Azure Fiber Portfolio Leader

Overview

The Azure Fiber team based in Romsey is globally recognised as the world leader in the development and manufacturing of HollowCore Fiber. The team continues to demonstrate new and innovative ways to disrupt the optical network while delivering world leading fiber performance. The ultimate purpose of the team is to reinvent the physical network so Azure can scale further, faster and more efficiently that ever before. We redefine the limits of fiber connectivity to power the next generation of Azure.

This role provides end-to-end technical and strategic leadership of the Azure Fiber technology portfolio, ensuring that fiber innovation is translated into scalable, deployable solutions that address Azure’s evolving network requirements. The role owns the integration of portfolio strategy, technology roadmaps, investment priorities, product requirements, engineering execution, industrialisation, supply readiness and deployment, creating a coherent path from emerging technology through to operation at Azure scale.

Working across Azure Fiber engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and network stakeholders, the role establishes portfolio priorities, resolves complex cross-functional trade-offs and drives decisions across multiple technologies, products and time horizons. The role uses deep engineering judgement and broad systems thinking to balance performance, cost, capacity, manufacturability, supply resilience, deployment readiness and long-term technology advantage.

As a technical leader, the role operates with significant autonomy and influence, shaping strategy beyond individual projects and creating the engineering frameworks, governance and decision mechanisms required to manage the Azure Fiber portfolio as an integrated system.
Ultimately, the role ensures Azure Fiber invests in and delivers the right fiber technologies, at the right maturity and scale, to remove physical network constraints and enable the future growth of Azure.

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. 

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end Azure Fiber portfolio, establishing the strategy, priorities and integrated roadmap from technology innovation through product development, industrialisation, supply readiness, deployment and lifecycle management.
• Translate Azure’s current and future network needs into fiber technology and product priorities, ensuring investment and engineering resources are focused on opportunities that deliver the greatest strategic value and sustainable advantage for Azure.
• Provide principal-level technical leadership and engineering judgement, resolving complex and ambiguous challenges and balancing performance, cost, manufacturability, capacity, supply resilience, risk and time to deployment.
• Drive portfolio execution and readiness at scale, identifying critical dependencies and ensuring technologies have a credible path from R&D through qualification, manufacturing and successful Azure deployment.
• Establish the engineering frameworks, governance and decision mechanisms required to manage Azure Fiber as an integrated technology portfolio, enabling consistent, evidence-based decisions and increasing the effectiveness of the wider engineering organisation.
• Influence across organisational boundaries, acting as a trusted technical partner to Azure Fiber leadership and aligning engineering, networking, manufacturing, supply chain and other stakeholders around key portfolio decisions and outcomes.
• Contribute actively as a member of the Romsey Leadership Team, acting as a visible senior engineering role model and helping build a positive, inclusive and high-performing site culture through mentoring, collaboration, knowledge sharing and development of the wider Romsey engineering community 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND technical engineering experience OR equivalent experience
• Experience owning or influencing the strategy, development, and lifecycle management of complex technology products, platforms, or engineering portfolios, including balancing customer, market, technical, and business priorities.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams in a production, operational, manufacturing, infrastructure, or technology environment, with accountability for delivering business and engineering outcomes.

Other 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 in optical networking, fibre systems, datacentre networking, telecommunications infrastructure, or closely related industries.
• Experience leading engineering organisations through technology innovation, product commercialisation, manufacturing scale-up, or large-scale infrastructure deployment.
• Demonstrated expertise in translating emerging technologies and research into commercially viable products, platforms, or services.

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Hardware Engineering IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across United Kingdom is £ 119,100.00 - £ 178,700.00 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/united-kingdom-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.