Community Research Manager

Redmond, Washington, United States

Date posted
Jun 06, 2023
Job number
1556951
Work site
Up to 50% work from home
Travel
0-25 %
Role type
Individual Contributor
Profession
Business Operations
Discipline
Business Program Management
Employment type
Full-Time

Overview
The Datacenter Community Affairs team is part of Microsoft’s datacenter organization – Cloud Operations + Innovation (CO+I) –
supporting the growth and operations of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure by bringing insights and understanding of potential new
communities and developing local community engagement strategies to effectively manage social impact, risks and opportunities . 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.
 
We are looking for an experienced communications, research, and community engagement professional to support the evolution of
the datacenter community engagement and communication strategy in the Americas region, which includes North, Central, and
South America. The individual in this role will be responsible for managing research initiatives that will inform site selection and
formation of community entry plans. Research activities include gathering qualitative and quantitative data about datacenter
communities and key stakeholders. Research data will be used to develop local community engagement plans, coordinate
implementation with local teams, and development of targeted content.

Responsibilities

 Use your balance of consultancy, communication, and project management skills to manage community research for
datacenter projects from kickoff through construction. 
 Conduct research, including qualitative, quantitative, and desktop research, on community factors related to the siting,
design, and development of datacenters in communities across the Americas region. 
 Work with cross section of Microsoft and CO+I stakeholders, including Construction, Permitting, Engineering and
Design, Land Acquisition, Land Development, Energy, and Government Affairs as well as with local Microsoft teams to
integrate community issues into datacenter project evaluation and decision-making processes. 
 Analyze research findings to identify and assess risks to datacenter projects and identify potential risk
mitigation strategies. 
 Tracks community risks by project through integrated risk register and assures risks are assigned and assigned
to appropriate owners. 
 Uses learnings, data, and research findings from previous projects to identify process improvements that can be
standardized and implemented across regions, working with cross-functional teams to communicate and implement
changes. 

Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
  Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 4+ years work experience in program
management, process management, process improvement
o OR equivalent experience.
 4+ years of experience in research related to and supporting public affairs, marketing, communication or social science

Other Requirements:

 Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements is 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: (Prepare to show examples)

 Experience turning data into actionable insights that drive decision-making and business impact
 Experience in community research and engagement planning
 Understanding of research principles and tactics along with modern communication strategies (Journalism, Effective
Comms MBA)
 Experience developing and presenting strategic recommendations from a broad range of information (e.g., survey data,
social intelligence, qualitative research, online telemetry, business metrics)
 Skilled at prioritization, creating order out of ambiguity, and marshalling resources toward achieving a common goal and a
drive for results
 Excellent communications skills (e.g., listening, written, oral, and data visualization)
 Exceptional cross-group collaboration, including the ability to build and nurture partnerships, collaborate and influence
across multiple stakeholders both inside and outside Microsoft.
 Experience with community research and engagement in a variety of communities (e.g., rural, suburban, urban) (Marketing
Birmingham)
 Experience coordinating and managing contractors
 Experience with infrastructure development
 Advanced abilities with Microsoft 365 apps and services including, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Sharepoint, Teams, and Power
BI

Business Program Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $91,800 - $178,800 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 $117,900 - $195,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information
here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Paul Englis (he/him)

A large data center is an industrial-scale operation using as much electricity as a small town

Hello Chudi.
 
We are starting interview loops next week for the Americas region Research Manager. You should have
invitations and confirmations for interviews with four Microsoft employees as part of the loop. All
interviews are being conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams. I want to give you an introduction to the
people with whom you will be interviewing and a preview of the topics.
 
Your interviews will be with the following people:
 
Interviewer Role
Bob Reitinger (4) Bob is the Americas region lead for our Community Affairs team. Bob
leads a team of community engagement managers that serve as our
primary interface to community stakeholders in locations where we
build and operate datacenters. Bob is based in Redmond.
Morgan Ireland (1) Morgan is a Land Development Manager in the Americas region; Land
Development Managers are a primary collaborator for the Community
Research team, and Morgan is based in the Puget Sound region of
Washington state.
Lexi Jones (3) Lexi is an Environmental Permitting Manager, focusing on projects in the
Eastern United States; our team also works closely with the Permitting
team. Lexi is based in Southern Virginia.
Nicole Ghazal (2) Nicole leads content development to support community engagement
globally. Nicole is also the managing editor for the Microsoft In Your
Community blog, and she is based in Redmond.
 
You will have one hour with each interviewer, and they have each been assigned culture focus areas and
role competencies to cover during their time with you. In your interviews, you will be asked to describe
situations in your professional experience when you have demonstrated the competencies and cultural
areas in your work.
 
The cultural focus areas reflect Microsoft’s core cultural values that we strive to embed in all our work,
learning, collaboration, and decision making. The topics covered in your interviews will include:
 
Culture Description
Growth Mindset Practices growth mindset by trying new things, learning from mistakes,
T-Mobile: Segmentation – learning from others, developing self-awareness. Applies growth mindset
general, Magenta People; to decisions and actions.
Purple People
Diverse and Inclusive Contributes to the environment of diversity and inclusion by practicing
T-Mobile customer mix awareness, exercising curiosity, demonstrating courage as a way to build
empathy and drive towards allyship.
One Microsoft Actively seeks collaboration with others and looks for common ground
mmm across differences, contributes to and builds on success of others, and
prioritizes for customer and team within their role.
Customer Obsession The ability to learn about customers' perspectives, show empathy to
Amazon VoS, Merchant their experiences, and incorporate these insights into their decisions and
Diaries; T-Mobile and deliverables.
MSFT PSAT
 
The competencies reflect core skills and experiences that will enable you to be successful in this role at
Microsoft. Topics to be covered in your interviews include:
 
Competency Description
Collaboration Drives alignment and teamwork within a team, department, or across
Amazon – SMART organizational boundaries. Combines resources and joins efforts to
PEAK Award for building achieve company-wide goals.
relationships
Drive for Results Pursues positive outcomes, using effective approaches to solve
Boeing: Jet Fuel problems. Delivers on commitments and seeks increasingly challenging
work. Takes responsibility and holds others accountable for actions,
decisions, and goals.
Influencing for Communicates and networks effectively. Successfully persuades and
Impact influences others.
Jet Fuel
Judgment Effectively scopes problems. Builds and applies a job-relevant knowledge
mmm base. Makes decisions with conviction.
 
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for making time for the interviews, and good luck!