversity in its workforce. As a global leader in technology and digital transformation, Microsoft offers unparalleled job opportunities that propel your career to new heights.

Explore Career Opportunities at Microsoft

Whether you're a seasoned professional looking for your next challenge or a recent graduate eager to start your career, Microsoft has a position that suits your skills and ambitions. We are committed to fostering a culture of growth and learning, where every team member is supported in expanding their horizons.

Internship Programs

Kickstart your career with a Microsoft internship. Our internships provide invaluable workplace experience and networking opportunities in a supportive and dynamic environment. You'll work on real projects, learn from industry leaders, and gain the skills necessary for a successful career in technology.

Employment Benefits

Choosing a career at Microsoft means more than just a job. Our employees enjoy a range of benefits designed to empower them both professionally and personally. These include comprehensive health benefits, flexible working conditions, and opportunities for career advancement through professional development and diversity training.

Inclusive Culture and Diversity

At Microsoft, we believe that innovation comes from diversity of thought and inclusion. We are committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued and inspired. Our leadership is dedicated to fostering an environment where diverse perspectives lead to breakthrough innovations and a competitive edge.

Grow with Us

Career growth at Microsoft is about more than climbing the corporate ladder; it's about continuous learning, expanding your skills, and improving your capabilities. With access to various leadership and training programs, you can evolve as a professional and make a significant impact within the company and on the global stage.

Hiring Process

Our hiring process is designed to identify true potential. Starting with a review of your resume, followed by interviews that assess your problem-solving abilities and cultural fit, we ensure that all candidates have a fair chance to demonstrate their strengths and potential to contribute to our team.

Networking and Professional Development

Microsoft is a place where you can build a professional network that spans the globe. Our employees benefit from connections with top-tier professionals and industry leaders, which opens doors to innovative projects and collaborative opportunities that are second to none.

Join Our Team

If you're ready to take on exciting challenges and make a difference in the world of technology, explore the job opportunities at Microsoft. Search for open positions that match your skills and interests, and prepare to embark on a rewarding career path filled with innovation and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Stay Connected

Keep up to date with the latest at Microsoft Careers by subscribing to our job alert emails. Get tailored content that aligns with your career preferences and discover the exciting and rewarding opportunities that await at Microsoft.

SEARCH MICROSOFT JOBS

At Microsoft, your future is limitless. Join us in our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Your journey with Microsoft starts here.
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
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Microsoft

More Enterprise Technology Jobs

Find similar Senior Business Planner jobs: