Senior Technical Program Manager, Cluster Operations & Quota Management

At Microsoft AI, compute is the foundation everything else is built on: every frontier training run, every eval, and every inference workload depends on our GPU fleet. GPUs are our scarcest and most valuable resource. Leadership sets how that fleet is allocated; this role owns the entire system that makes those allocation decisions real - moving, provisioning, and validating quota across a constrained pool as fast and as cleanly as possible.

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager with deep, hands-on experience in cluster operations and compute capacity management to own quota and cluster operations execution end to end at MAI. You will own the entire system that turns those allocation decisions into usable capacity - reliably, at speed, and at growing scale. This is a high-agency, service-oriented role for someone who is relentless on detail and follow-through, never lets anything drop, and likes turning a fragmented, high-stakes process into a clean, scalable machine.

As the TPM for Cluster Operations, you own the end-to-end system that gets quota and cluster changes implemented across MAI's GPU fleet - not just the execution of any single change, but the machinery that makes every change fast, clean, and repeatable. When an allocation is decided, you own getting it implemented: preparing and sequencing the changes ahead of time, running cluster moves and cycle cutovers cleanly, coordinating with infrastructure, platform, HPC, and vendor teams to provision capacity, and validating that quota is genuinely usable rather than merely configured. You chase every dependency down, surface and clear blockers, and keep quota flowing to where it matters most.

Owning the system means continuously rebuilding it. You champion the tooling squads and leadership use to see quota, utilization, and idle capacity - partnering with the engineering teams that build it so it reflects reality and so new clusters and tenants onboard smoothly as the fleet grows. And you work proactively: spotting cross-functional dependencies before they bite, streamlining the handoffs between teams, and convening the right working groups across research, infrastructure, platform, and vendor organizations to fix the operating model at its root, not just the symptom in front of you. Every cycle should be faster, cleaner, and more automated than the last, and you are the person accountable for making that true.

• Own the end-to-end operating system for quota and cluster execution: the process, playbooks, tooling agenda, and cross-company coordination that turn allocation decisions into usable capacity
• Execute approved quota and capacity allocations across MAI's squads end to end: prepare and sequence changes in advance, run cluster moves and cycle cutovers cleanly, and drive each one to completion across every partner team.
• Own the full chain to usable capacity, not just configured quota: coordinate provisioning and environment readiness with infrastructure, platform, HPC, and vendor teams, and validate identity, access, and utilization so researchers are productive from day one.
• Relentlessly chase dependencies, surface blockers early, and unblock them, keeping a crisp, auditable status on every change so nothing is dropped or misreported.

Qualifications / requirements

We know that strong candidates come from many different backgrounds and experiences. If you are excited about the role and believe you could make an impact, we encourage you to apply, even if you do not meet every qualification listed below.

• Significant experience in technical program management within infrastructure, platform engineering, or other compute-intensive environments.
• A record of proactively improving operating models: spotting process failures, convening the right people across organizations, and driving automation and streamlining without waiting to be asked.
• High agency and a service-oriented mindset, comfortable relentlessly chasing and pushing across teams, without formal authority, to get things done fast.

Technical Program Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 per year. 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 $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

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

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.