Director, External Evidence & Influence

Overview

Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our culture is grounded in a growth mindset, customer obsession, diversity and inclusion, One Microsoft collaboration, and making a positive difference for our customers and communities. 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.

Microsoft Frontier Company is a new line of business and one of the industrys first customer outcome-driven organizations, bringing together industry expertise, strategic partnerships and engineering as part of MCAPS. Its teams will work side-by-side with customers to co-design, deploy, and continuously improve AI systems that deliver measurable, customer-defined outcomes. The organization is built around end-to-end Frontier Transformation, helping customers turn AI into real, lasting business value. For those joining, its a chance to help build a new growth engine for Microsoft and shape how the industry moves from delivering technology to delivering outcomes.

The Frontier Company GTM team is seeking an experienced Director, External Evidence & Influence to lead external validation of Microsoft Frontier Company strategy and customer success. This role will build and manage strategic engagement programs with customers, industry analysts, and universities to generate credible feedback, strengthen industry endorsement, and ensure insights and best practices inform leaders and teams across Frontier Company.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage an external validation strategy aligned to Frontier Company business priorities, customer outcomes, market credibility, and key moments throughout the fiscal year.
• Own the strategy and operating model for a new Frontier Company customer advisory board, partnering with an agency to finalize the charter, engagement plan, membership approach, governance, and annual rhythm.
• Identify and invite the right customers to participate, working across sales, customer success, industry, engineering, and executive teams to build a representative and highly engaged advisory community.
• Plan and execute advisory board engagements throughout the fiscal year, including agendas, executive preparation, content, facilitation, logistics, follow-up, and an experience that delivers clear value for participating customers.
• Synthesize customer feedback, best practices, and emerging themes from each engagement, and create mechanisms to ensure leaders across Frontier Company hear, understand, and act on the insights.
• Identify opportunities for customers to share their stories publicly, serving to inspire other customers across industries to advance their AI transformation in partnership with Frontier Co.
• Partner with the Analyst Relations team to develop and execute a plan for engagement, education, and endorsement from key industry analysts, supported by clear narratives, evidence, briefings, and ongoing relationship management.
• Lead an agency in creating a university engagement program that builds industry credibility through research partnerships, participation in relevant existing work, and the joint development of new ideas and initiatives.
• Manage agency partners, budgets, timelines, stakeholder reviews, risks, and success measures across the portfolio, using feedback and results to strengthen the programs over time.
• Perform as a strategic marketing leader who can translate Frontier Company priorities into credible external engagement programs that advance customer trust, market understanding, and business goals.
• Lead as a customer-centered and skilled professional designing executive-level advisory experiences that create value for participants while generating candid, actionable input for the business.
• Build programs with influential external stakeholders, including enterprise customers, industry analysts, academic institutions, or comparable communities.
• Operate in a highly collaborative style with the ability to influence across sales, engineering, customer success, marketing, communications, Analyst Relations, executives, agencies, and external partners.
• Pivot from strategy to execution, manage multiple workstreams and partners, and maintain a high quality bar in a dynamic and evolving organization.
• Leverage sound judgment, executive presence, curiosity, and compeling written and verbal communication skills, while also maintaining the ability to surface difficult feedback constructively and turn insights into action.

Other

• Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Business, Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Finance, or related field AND 6+ years communications, marketing operations, field operations, program management, project management, or related experience
• OR equivalent experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Masters Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Finance, or related field AND 8+ years communications, marketing operations, field operations, program management, project management, or related experience

• OR Bachelors Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Finance, or related field AND 12+ years communications, marketing operations, field operations, program management, project management, or related experience

• OR equivalent experience.

• 7+ years of experience in strategic marketing, customer engagement, executive programs, analyst relations, industry relations, partnerships, or a related field in enterprise technology.

• Experience developing and executing engagement strategies with senior executives and external stakeholders in complex, fast-paced, and often ambiguous environments.

• Demonstrated success building and managing high-impact programs through cross-functional teams and agency partners, with clear outcomes and strong stakeholder alignment.

Communications IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $251,900 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 $165,600 - $272,300 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.