Data Center Operations Country Director

Microsoft · Paris · €100,700–€167,200 (stated in the posting)

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As the Microsoft Data Center Operations Country Director in France, you will define and execute the operational strategy for Microsoft’s France Data Centers, ensuring the delivery of world-class services that enable the growth, resilience, and innovation of Microsoft's global cloud platform. You will lead a diverse organization responsible for the safe, secure, sustainable, and efficient operation of a critical digital infrastructure that powers millions of customers and businesses worldwide. 

In this highly visible leadership role, you will cultivate trusted partnerships across industry, regulatory bodies, partners and strategic stakeholders, positioning Microsoft as a leader in operational excellence and responsible cloud infrastructure management. Leveraging strong business acumen, financial stewardship, and a data-driven decision-making approach, you will optimize performance, drive operational scalability, and accelerate continuous improvement while maintaining uncompromising standards in safety, security, compliance, and environmental sustainability.

Success in this role requires the ability to lead through complexity, navigate ambiguity, inspire high-performing teams, and influence across organizational boundaries. Your strategic vision, technical expertise, operational leadership, and commitment to people development will be instrumental in shaping the future of Microsoft’s data center operations in France while advancing Microsoft’s broader mission and cloud ambitions.

Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) is the engine that powers our cloud services. As a member of the CO+I leadership community, you will play a pivotal role in delivering the critical infrastructure and foundational technologies that support Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Xbox, Bing, OneDrive, and the next generation of AI-powered services. You will contribute to a global organization committed to operational excellence, innovation, talent growth, diversity and inclusion, and a culture of continuous learning.

Our infrastructure is comprised of a large global portfolio of more than 200 Data Centers in 32 countries and millions of 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 data center 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.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. France Data Center Operations organization.

As the  Data Center Operations Country Director, you will provide strategic leadership for Microsoft's France Data Centers, ensuring operational excellence, business continuity, and sustainable growth in support of Microsoft's global cloud and AI ambitions. Key responsibilities include:

Strategic Leadership & Culture

• As a member of senior leadership team across EMEA West & Middle East DC Ops team , drive the strategic direction of the subregion working closely with GM, EMEA West & ME DCOps
• Champion and embed a culture of safety, security, compliance, and operational discipline across all data center operations, ensuring these principles remain the foundation of every decision and activity.
• Lead, inspire, and develop a geographically distributed organization of Microsoft employees and leaders, fostering an inclusive, high-performance culture that empowers teams to achieve exceptional results while accelerating individual growth and career development.
• Model and cultivate Microsoft's culture and values, driving organizational success through clarity, accountability, collaboration, and a growth mindset. Lead through transformation by aligning teams around a compelling vision and delivering meaningful outcomes. 

Operational Excellence & Service Delivery

• Own the operational performance of the France Data Centers, ensuring the reliable delivery of IT and Critical Environment services while meeting commitments for availability, quality, scalability, and customer capacity.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operational resilience, efficiency, and service excellence, ensuring readiness to support evolving business and customer demands.
• Establish operational strategies that anticipate future growth requirements and position the organization to scale effectively while maintaining world-class standards of execution. 

Infrastructure Growth & Capacity Management

• Provide executive oversight for the planning, deployment, and operational readiness of supporting infrastructure, logistics, workforce capabilities, and critical resources required to sustain and accelerate the expansion of Microsoft's cloud footprint in France.
• Partner closely with regional and global stakeholders to ensure infrastructure growth strategies align with business objectives, customer demand forecasts, and long-term operational priorities. 

Incident & Crisis Leadership

• Serve as a senior leader during major service-impacting incidents, providing decisive leadership, executive communication, and cross-functional coordination to drive rapid resolution and minimize customer impact.
• Lead post-incident reviews focused on organizational learning, operational maturity, systemic risk reduction, and the implementation of sustainable corrective actions that strengthen service reliability. 

Financial & Business Stewardship

• Maintain overall accountability for the financial performance of the France Data Centers through disciplined operational and capital expenditure management, strategic resource planning, and long-range forecasting.
• Optimize investments to maximize business value while ensuring operational excellence, scalability, and cost efficiency across the organization. 

Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem Management

• Build and maintain high-impact relationships with key partners, suppliers, service providers, landlords, governmental agencies, and industry stakeholders, ensuring alignment with Microsoft's operational, business, and sustainability objectives.
• Oversee vendor and partner performance through robust governance frameworks that drive accountability, innovation, quality, and long-term value creation.

Global Collaboration & Innovation

• Collaborate with regional and global leadership teams to shape operational strategy, share best practices, and influence key initiatives that advance Microsoft's data center operations worldwide.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, leveraging emerging technologies, automation, and data-driven insights to enhance operational performance and customer outcomes. 

Required Qualifications

Leadership & Operational Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Information Technology, Business Management, Operations Management, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrate significant experience with proven track record of leadership experience in mission-critical operations, including responsibility for large-scale data centers, critical infrastructure, industrial environments, cloud operations, telecommunications, manufacturing, or other highly available operational environments.
• Demonstrate significant experience with proven track record of progressive leadership experience managing and developing large, geographically distributed organizations, with demonstrated success leading managers and individual contributors across multiple operational disciplines.
• Proven track record of leading complex operational organizations through periods of growth, transformation, organizational change, and increasing business demands while maintaining high standards of performance, safety, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

Data Center & Critical Environment Expertise

• Deep operational experience managing mission-critical data center environments with accountability for uptime, operational excellence, risk management, and business continuity.
• Demonstrated expertise in Critical Environment (CE) infrastructure, including:High Voltage (HV) and Low Voltage (LV) electrical systems, UPS and battery systems, Standby generators and fuel systems, Electrical distribution systems, Cooling infrastructure, including chilled water systems, free cooling, adiabatic cooling, CRAH/CRAC technologies, and emerging liquid cooling solutions, Building Management Systems (BMS) and Electrical Power Monitoring Systems (EPMS), Fire protection and life-safety systems, Critical facility operations, maintenance, and capacity management. 
• Demonstrated expertise in Physical IT Infrastructure Operations, including: Server and network rack deployment, Hardware installation and lifecycle management, Capacity deployment and demand forecasting, Logistics and supply chain coordination, Inventory and asset management, Datacenter Build Deployment (DBD) activities, Infrastructure commissioning and operational readiness, Vendor and contractor management supporting deployment operations

Business & Financial Acumen

• Demonstrated experience managing multi-million-euro operational and capital budgets, including strategic planning, forecasting, resource allocation, cost optimization, and investment prioritization.
• Proven ability to balance operational excellence, customer commitments, workforce development, and financial performance while driving scalable business outcomes.

People Leadership & Organizational Development

• Demonstrated success building, coaching, and developing high-performing teams and leadership pipelines within complex operational environments.
• Strong experience leading diverse organizations, fostering inclusion, employee engagement, talent development, and succession planning.
• Evidence of effectively influencing across organizational boundaries and collaborating with executive leadership, technical teams, business stakeholders, and external partners.

Regulatory, Labor & Compliance Knowledge

• Strong understanding of French labor regulations, employment practices, health and safety requirements, and workforce management within a large enterprise environment.
• Experience partnering with Human Resources and employee representative bodies, including Works Councils (CSE) and labor organizations, while maintaining productive employee relations and regulatory compliance.

Communication & Executive Presence

• Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and executive influencing skills with the ability to communicate effectively across technical, operational, business, and executive audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in ambiguous and rapidly evolving environments, make informed decisions under pressure, and drive alignment across complex stakeholder groups.

Mobility & Language Requirements

• Fluent in French and English, with strong written and verbal communication skills in both languages.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly within France to support operational oversight, leadership engagement, business priorities, and on-site presence across Microsoft's France Data Center Fleet.
• Valid driving license is considered a strong advantage.

Evidence-Based Leadership Requirement

• Candidates should demonstrate a proven and verifiable track record of achievements aligned to the responsibilities of this role. This includes providing concrete examples of leadership impact, operational excellence, organizational transformation, safety performance, infrastructure management, talent development, financial stewardship, and business outcomes achieved throughout their career.

Background Check Requirements: 

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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading hyperscale cloud, colocation, telecommunications, or large-scale mission-critical infrastructure operations.
• Experience managing multiple data center sites as part of a country, regional, or global portfolio.Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure operations, digital transformation, AI infrastructure growth, and emerging data center technologies.
• Professional certifications in Data Center Operations, Critical Facilities, Electrical Engineering, Project Management, Safety, or Leadership Development.
• Proven experience contributing to regional or global operational strategies and leading cross-functional transformation initiatives in a multinational environment.

Data Center Operations Management M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across France is € 100,700.00 - € 167,200.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/france-corporate-pay.html

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.

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