Senior Accessibility Program Manager

We are looking for a Program Manager to help drive accessibility across the products and services lines in the Cloud+Artificial Intelligence division, with a focus on usability and usability studies in the context of people with disabilities.



We are seeking candidates with real passion for accessibility, usability and inclusive design who can coordinate initiatives across disciplines and groups, communicate and engage with executives and connect with customers to gather data that support future product roadmaps.



Accessibility is a key part of Microsoft’s mission to empower people and organizations to achieve more. You will join a team leading a cross-company effort to build applications and solutions that provide a great experience for all our customers, including people with disabilities. As a customer advocate and accessibility champion you will influence product directions, technical roadmaps and engineering processes across the whole division. More importantly, you will be at the forefront of a company-wide mission to ensure accessibility and usability are built into our products and deeply rooted in our design and engineering culture.



To be successful in this role you will need organizational capabilities, understanding of product cycles and engineering processes and experience in design and design research. You will also need to be a detail-oriented, data-driven and effective communicator, negotiator, coordinator and influencer who is capable of building trustful relationships to effectively collaborate and propel multiple groups and tasks to completion.
Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:



· Connect with all the products and services team across the Cloud+AI division to support their efforts on accessibility.

· Plan and drive accessibility usability studies across the division, partnering with engineering teams and coordinating external specialized vendors.

· Raise awareness about accessibility across the division, creating and fostering internal communities, champions and guides that can help teams achieve their accessibility goals.

· Manage accessibility dashboards and scorecards by collecting data, metrics and status reports from engineering teams.

· Work closely with other accessibility, design and usability specialists within Microsoft.
Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
A minimum of 3 years of experience in Program/Product Management.
Experience in design research and/or usability studies is preferred
A demonstrated track record working across teams and successfully leading complex initiatives.
Capability to develop and execute against a long-term vision of success, while ensuring successful completion of short-term operational objectives.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience with Accessibility technologies, standards and guidelines.
Passion for technology, accessibility and overall quality of Microsoft’s products and services.
Empathy for customers and partners, and for resolving the difficulties they face while using our products.
Experience working and partnering directly with communities of consumers with disabilities and driving change into products and services.

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.



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.