Product Manager: Microsoft Leap

Overview

At Microsoft, we know there are many pathways into the technology industry and into our organization. We’re constantly looking for new ways to create unconventional entry points for talent and leverage the skills and experiences of talent from outside the traditional academic paths. Founded in 2015, Microsoft Leap’s mission is to recruit, develop, and skill diverse talent for employability into the technology industry worldwide. The program offers an immersive 16-week experience for those who have a base foundation of technical training. Microsoft Leap combines in-classroom learning with hands-on engineering projects, working on real teams and real products within our organization. 

As a Product Manager in Microsoft Leap, you will define product vision and strategy by leveraging a deep understanding of the customer experience and competitive market, while identifying short-and long-term investment opportunities, evaluating tradeoffs, and driving the product roadmap. You will build consensus on product strategy, define features, vision and goals for a specific product(s) or set of features. This opportunity will allow you to develop and execute strategies to enable in-product organic growth and focus on central, cross-functional leadership of a product. 

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. 

This Microsoft Leap Cohort will begin on January 21st, 2025, and finish on May 9th, 2025. Throughout the Microsoft Leap cohort, participants will commit to working 40 hours per week. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Completion of relevant training in one of these areas:
• Graduated from a coding academy or boot camp and have previous work experience in any field 
• OR Self-taught demonstrating recent development projects or professional experience 
• OR Degree from a community college in computer science, business, management, or related field 
• OR Degree from a college/university in computer science, business, or related field with a previous career in tech, plus a 2+ year career break 
• OR equivalent experience 

Other Requirements: 

• Currently authorized to work in the United States for the entire duration of the Leap cohort. Immigration sponsorship will not be provided by Microsoft. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Understanding of business process planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. 
• Previous product or program management training. 

The base pay range for this internship is USD $5,460 - $10,680 per month. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $7,040 - $11,640 per month.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-intern-pay

Microsoft will accept applications for this role until August 29, 2024.

Responsibilities

• Identify customers’ unmet or unknown needs and market opportunities for enhancements or development of a feature (e.g., product, service) via quantitative and qualitative analyses and scope the impact of a problem. 
• Drive and track key results, success criteria and performance metrics. Partner with Software Engineering and Hardware Engineering to identify needed data and ensure telemetry is developed. 
• Determine features or experiences to prioritize in the roadmap that will support achievement of success criteria and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). Gather input on priorities and resources needed to deliver desired outcomes for a single feature (e.g., product, service). 
• Iterate multiple designs with Design, Software Engineering, and Hardware Engineering. Assist in facilitating reviews (e.g., UX, system designs, data designs) with customers (e.g., regulators, engineers, policy makers, business-decision makers) to determine usability and ensure accessibility criteria and updated designs meet customer goals. 
• Collaborate with Product Marketing, Business Planning, and Engineering to identify product release criteria, customer acquisition, and usage. 
• Monitor and report on progress and derive insights that lead to productive courses of action to improve product/feature development, iteration, and implementation. 
• Build trust with customers. Leverage a line of communication with customers to capture feedback and insights through the product development lifecycle.