Head of Operations/Insider Risk

Overview

The Cloud & AI organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. Microsoft is one of the largest enterprise service companies in the world.

The Head of Operations/Insider Risk is a senior program leadership role responsible for the operational excellence of Microsoft’s insider risk investigations program. This role ensures investigative rigor, consistency, defensibility, and executive level transparency across highly sensitive matters, while continuously strengthening the program to protect Microsoft’s people, data, and intellectual property. Serving as the operational backbone of the insider risk program, the Head of Operations/Insider Risk translates risk signals into disciplined, well governed investigations that produce clear findings, actionable remediation, and sustained organizational learning.

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. 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.

Responsibilities

Investigations Program Ownership

• Own the end-to-end insider risk investigations program, including intake, prioritization, investigative execution, findings development, and formal case closure.
• Establish and enforce investigative standards that ensure rigor, evidentiary integrity, due process, and consistency across risk types and geographies.

Judgment, Findings & Executive Decision Support

• Translate complex investigative activity into balanced, executive-ready findings that provide context, risk implications, and recommended actions.
• Apply independent judgment on sensitive matters involving personnel risk, misuse of access, or compromise of assets, enabling accountable and informed leadership decisions.

Program Design, Oversight & Maturity

• Design and mature investigative processes that scale with organizational complexity while preserving rigor and fairness.
• Identify systemic risk patterns, control gaps, and threat trends, ensuring investigative insights drive sustained risk reduction rather than case-only resolution.

Leadership & Influence

• Serve as a trusted partner to Legal, HR, Security, Compliance, and senior business leaders; influence outcomes without formal authority by aligning stakeholders to shared investigative standards and objectives.
• Represent the Investigations Program in executive forums, governance bodies, and organizational reviews.

Other

• Embody our company Culture and Values.

Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product developmentOR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years people management experience.
• 6+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.

Other Qualifications

Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able 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:

• The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI Security Clearance.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination.
• Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.
• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government Clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree AND 15+ years experience engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product developmentOR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years people management experience.
• 10+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
• 1+ year(s) of experience reading and/or writing code (e.g., sample documentation, product demos).
• Senior experience leading complex investigations or investigative programs within government, intelligence, law enforcement, national security, or similarly regulated environments.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment under legal, regulatory, and public scrutiny.
• Experience briefing senior executives or government leaders on sensitive matters.
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, cross-functional environments spanning technical, legal, and human considerations.
• Background in federal investigations, intelligence oversight, Inspector General functions, or national security risk management.
• Experience operating within large technology organizations handling sensitive or classified information.
• Familiarity with insider threat, trust & safety, personnel security, or enterprise risk programs at scale.

Key skills/competency

• Insider Risk Management
• Investigations Program Leadership
• Security Clearance (TS/SCI)
• Cross-functional Project Management
• Executive Communication
• Risk Mitigation Strategies
• Compliance & Governance
• Data Protection
• Threat Intelligence
• Due Process Enforcement