Senior Energy & Transmission Program Manager
Microsoft · Sydney
OverviewMicrosoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, spanning site selection, development, and operations. Our global footprint includes more than 400 datacenters in 34 countries, supported by over 165,000 miles of fiber optic cable. These facilities form the backbone of Microsoft Azure and are central to our commitment to reliable, secure, and sustainable digital infrastructure.
As part of the CO+I Energy Team in Asia Pacific , you will join a team of professionals responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and delivering strategic energy projects. The candidate will manage a portfolio of activities to identify and execute energy opportunities to advance Microsoft’s datacenter growth, in line with strategies to leverage sustainability, time to market and economic value in order to solidify Microsoft’s leadership in providing infrastructure for the globalDigital + AI economy.
In the Power Transmission area, you will partner Regional Energy PMs to manage technical transmission requirements across the region. Main responsibilities would be to indicate global coordination and knowledge sharing: serving as the point of contact for collaboration with the global team, ensuring lessons learned, best practices, and market intelligence are effectively shared across regions. Second, partnering with Regional PMs to provide transmission expertise support, ensuring consistency and driving strategic outcomes where appropriate.
In addition, you will be required to act as Energy Program Manager - where the responsibilities include managing Data Center (DC) power interconnection and energy supply contract development with utilities and third party energy suppliers in certain geographical markets. In particular the candidate will also manage and drive development internally and externally around certain sustainability programs (eg. Carbon-Free Energy goals).
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
Responsibilities:
- Partner with Regional PMs to pragmatically manage transmission requirements across APAC and develop trusted relationships with key external stakeholders, e.g. Transmission & Distribution operators, regulatory bodies, data center associations, energy technology OEMs, third-party engineering diligence firms, to influence the development of new grid codes.
- Represent Microsoft in external working groups on grid codes.
- Serve as the point of contact (POC) for the global team, ensuring lessons learned, best practices, and market intelligence are effectively shared across regions.
- Provide transmission expertise support to Regional PMs—advising on grid connection, grid code, and transmission requirements.
- Support internal impact assessment of grid connection and transmission requirements on data center design and delivery.
- As an Energy PM for assigned project Support datacenter power interconnection and energy supply with th utilities and third-party suppliers, in line with APAC capacity, cost, and sustainability objective
- Lead and Partner with globally distributed internal stakeholders on site selection and energy project development, (e.g. grid connection, distributed energy, carbon-free energy) – including development of internal business cases and portfolio management tools.
- Participate in due-diligence and contract negotiations with colocation providers to secure fair and cost-effective energy terms based on Microsoft energy lease principles.
- Collaborate with Energy related stakeholders to develop innovative partnership strategies to meet Microsoft’s ambitious infrastructure development, cost optimization and carbon reduction goals.
- Track energy market trends, policy, and regulations relevant to Microsoft’s APAC datacenter growth, and partner with internal and external stakeholders on energy project development and market research.
Business travel required (up to 25%, subject to fluctuation with business tempo).
Qualifications
Master's or Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering AND 10+ years’ experience in grid code development and/or grid code compliance along with Energy Program Management experience delivering energy or infrastructure projects, ideally in a data center or utility-facing environment, including coordinating cross-functional and external stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible language for diverse, non-technical audiences + growth mindset with problem-solving skill
Broad understanding of the power industry, with specific focus on the mechanics of power markets – including Generation, Transmission & Distribution, Wholesale & Retail Markets.
Analytical capabilities to support review of utility tariffs, power contracts negotiation, and power market fundamentals.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible language for diverse, non-technical audiences + growth mindset with problem-solving skill.
Demonstrated growth mind set with problem-solving skills.Possess an entrepreneurial, self-directed spirit and proven track record of project execution, with exceptional interpersonal and communications (verbal and written) skills.
Team player capable of adapting to ambiguous environments with cross-group collaboration and problem-solving abilities with Growth mindset.
While not required, we also look for the following Preferred Qualifications:
- Familiarity with power system modeling tools and grid code compliance processes will be highly regarded for this position
General understanding of data centers and cloud services.
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.
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.