Regional Data Center Program Manager

Overview As a Regional Data Center Program Manager , you will drive the successful mobilisation, onboarding and operational readiness of new data centre capacity across the APAC region. You will work across local Data Center Operations teams, engineering, deployment, construction, networking, vendors and regional/global stakeholders to deliver complex programmes safely, predictably and at scale. Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) is the engine that powers our cloud services. As a CO+I Regional Datacenter Program Manager, you will perform a key role in delivering the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's online services including Bing, Office 365, Xbox, OneDrive, and the Microsoft Azure platform. As a group, CO+I is focused on the personal and professional development for all employees and offers trainings and growth opportunities including Career Rotation Programs, Diversity & Inclusion trainings and events, and professional certifications. Our infrastructure is comprised of a large global portfolio of more than 100 datacenters and 1 million servers. Our foundation is built upon and managed by a team of subject matter experts working to support services for more than 1 billion customers and 20 million businesses in over 90 countries worldwide. With environmental sustainability and optimization at the forefront of our datacenter design and operations, we continue to grow and evolve as we meet the ever-changing business demands that hold Microsoft as a world-class cloud provider. Do you want to empower billions across the world? Come and join us in CO+I and be at the forefront of the action! Responsibilities Key responsibilities: Lead end-to-end mobilisation and onboarding programmes for new data centres and major infrastructure deployments, establishing clear plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, owners and readiness criteria. Drive programme execution from early mobilisation through operational readiness and transition, ensuring critical dependencies and deliverables are identified, tracked and closed. Establish programme governance and maintain visibility of schedule, risks, issues, dependencies and milestone health, proactively escalating where intervention or decisions are required. Coordinate across multiple technical and operational workstreams, including Data Center Operations, engineering, networking, physical infrastructure, construction/build teams, logistics and third-party partners.Lead through influence in a matrixed regional environment, establishing accountability and driving alignment across stakeholders without relying on direct organisational authority.Identify delivery risks, gaps and emerging constraints early, develop mitigation and recovery plans, and drive cross-functional teams toward resolution. Partner with site management and external vendors during new-site mobilisation, ensuring deployment and readiness activities are completed safely, consistently and to the required quality. Use programme data and structured tracking to drive execution, identify overdue or at-risk activities and provide concise programme-health reporting to stakeholders and leadership. Develop and scale lessons learned, standards, best practices and reusable processes across APAC metros to improve the consistency, quality and speed of future mobilisation activities. Enable and transfer knowledge to local teams, supporting sustainable operational ownership following mobilisation and transition. Collaborate with other regions and global teams to align mobilisation practices, tooling and programme standards while adapting execution to regional requirements.Champion safety, security, compliance and quality throughout programme planning and execution. Model Microsoft culture and values, bringing clarity in ambiguity, generating energy across diverse teams and delivering measurable outcomes. Qualifications 3+ years of project or programme management experience delivering complex, cross-functional infrastructure, data centre, cloud or critical-environment programmes. Demonstrated experience leading projects or programmes end-to-end, including planning, milestone management, dependency management, risk mitigation, stakeholder communication and delivery. Experience working in data centre operations, infrastructure deployment, critical infrastructure or a closely related technical environment. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and priorities in a fast-paced environment with changing requirements. Strong experience identifying programme risks, resolving blockers and driving recovery actions across multiple stakeholder organisations. Demonstrated ability to influence and drive accountability without direct authority across engineering, operations, vendors and programme stakeholders.Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex programme information into clear status, risks, decisions and actions for both technical and leadership audiences. Working knowledge of data centre technical infrastructure and deployment lifecycles, sufficient to engage effectively with engineering and operational SMEs.Ability to work effectively across geographically distributed and culturally diverse teams.Ability to travel up to 25%, based on programme and site requirements. Preferred Qualifications: Experience with hyperscale data centre mobilisation, new-site onboarding, expansion or transition-to-operations programmes. Experience delivering large-scale server, network, GPU/AI or other data centre infrastructure deployments. Experience coordinating construction/build, engineering, operations, supply chain/logistics and external vendors. Experience with programme governance, dashboards, data analytics or workflow-management tools used to manage distributed programmes. Demonstrated experience developing standards, lessons learned and continuous-improvement mechanisms across multiple sites or regions. Familiarity with IT service management / ITIL concepts.Project/programme management certification such as PMP or equivalent.Relevant technical certifications such as CCNA/CCNP are advantageous but not required. Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Information Technology, Computer Science or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience. 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.