Microsoft: Senior Product Manager Voice Experience, Redmond, WA
Senior Product Manager – Voice Experience
Redmond, WA
Microsoft Office Communications Server and Office Communicator will deliver the next generation of real-time communications to business users, including support for enterprise presence, instant messaging, web conferencing, and software-powered VoIP. Poised for significant growth, it will build off our strong Exchange and Office base to deliver Microsoft’s Unified Communications http://www.microsoft.com/uc vision of streamlining end-user communications and creating significant operational efficiency gains for IT. Microsoft’s entry into the enterprise voice has been a major talking point in the industry, and we are claiming some early wins (such as the recent CRN VOIP Product of the Year 2007 http://www.crn.com/hardware/204700548?pgno=4 award).
Our approach to enterprise voice is very different from both the traditional TDM PBXs and the more recent IP Telephony solutions. At the Unified Communications Launch event in October 2007, Bill Gates summarized http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0710/31150/UCG_Launch_MBR.asx our strategy as a 90 degree transformation of the enterprise telephony industry from a vertically structured, hardware based ecosystem to a horizontally structured, interoperating ecosystem where software and hardware play to their strengths. To drive the transformation to “software powered voice”, we need to educate customers and lead them on a journey with us from within the context of their existing solutions.
As the Senior Product Manager for our Voice Experience workload, you will be responsible for deeply understanding customer needs around enterprise voice within their overall unified communications demands, the buying behavior and organizational dynamics that lead to vendor/platform choice, the external influences that affect their decision and the positioning and strategy of competitors and their influence on the purchase decision. You will use this insight to guide product, partner, marketing, sales and PR/AR strategy and to develop a strong value proposition and positioning roadmap aligned to our strengths and the market context. You will be subject matter expert and “voice of the customer” to both internal and external audiences. The position requires an individual who has a deep understanding of and passion for enterprise voice technology and customer adoption patterns. You will need an innate strategic sense to chart a course in unknown waters and the personal presentation and writing skills to convince others of your vision. Key Microsoft competencies are Business Strategy and Leadership, Technology Advocacy, Positioning and Messaging and Setting Goals and Expectations.
Qualifications:
Candidate should have demonstrated, excellent technical advocacy, product/technology positioning, problem resolution, and decision-making skills. Must think strategically about business issues and technical strategy, as well as possess strong leadership, communication, presentation & negotiation skills. Must have adequate business knowledge to discuss impacts of technical and business decisions on product and feature tradeoffs with the engineering and business management teams. Initiative, excellent oral and written communication skills, and the ability to work as part of a team environment that demands excellence are essential. Should have deep working knowledge of marketing disciplines and their relative business impact -pricing, positioning, content strategy, channel, and licensing of software/service products. The position requires exceptional collaborative, teaming and consensus building abilities, as well as proficiency in cross-discipline, cross-divisional and cross-product group cooperation. The ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree (technical discipline or experience), 5-7 years in related product management, program management, and/or business strategy roles within high tech software. Previous experience in enterprise voice technology in a product management, sales or marketing capacity is required. MBA a plus.
Interested? Please apply online to: http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=D04194D9-A3F2-4A9B-AED5-D782A3E730D3&start=1&interval=10&SortCol=DatePosted.
An equal opportunity employer, m/f/d/v.
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