Principal Program Manager, Strategic Innovation

About

The Microsoft Security Office of the CTO drives the long-term technical and strategic direction of Microsoft Security, identifying and incubating the capabilities required to protect organizations worldwide against rapidly evolving threats. The team operates at the intersection of deep technical credibility, cross-portfolio strategy, and executive influence—shaping initiatives that redefine how security is built, adopted, and scaled across Microsoft.

As a Principal Program Manager for Strategic Innovation, you will operate as a senior individual contributor within the Office of the CTO, responsible for identifying, shaping, and driving portfolio-level security incubations focused on Security for AI and GenAI-driven defense.

This role owns highly ambiguous and high-impact problem spaces, working closely with product and engineering organizations primarily based in the United States and Israel to translate emerging AI-driven risks into executable strategies, validated technical directions, and cross-organizational roadmaps that deliver CISO-grade outcomes. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end incubation for complex, cross-organizational initiatives—from early problem framing and threat validation through technical feasibility, roadmap definition, and alignment for landing across the Microsoft Security portfolio.
• Engage directly with Fortune 500 CISOs and senior security leaders to validate emerging threat models, operational pain points, and strategic priorities— ensuring incubations are grounded in real-world, CISO-grade requirements.
• Work day-to-day with product management, engineering, and research teams primarily located in the United States and Israel, serving as a connective layer that accelerates decision-making, alignment, and execution across time zones and cultures.
• Lead through influence across research, engineering, product, and senior leadership stakeholders; S. and Israel-based teams, facilitating deep technical discussions, incubation workshops, architecture reviews, and execution alignment that cannot be achieved remotely.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven experience of leading software engineering teams for 7+ years, including ownership of technical direction, delivery execution, and architecture decisions for complex systems (directly or through influence)
• Demonstrated ability to own and drive highly ambiguous problem spaces, translating them into executable program strategies, technical direction, and cross-team roadmaps.
• Proven experience engaging and working directly with Fortune 500 CISOs or equivalent senior security executives, translating strategic security needs into actionable technical and product direction.
• Deep working knowledge of the Microsoft Security product portfolio, with the ability to reason across capabilities, architectures, and customer-critical scenarios at a portfolio level.
• Strong security fundamentals, including threat modeling, secure architecture, and modern enterprise security challenges.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience contributing to or leading venture investment or technical diligence activities, including evaluation of startup technologies, product architectures, and technical risk.
• Experience operating at CTO- or VP-equivalent scope within highly technical, engineering-driven organizations, owning technology strategy and execution across multiple teams, organizations, or large technical initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience across both private-sector and public-sector / government environments, including work in regulated, adversarial, or high-stakes operational contexts.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer.