Contract Lead (Austin)

Job ID: 200044215Posted: 2026-07-20Location: United States, Texas, PecosSalary: USD $130,900 - $277,200 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: 0 days / week in-office – remoteRole type: People ManagerTravel: 25-50%Profession: Supply ChainDiscipline: Sourcing and Category ManagementCompany: MicrosoftOverviewStep into a role where your ideas spark innovation and your impact is felt every day. As a Contract Lead supporting Engineering, Procurement & Construction within Microsoft’s Cloud Operations and Innovation team, you have the opportunity to drive large-scale transformation in mission-critical environments. You’ll play an essential part in ensuring the operational excellence and rapid growth of Microsoft's datacenter construction portfolio, supporting supplier and trade partner engagement, and executing strategies that underpin the core of Microsoft’s success in artificial intelligence and cloud capacity. In this role, you will champion contract management, procurement, and commercial management for construction programs that power Microsoft’s data centers around the globe. Your work will directly contribute to major build programs, ensuring seamless execution and robust contract strategy while helping develop innovative sourcing solutions. You’ll join a collaborative environment committed to advancing Microsoft’s ability to deliver secure, reliable, and scalable infrastructure that empowers global innovation. At Microsoft, our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more guides how we partner with customers to deliver trusted, impactful solutions. With a growth‑mindset culture, we innovate responsibly and measure success by shared progress, people, teams, and customers. Join us to do meaningful work that changes the world and helps shape what’s next for everyone. ResponsibilitiesLeads cross-functional contract and price negotiation activities across strategic purchasing categories to ensure contracts reflect Microsoft’s cross-functional engagements with suppliers, and establishes relevant enterprise-level best practices and standards. Identifies systematic, long-term, and scalable cost reduction opportunities to drive supplier cost competitiveness across Microsoft and champions efforts to realize those opportunities across organizations. Provides guidance and clarification on contract execution processes for consistency, accuracy, and timeliness across Microsoft. Provides thought leadership and shares best practices on established methodologies to ensure they are aligned with and influence current and anticipated business outcomes, both internally and externally. Drives accountability for resolving escalated contract delivery issues and monitoring the impact of change orders on contracting, and delivers briefings to executive leadership detailing current and projected sourcing contract execution models, anticipated risks, impact models, and contingency plans. Leads enterprise-level claims resolution strategies in collaboration with Legal and executive stakeholders, ensuring systemic issues are addressed and lessons learned are integrated into future contracting practices. Guides supplier and contractor performance management, including safety deliverables, by overseeing internal and external stakeholders and providing timely guidance. Leads the integration of business requirements and sourcing strategies into supplier selection processes for the most complex, undefined, and strategic purchasing categories. Leverages a company-wide, global end-to-end perspective on sourcing operations to define a vision, strategies, and priorities for process management to drive consistency, impact, and improvements in supplier management efforts and outcomes (e.g., risk, cost, time, technology adoption) using data-driven approaches. Validates proposed changes and holds teams accountable for developing and implementing improvement plans, sharing delivery best practices, and identifying insights and root causes of issues across procurement and sourcing processes. Drives business impact by establishing functional standards and performance expectations that define relevant process and compliance success metrics, while also identifying opportunities for improving process efficiency and policy compliance. Applies end-to-end expertise and leverages market intelligence to develop and influence Microsoft-wide channel strategies that optimize for value and enable execution with consistency, accuracy, quality, and timeliness. Leads decision making across organizations to determine optimum strategies for suppliers and partners to increase efficiency and manage costs, and drives accountability and governance for adopting workstream improvements and automation at scale to meet and surpass business expectations. Oversees periodic Microsoft-driven supplier audits to ensure compliance with policy/contractual requirements. QualificationsRequired/Minimum Qualifications Master's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 5+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 7+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR equivalent experience. Other Requirements:Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.Preferred Qualifications Master's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 12+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 15+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR equivalent experience. 5+ years people management experience. #PecosSourcing and Category 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.