Senior Director, Workforce Intelligence

Job ID: 200059157Posted: 2026-10-03Location: United States, Washington, RedmondSalary: USD $130,900 - $277,200 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: 0 days / week in-office – remoteRole type: People ManagerTravel: Less than 25%Profession: Business OperationsDiscipline: Business Program ManagementCompany: MicrosoftOverviewSenior Director, Workforce Intelligence Lead the development of workforce intelligence products that help leaders make more informed decisions about talent, capability, capacity and investment. This role combines product leadership, workforce analytics and strategic foresight to turn complex information into practical choices with measurable business value. You will take products from concept through adoption, connecting business needs with rigorous analysis and thoughtful user experience. Working across People, Finance, Engineering, Research and business teams, you will build trusted solutions that help the organization understand its workforce, anticipate changing needs and evaluate investment trade-offs. This is a product-building leadership role, not solely a reporting or analytics function. ResponsibilitiesWhat you will lead Product direction and delivery Own product direction, priorities and delivery plans, starting with the decisions leaders need to make. Translate ambiguous needs into clear requirements, testable hypotheses and useful products. Make disciplined choices about what to build, reuse, partner on or stop, balancing business value, feasibility, cost and risk. Lead discovery, prototyping, testing and scaling in close partnership with users and technical teams. Establish evidence-based success measures, use feedback to improve the experience and drive adoption beyond initial delivery. Favor reusable capabilities over disconnected one-off solutions, while maintaining clear accountability for product quality and ongoing performance. Workforce insight and business impact Develop forward-looking insight into workforce supply, demand, skills and capability needs. Bring together internal workforce information and external labor-market trends to support planning, identify capability gaps and inform talent investment and internal mobility decisions. Use forecasting and scenario analysis to help leaders understand uncertainty, options and likely implications. Partner with Finance and business leaders to connect workforce choices to capacity, cost and business performance. Build clear measures of value and translate analysis into recommendations and trade-offs, not simply dashboards. Assess whether products improve decisions and deliver meaningful returns on workforce and capability investments. Trusted data and responsible use Set clear standards for workforce data quality, consistent definitions and skills information in partnership with data and technology teams. Strengthen ownership, governance and ongoing stewardship so products are reliable and maintainable. Embed privacy, security, fairness and appropriate access into product decisions, communicate analytical limitations and preserve human judgment in the use of sensitive employee information. Partnership and executive influence Align cross-functional partners around shared outcomes, clear ownership and delivery commitments. Resolve dependencies and competing priorities through sound judgment and influence, including where you do not have direct authority. Communicate complex findings and product choices simply and credibly to executives, making assumptions, trade-offs and recommendations explicit. Build the team capabilities and partnerships needed to sustain delivery. What you will bring A track record of building and scaling data or intelligence products, including taking an ambiguous problem from concept to a working solution. You can demonstrate how you set priorities, translate user needs into requirements and use evidence to guide product decisions and measure adoption and value. Substantial experience in workforce strategy, people analytics, talent intelligence or related transformation work, with an understanding of workforce planning and skills or capability insight. Strong analytical judgment and strategic financial acumen, including the ability to evaluate investment, capacity, capability and cost together. Technical fluency to work effectively with engineering and data specialists, challenge assumptions and understand data dependencies without relying on a particular platform. Practical experience with data governance, quality and privacy, and sound judgment about the responsible use of employee information. A systems perspective, strong executive communication and the ability to build productive relationships across disciplines. You bring clarity to complex problems, influence decisions without relying on formal authority and combine long-term thinking with disciplined delivery. Experience developing teams and partnerships that sustain product adoption and improvement is valuable. What success looks like Success means leaders use trusted workforce intelligence to make better-informed choices, products move from concept into sustained use, and their value is demonstrated through clear measures. Priorities and accountability are shared across partners; workforce and skills information is more consistent and reliable; and the organization can anticipate capability needs and assess investment options with greater confidence. Success Profile Successful Workforce Intelligence leaders typically demonstrate: Product Leadership: Translate ambiguous decision needs into useful products, testing with users and prioritizing adoption and value. Business Acumen: Balance workforce capacity, capability, cost and performance through disciplined financial trade-offs and measurable business value. Systems Thinking: Connect business, workforce, skills, data and product dependencies to anticipate capability needs and assess future options. Analytical Judgment: Use evidence, forecasts and scenarios for credible recommendations, making assumptions, uncertainty and limitations explicit. Data Stewardship: Ensure reliable data, clear ownership and consistent definitions while protecting privacy, security, fairness and human judgment. Executive Influence: Communicate findings and product choices clearly, aligning partners and resolving competing priorities without formal authority. Adaptable Execution: Navigate ambiguity, learn from evidence and feedback, and sustain disciplined delivery, team capability, improvement and adoption. QualificationsMinimum qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 8+ years experience in program management, process management, or process improvement OR equivalent experience. 6+ years management (e.g., people, project, process, vendor, change) experience. Preferred qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 15+ years experience in program management, process management, or process improvement OR Master's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance, or related field AND 12+ years experience in program management, process management, or process improvement OR equivalent experience. Experience building and scaling data or intelligence products from ambiguous needs to adoption, translating user requirements and using evidence to prioritize and measure value. Significant experience in workforce strategy, people analytics, talent intelligence or related transformation, covering workforce planning and skills or capability insight. Analytical, business and financial judgment to translate evidence into workforce recommendations and assess capacity, capability, cost and investment trade-offs. Platform-independent technical fluency to partner with engineering and data teams, challenge assumptions and assess data dependencies, feasibility and maintainability. Ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives, align priorities and influence senior leaders without formal authority through clear assumptions, trade-offs and recommendations. Depth in workforce forecasting, scenario analysis and foresight, combining workforce data and labor-market trends to anticipate supply, demand and capability gaps. Practical data quality, governance and privacy experience, with sound judgment on security, fairness, access and responsible use of employee information. Experience using skills and capability intelligence for talent investment and internal mobility, with consistent definitions and reliable cross-team information. Experience partnering with Finance, Strategy or Business Operations to assess workforce investments, quantify value and connect capacity and cost to performance. Experience developing teams and cross-disciplinary partnerships that sustain product quality, data stewardship, adoption and continuous improvement beyond launch. Business Program Management M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $277,200 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 - $303,600 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.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.