Principal Partner Solution Architect

Job description

The Enterprise Partner team drives Microsoft’s commercial partner business, focused on building and selling Microsoft Commercial Cloud solutions with and through partners to empower people and organizations.

As an infrastructure-focused Principal Partner Solution Architect (PSA) for Software Development Companies (SDCs) within the Microsoft IPS CTO group, you play a pivotal role in enabling the technical transformation of the most strategic and influential Global SDC partners.

You act as the voice of the partner and internal communities, leveraging insights from feedback tools and systems to shape scalable, secure, and AI-enabled solutions.

You proactively identify and translate partner challenges into industry-aligned technical strategies—accelerating adoption of agentic architectures, AI innovation, and platform modernization.

You guide partners through migrations, build-with engagements, and solution design, ensuring alignment with Microsoft’s methodologies and proven practices.

Your work drives cross-solution opportunities for consumption and Unified expansion at scale, while maintaining operational excellence across all engagement stages and tools of record.

You anticipate and mitigate blockers using appropriate processes, and continuously prioritize efforts to maximize technical impact and partner success.

As a technical leader, you leverage market insights and demand signals to guide readiness, mentor peers, and assemble virtual teams.

You apply deep knowledge of Microsoft architectures and the competitive landscape to influence partner strategy and scale solutions across SDCs globally.

You will play a pivotal role in enabling SDCs to build differentiated, scalable, and transactable IP solutions aligned to Microsoft solution plays and industry priorities, especially in areas like AI, data, and multi-cloud modernization.

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**

**Business Impact**

+ Supports Global SDCpartners in their technical transformation journey by delivering solutions aligned with Microsoft methodologies—such as value-based deliverables (VBDs), technical validation, and training.
+ Focuses on enabling partners to build scalable, secure, resilient, and AI-enabled architectures that accelerate innovation and adoption.
+ Applies proven change management practices or partners with the change management team to support long-term technical adoption and usage.
+ Accelerates Global SDCXs’ AI transformation by building with agentic and AI-powered solutions that align with Microsoft’s platform strategy.

Identifies cross-solution opportunities for consumption and Unified expansion, especially Enhanced Solutions, by understanding partner business models and technical priorities.
+ Builds trust through strategic consultation, offering alternative approaches that enhance partner outcomes.
+ Tracks industry trends and partner insights to map solutions to technical needs.

Captures opportunities in systems and tools, working across teams to execute in line with Microsoft’s Customer Engagement Model.
+ Proactively manages blockers and risks to accelerate deployment, migration success, and value realization.
+ Applies broad business and technical knowledge to meet partner requirements and resolve constraints.
+ Drives feedback to the product group to address product blockers and close product gaps.
+ Operates with excellence across all engagement stages and tools, collaborating across teams to meet objectives and improve satisfaction.

Continuously prioritizes work to align with partner impact and technical goals.

**Customer Centricity**

+ Translates partner challenges into industry-aligned technical solutions that demonstrate ROI and competitive advantage.

Accelerates adoption of Microsoft-aligned cross-solution strategies.
+ Builds strong relationships with technical and business decision makers, including C-suite leaders, to bridge gaps in understanding and ensure alignment on security, compliance, and operational needs.
+ Acts as the voice of the partner, sharing insights and feedback with Engineering, Product, and internal communities.

Aggregates patterns across industries to develop actionable strategies and influence product decisions.
+ Leads initiatives to improve partner experience and transformation outcomes, addressing dissatisfaction and unmet needs with clear strategies.

**Partner Specialization**

+ Identifies strategic opportunities that align with technical transformation goals and supports partner teams in clarifying complex build-with scenarios.

Leads proof of concept and technical pre-sales efforts.
+ Understands market dynamics and leads initiatives to address them, assembling v-teams and influencing partners to scale offerings and adopt new technologies.
+ Maintains visibility in solution-specific communities to share insights and influence direction.

Collaborates with internal teams to provide field-based feedback on products and solutions.
+ Supports partners in building scalable agentic and AI-enabled offerings that accelerate SDCinnovation and adoption at global scale.

**Technical Leadership**

+ Uses market signals to guide upskilling and accreditation efforts.

Models technical readiness aligned to solution priorities and broader initiatives like security, resilience, and AI.
+ Demonstrates deep knowledge of Azure infrastructure offerings and complementary Security services shaping partner architecture and roadmap.
+ Mentors others through readiness activities and sharing best practices.
+ Leads and assembles v-teams to address partner challenges, contributing strategic and technical insights.
+ Champions AI fluency and agentic solution design across teams to ensure readiness for next-generation ISV scenarios.
+ **Embody our ** **culture (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/culture)** ** ** **and** ** ** **values (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about)** **.**

**Qualifications**

**Required/minimum qualifications**

+ Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 7+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting OR equivalent experience.

+ OR equivalent experience.

+ 6+ years working with software development companies.

**Other Requirements**

+ Microsoft is unable to sponsor a work visa for this role due to the nature of the role's job duties.

**Additional** **or preferred qualifications**

+ Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 12+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 8+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting.

+ OR equivalent experience.

+ 6+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external).
+ 6+ years experience leading technical projects.
+ Technical Certification in Cloud (e.g., Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, security certifications).
+ Demonstrated knowledge of Azure services and demonstrated ability to apply those services to solve customer and partner technical needs.

Cloud Solution Architecture 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.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:  https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Microsoft will accept applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.

#NBMBAA2025

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer.

Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .

Required Skill Profession

Other General