Project Manager (contract)

Microsoft is seeking a Partner Operations Program Manager to support a global, education-focused partner ecosystem. The role manages day-to-day partnership operations, coordinates cross-functional activities, supports external partners, and drives operational excellence across onboarding, enablement, reporting, financial processes, and ongoing business management.

Responsibilities:

• Manage operational relationships with external partners, ensuring activities, deliverables, and commitments remain on track
• Coordinate partner onboarding activities, enablement programs, business reviews, operational planning, and ongoing partner engagement efforts
• Serve as a central point of coordination between external partners and internal stakeholders across business, finance, legal, marketing, product, and operations teams
• Prepare, coordinate, and support quarterly business reviews, partner meetings, status updates, and follow-up activities
• Track partnership deliverables, milestones, approvals, risks, dependencies, blockers, and action items to ensure successful execution
• Manage operational and business reporting activities, including monthly reporting, partner performance tracking, and status communications
• Coordinate financial and commercial operations processes such as invoicing, royalty payments, order information management, discount requests, and related business workflows
• Monitor partnership activities and proactively identify emerging issues, escalation needs, and opportunities for improvement
• Maintain accurate documentation of decisions, actions, risks, operational procedures, and partner-related processes
• Create and maintain scalable operational tools, templates, documentation, and resources that support partner onboarding and lifecycle management
• Identify recurring operational challenges and recommend process improvements that enhance efficiency, consistency, and scalability
• Develop reporting dashboards, status summaries, and operational insights that help stakeholders understand partnership performance and priorities
• Support special projects and strategic partnership initiatives as business needs require

Requirements:

• 2-4 years of experience in Program Management, Project Management, Business Operations, Partner Operations, Partner Management, or a related operational discipline
• Experience managing multiple concurrent workstreams, deliverables, stakeholders, dependencies, and timelines
• Experience supporting external partners through onboarding, ongoing operations, business reviews, reporting, and cross-functional coordination
• Experience managing operational and financial processes, including invoicing, payments, royalties, order tracking, reporting, reconciliation, or related commercial operations
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage complex activities simultaneously
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with experience collaborating across internal and external stakeholder groups
• Strong attention to detail and proven ability to maintain visibility into project status, risks, actions, and deliverables
• Experience creating business processes, operational documentation, templates, workflows, and scalable tools
• Ability to proactively identify operational inefficiencies and develop practical solutions for continuous improvement
• Strong problem-solving, analytical thinking, and decision-making abilities
• Experience preparing reports, presentations, executive updates, and operational communications
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint
• Experience supporting education, technology, software, gaming, channel, reseller, licensing, or strategic partnership programs is preferred
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations, Communications, Marketing, Education, or a related field preferred