Director Business Strategy, CAIP Planning Lead

Overview

The Commercial Solution Area (CSA) and Cloud and AI Platforms (CAIP) Solution Area are pivotal in driving innovation and delivering comprehensive solutions to our customers. Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more by providing cutting-edge cloud and AI technologies. We are committed to enhancing customer engagement, optimizing business processes, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

The CAIP Sales Strategy, Planning & Excellence team’s mission is to drive world-class operational rigor through strategic planning and actionable insights, enabling the Field, GTM, and GBB organizations to shape strategy, simplify execution, and accelerate business growth. Within that team, the Planning, Operations & Insights group owns the annual planning cycle, the CAIP operating rhythm, and the business insights that inform executive decision-making.

Annual planning is the cross-functional process for aligning GTM, Marketing, Operations, Finance, and E&O around a cohesive annual strategy for CAIP. The CAIP Planning Lead owns all-up planning orchestration for the solution area, ensuring business priorities, product positioning, MPF, execution of motions, investment decisions, blueprint and RolEx, compensation, territory design, and operational readiness are connected into one integrated approach before the new fiscal year begins.

Leading through influence, the CAIP Planning Lead sets the strategic direction and governance for integrated planning across the solution area. This leader aligns cross-functional priorities, connects interdependent choices, and creates the conditions for timely, high-quality decisions across GTM, Marketing, Finance, Operations, and E&O.

Workstream owners remain accountable for their recommendations and outcomes, while the Planning Lead challenges assumptions, resolves competing priorities, and elevates material trade-offs to executive sponsors to ensure the final plan reflects a coherent strategy and positions CAIP for growth.

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 end-to-end annual planning cycle for CAIP: translate company and commercial planning guidance into the CAIP planning approach, and define workstreams and ownership across strategy, revenue and investments, resource design, blueprint and sales model, territories, compensation, GTM motions, partner strategy, Marketing, tooling, and landing.
• Build and maintain the master workback, converting central planning milestones, CAIP milestones, executive review dates, Finance deadlines, and operational cutoffs into a single source of truth for cadence, deliverable timing, and stakeholder engagement.
• Create and run planning pods and working groups that bring BA owners, GTM leads, Marketing, Finance, and Operations together, each with clear ownership, deliverables, timelines, and escalation paths.
• Coordinate stakeholder input and reviews through recurring forums planning lead reviews, GTM working sessions, Marketing alignment, Finance and territory reviews, and executive readouts to collect input, pressure-test assumptions, surface trade-offs, and land decisions.
• Prepare executive review materials, coordinating the story, templates, inputs, and review process so strategy, headcount, compensation, blueprint, territory, and execution implications are presented cohesively.
• Finalize and land the plan: archive final materials in the central planning site, document open issues, and give downstream teams clear guidance on what changed, what is final, and what still needs follow-up.
• Maintain the governance backbone, the decision and escalation log, the risk register, the workstream owner roster, and the central repository structure ensuring planning decisions are traceable and prior-year materials are reusable.
• Apply AI and automation to the planning cycle using agentic workflows and Copilot tooling to reduce manual coordination, keep trackers current, and scale the operating rhythm.

Required/minimum qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Administration or related field AND 4+ years marketing, strategy, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Liberal Arts, Computer Science, or related field AND 6+ years marketing, strategy, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience
• OR equivalent experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Administration or related field AND 6+ years marketing, strategy, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Liberal Arts, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years marketing, strategy, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience
• OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ years experience in Strategy, Management Consulting, and/or Finance.
• 6+ years of experience in business consulting, sales, sales operations, information technology (IT), account management, business development, marketing, IT field sales, or a related field — OR equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated ownership of an end-to-end annual or fiscal planning cycle in a large, matrixed organization at senior individual-contributor level, including the workback plan, governance model, and executive review moments.
• Expertise in financial planning, business analytics, and data-driven insights to inform strategic decisions.
• Experience working within an Azure or cloud technology environment.
• Track record of influencing without authority across Finance, GTM, Marketing, and the field, and of simplifying complexity into action under ambiguity and time pressure.

Pay and benefits

Business Strategy IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $251,900 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 $165,600 - $272,300 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.