Accessibility Program Manager

Xbox is one of the world’s most valuable brands and enjoys millions of players and passionate fans. An important part of our plan is to grow our global player base and our multi-billion dollar a year Xbox console and accessories business. At Xbox, we believe Gamer Happiness is at the core to our mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.

The Xbox Gaming Operations (xGO) team mission is to lead a consistent and scalable means of Operational Excellence across Gaming. This includes the domain areas of Live Site, Reliability, Compliance, CoGS efficacy, and Supportability. Investments include engineering of platform infrastructure, partnering with product teams within Gaming, and One Microsoft efforts across the company. xGO is dedicated to helping Xbox be the most Global and Trusted gaming platform on the planet!

The Gaming Accessibility team within the Xbox Product Services (XPS) organization is looking for an Accessibility Program Manager with experience and passion for accessible gaming, hardware and working with our community of gamers with disabilities to enable play for more gamers across the globe.

The role of Accessibility Program Manager will be a balance of working with teams to convey compliance processes, while encouraging accessibility and innovation through inclusive design, customer voice and accessibility consultations. Desirable candidates should have natural aptitude for communicating and adapting messaging across disciplines, conveying technical accessibility information into consumable content, and broadening the understanding of accessibility to the industry. This person will welcome collaboration, champion the diverse needs of our customers to our partners and be able to translate industry and community feedback into consumer and developer facing engineering specs and support documentation.

Are you enthusiastic about accessibility in gaming and enabling more gamers to play? Do you have a passion to work for a company that is focused on strengthening community in a diverse, equitable and inclusive way? Do you want to make a measurable impact to Gaming products and services that exceed our customers’ needs? Come join Microsoft and the Gaming organization to help champion inclusive growth, leading by example in products, services, and our team.
Responsibilities

Apply deep game accessibility subject matter expertise across the gaming hardware, software, and games to ensure quality user experiences are being designed and engineered.
Oversee accessibility focused feature prototyping and tools development.
Work with legal to provide teams with guidance about standards, requirements, and legal risk.
Function as a gaming accessibility technical subject matter expert who monitors industry trends to stay aware of best practices.
Organize and facilitate accessibility focused training and education efforts across the gaming division and external community.
Work closely with designers, program managers, usability teams, and accessibility experts across Microsoft Studios, Gaming Hardware and App teams, to drive practical solutions to complex issues.
Raise awareness about accessibility across the division, creating and fostering internal communities, champions and guides that can help teams achieve their inclusive goals.
Partner with community engagement teams and advocacy organizations to grow the Xbox gaming and disability community, acting as Gaming & Disability subject

Qualifications

Customer obsession, and real passion for accessibility.
Expertise with Accessibly Hardware solutions, including those that are gaming specific.
Exceptional communication skills with the ability to adapt and message communication for different audiences including engineers, designers, marketing, leadership teams as well as non-technical partners.
Proven examples of large program impacts dealing with ambiguity and simplifying for people less experienced in the space.
Record of publishing and presenting accessibility related articles, strategies, and/or training materials.
The ability to develop quality measures and metrics that drive product decisions.
Provide accessibility consulting to Studio, Mobile and Platform gaming teams on compliance standards, inclusive design, and accessible game play.
Ability to build and manage partnerships with stakeholders and be effective in cross-group collaboration.
Strong drive for results, and a focus on optimization and process development.
Deep understanding of etiquette, culture, history, and communication channels to maintain trust with the Gamers & Disability communities.
6+ years of direct experience working with people with disabilities in one or more of the following enabling gaming: gaming & disability community, accessibility industry, diversity and inclusion, inclusive design.
2+ years’ experience in gaming industry.
2+ years’ experience in program management or product management.
Masters degree in one of the following or similar: Accessibility, Occupational Therapy, Inclusive Design


Preferred Qualifications

Technical knowledge of assistive technologies, frameworks, game enginesand hardware.
Excellent writing and communication skills, including the skill at simplifying complicated issues.
Track record of excellent teamwork and collaboration in a large organization across multiple teams.
A desire to grow and take on new challenges as they arise.
Certification in Accessibility, for example: Trusted Tester, CPACC, or PCWA.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.