ANZ Sub-Regional Leader for Data Center Contracts at Microsoft

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

13 Apr, 26

Salary

0.0

Posted On

13 Jan, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Contract Management, Negotiation, Supplier Management, Project Management, Sourcing Strategies, Risk Mitigation, Compliance, Performance Standards, Team Leadership, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Change Management, Cost Reduction, Data Analysis, Construction Management, Supply Chain Management, Commercial Contracting, Stakeholder Engagement

Industry

Software Development

Description

Overview Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO&I) is the team behind the cloud. Within CO&I, the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) team is responsible for delivering core datacenter infrastructure for Microsoft’s cloud business. The MS portfolio consists of complex, multi-disciplinary, large scale, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects. We are looking for a passionate, high-energy individual to help build the cloud datacenters that power the world’s largest online services. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day. The ANZ Sub-Regional Leader for Data Center Contracts will oversee pre- and post-award contract activities for large, complex construction projects across Australia, New Zealand and other sub-regions in APAC adhering to Microsoft contracting policies and processes. This role involves developing and implementing multi-year sourcing strategies, leading supplier selection in collaboration with cross-functional project teams, driving contract negotiations, managing project changes and claims, and establishing supplier performance standards to achieve project excellence. The individual will provide strategic oversight for improving existing, or establishing new, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and/or defined milestones and deliverables, hold accountability and ownership of SLAs, and ensure compliance is cascaded down to the business. He/she will coordinate between teams and leadership to determine business requirements, provide guidance on contract execution and control processes for consistency across the sub-region, oversee pricing strategies, lead contract negotiations, and set standards for several complex construction service categories. In addition, this role has people management responsibilities including driving employee growth and development, executing projects, and managing performance. Responsibilities Negotiates and provides strategic oversight for improving existing, or establishing new, Commercial Contracts and/or defined milestones and deliverables, holds accountability and ownership of Contracts execution with an end-to-end company-wide perspective, and ensures compliance is cascaded down to the business. Strategizes on and communicates commercial terms cross-functionally and/or cross-regionally to internal and external stakeholders. Serves as subject matter expert on the SLA and coaches team members to do the same, manages any escalations related to policy non-compliance, and manages the execution of contingency plans internally and externally as needed. Leads partnerships with global stakeholders and suppliers to identify systematic business threats and determine which sustainable elements, alternative solutions, and/or policy changes would optimally mitigate risks at scale moving forward. Champions new policy direction and changes as needed to ensure systematic resolution and remediation of sourcing issues across Microsoft and its partners. Drives business impact by establishing functional standards and procurement 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. Contracts & Supplier Management Provides oversight and sets standards across organizations and company. Addresses unresolved or broadly impactful escalations related to pricing and category management issues, and proactively develops strategies to evaluate and drive change in processes broadly across the organization, as needed to ensure teams and/or partners adopt processes that improve the pricing and procurement of goods and services across Microsoft. Manages procurement requests and complex pricing and contracting issues across purchasing categories to ensure procedural compliance. Establishes and leads the development of multi-year sourcing strategies and protocols at scale for complex projects and/or purchasing opportunities, that are rooted in industry best practices and optimized for value, while ensuring continuity of supply and/or services. Sets the vision and priorities for the function aligned to the core business goals, drives cross-functional alignment, and connects key resources across Microsoft, while ensuring risk mitigation plans are in place and driving efficiencies in budgets, time, and resources across the organization. Ensures sourcing strategies account for relevant global perspectives by benchmarking data across markets, and sharing thought leadership with internal teams and executive leadership. 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 the integration of business specifications and sourcing strategies into service supplier and general contractors selection processes for the most complex, undefined, and strategic purchasing areas. Leverages a company-wide, global end-to-end perspective on procurement and supplier 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. Proves 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 buying processes. Leads cross-functional contract and price negotiation activities across 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. Oversees post-award contract management to ensure seamless execution and compliance with agreed contract terms and company policies. Leads change and claim management processes by addressing changes to scope, pricing, or timelines, resolving disputes, and managing contract correspondence and notices to ensure timely and accurate documentation of key decisions and obligations. Enforces contractual terms and drives accountability from suppliers to meet performance standards, delivery schedules, and quality expectations. Proactively monitors supplier performance against key performance indicators, implementing corrective actions and improvement plans where necessary. Collaborates closely with cross-functional project teams to align on contract objectives, address risks, and resolve challenges efficiently. Establishes frameworks for managing risks, ensuring continuity of supply, and leveraging data-driven insights to optimize contract outcomes. Delivers regular updates to stakeholders and regional leadership on supplier performance trends, correspondence management, change management outcomes, and strategic recommendations for enhancing post-contract efficiencies. Stakeholder Collaboration Drives the execution of strategies for business and industry engagements between sourcing teams and cross-functional corporate leadership to determine supply strategy at scale. Defines multi-year strategies for mature business, identifies opportunities to meet agility requirements, and enables business beyond standard purchase categories and historical spend areas. Develops solutions for highly complex and undefined business areas and purchasing categories and adapts delivery plans with cross-functional leaders. Leads industry and ecosystem engagements, proactively defines communication strategies with leadership teams, articulates business cases to support recommendations, and influences leaders to buy in on sourcing decisions and optimizations that can be deployed at scale. Directs supplier activity and progress across the most complex and strategic accounts and purchasing categories. Leverages corporate strategies to define overall objectives and strategies for supplier management practices to ensure alignment to Microsoft-wide business goals, and shares thought leadership that affects supplier engagement protocols and processes company-wide. Considers broad enterprise engagement opportunities and future supplier and partner innovations, to further optimize for value. Oversees and leads the pricing and negotiation strategies for the most complex and strategic purchasing categories, develops business groups for optimal cross-functional stakeholder support and business assurance, and broadly fosters internal and external partnerships to negotiate strategic decisions and produce deliverables. Drives consensus in the goals and success criteria with stakeholders both internal and external to Microsoft, shares thought leadership and socializes best practices related to negotiation and collaboration to enable teams to execute negotiations with consistent success. Behavioural Attributes Can create clarity, generate energy, and deliver success; always be planning for the future. Have high integrity – must be ethical and strong value-based individual focused on fairness and maintaining confidentiality. Bring high energy – a drive to achieve results in midst of ambiguity and a matrix organization. Be a high performer – be able to fit the Microsoft “culture” by effectively multi-tasking and managing priorities; have a “sense of urgency” regarding issue resolution. Team player & collaborative – Demonstrates an ability to foster collaborations across teams and stakeholders, leveraging diverse perspectives to achieve common goals. Actively participates in and drives cross-functional initiatives, balancing individual contributions with group success. People Management & Development – Leads by example, empowering teams through trust and support. Fosters a culture of Diversity and Inclusivity by applying Model-Coach-Care approach. Focuses on talent development, providing feedback, and creating an environment where individuals feel supported, challenged, and valued, ensuring continuous career growth and team success. Qualifications Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, and/or Operations. Proven experience managing hyper-scale construction projects, demonstrating the ability to lead and deliver complex, large-scale projects from initiation through to completion. Extensive experience in supply chain management, commercial negotiations, and contracting, as well as external supplier/contractor management across multiple projects in diverse locations. Deep understanding of Commercial Contracting language and terms with proven negotiation skills with external suppliers / service providers. People management experience including successfully leading and developing high-performing teams 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. 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.

Responsibilities

The ANZ Sub-Regional Leader for Data Center Contracts will oversee contract activities for large construction projects, develop sourcing strategies, and manage supplier performance. This role also involves leading negotiations and ensuring compliance with Microsoft policies.