Hunter & Researcher, Responsible AI & Customer Value

With more than 45,000 employees and partners worldwide, the Customer Experience and Success (CE&S) organization is on a mission to empower customers to accelerate business value through differentiated customer experiences that leverage Microsoft’s products and services, ignited by our people and culture. We drive cross-company alignment and execution, ensuring that we consistently exceed customers’ expectations in every interaction, whether in-product, digital, or human-centered. CE&S is responsible for all up services across the company, including consulting, customer success, and support across Microsoft’s portfolio of solutions and products. Join CE&S and help us accelerate AI transformation for our customers and the world.

The Global Customer Success (GCS) organization, an organization within CE&S, is leading the effort to enable customer success on the Microsoft Cloud by harnessing leading, AI-powered capabilities and human expertise to deliver innovation solutions that accelerate business value, drive operational excellence and nurture long term loyalty.

The Business Development Mgr acts as a ‘Hunter & Researcher’ and is positioned as a visionary and futurist within the Customer Value Practice, tasked with identifying transformative ideas and emerging trends—both internally and externally. This role is central to producing industry-leading white papers and business cases that accelerate the adoption of sustainable, competitive delivery models and inspire forward-looking change across the CE&S organization.

The Business Development Mgr contributes to shaping strategic disruption through AI-powered initiatives, data-driven insights, and bold transformation programs. While AI is not the sole focus, the role actively seeks opportunities to create value through AI wherever it can be responsibly and effectively applied.

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.

• Developing research papers and business cases for large-scale programs that demonstrate tangible financial impact from AI agents, solutions, and other areas. Scale research programs and maximize impact across the organization.
• Developing executive-ready storytelling and presenting to senior leadership communities.
• Embedding AI into customer and employee experience frameworks and transformation programs.
• Exploring ethical AI considerations, including bias mitigation and regulatory alignment, especially in global markets.
• Collaborating on AI and agent success programs to improve operational rigor and customer outcomes.
• Working across vertical practices and horizontal shared services, ensuring that insights inform the broader Business Transformation & Strategic Programs team strategy.
• Delivering a minimum of 8 high-quality research papers annually that shape strategic direction and inspire transformation.
• Iteratively enhancing research papers based on program learnings and evolving strategic needs.
• Staying up to date with the research literature and product advances in AI and industry trends.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, Sciences, or related field AND 10+ years relevant work experience (e.g., investment banking, consulting, finance, marketing, corporate strategy, sales, venture capital, legal, business development, product management, project management, software development, or related field)
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 6+ years in business strategy, research, or innovation roles, with a proven track record of thought leadership and impact across large-scale transformation programs.
• Proven experience authoring industry white papers and research publications as part of previous roles.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver formal presentations and executive briefings to senior leadership teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Analytical & Research Skills: Exceptional ability to identify emerging trends, synthesize complex data, and translate insights into actionable strategies. Demonstrated expertise in developing and executing pilots, programs, and transformation initiatives.
• Communication & Influence: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling narratives and influence senior executives and cross-functional teams.
• Collaboration & Leadership: Proven ability to work across verticals and horizontals, lead v-teams, and drive strategic alignment. Experience mentoring others and fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Impact Orientation: Demonstrated success in delivering measurable outcomes, including realized ROI, operational savings, and program adoption at scale.
• Technical Skills: Advanced proficiency in leveraging Copilot Researcher, analytics, and data-driven methodologies to inform strategic decisions. Experience with ethical AI, regulatory frameworks, and global market trends is highly desirable.
• Experience producing industry-leading research papers, business cases, and driving adoption of new delivery models in complex environments.
• Experience and knowledge of the Customer Success, ISD, and CSS organizations.

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.