Senior Media Strategy Manager

Overview

Welcome to one of the most dynamic and influential areas at Microsoft— the Global Media Team . This business is not just growing fast—it’s redefining the future. Microsoft’s Global Media Team is a diverse, collaborative, solutions-oriented team committed to infusing diversity and inclusion principles into our hiring, our communication, our innovation, and the way we connect with our customers through advertising.

The Microsoft Global Media Team is responsible for planning, activating and fiscally managing all media spend across Microsoft. The team works across a broad group of internal Microsoft products and business groups, driving business impact by leading the development of innovative and world-class media strategies designed to meet our stakeholders’ unique business goals.

The team’s responsibilities extend to driving market intelligence and contributing to Microsoft’s media innovation across media channels and ad tech.

In this role, you will lead paid media strategy, planning, and execution of campaigns and programs. You will be the point person driving strategy for high-profile initiatives, working closely with internal marketing teams and our media agency to deliver impactful results.

The candidate has deep proficiency across the media landscape (especially digital performance media), a growth mindset, and an eagerness to innovate at the intersection of media, data, and technology. You thrive on learning and embracing new strategies and technologies—from privacy-first data collaboration to AI-driven optimization—and can translate these into actionable media plans.

This is an opportunity for someone with a broad media background who excels in proactive planning, cross-team collaboration, and strategic vision-setting. The ability to navigate ambiguity, influence internal partners, and tell stories with data is key to success.

What will our team do for you? Provide a supportive environment to bring your authentic self to work and amplify your strengths. Offer opportunities to gain new experiences, stretch your skills, and grow your career.

Successes will be celebrated at every level of leadership. Prioritize your development – with mentorship, training (in both media and emerging areas like AI, and a culture of continuous learning. Embrace and champion diversity & inclusion, ensuring you are empowered to contribute ideas that drive innovation and resonate with our diverse customer base.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their valuable contributions each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world.

Let’s build the future—together.

Responsibilities

The Senior Media Strategy Manager are responsible for the following:

• Shape the future of Microsoft's global media strategy by developing innovative, full-funnel media plans that drive business growth, customer engagement, and brand impact across digital and traditional channels.
• Lead high-visibility campaigns at scale, leveraging expertise across paid social, search, programmatic, video, audio, out-of-home (OOH), and emerging media platforms to create meaningful customer experiences throughout the buyer journey.
• Drive media innovation by identifying new opportunities, testing emerging technologies, and partnering with media platforms, agencies, and industry leaders to influence the future of advertising and marketing excellence.
• Champion data-driven decision making by translating customer insights, audience intelligence, and campaign performance into actionable strategies that improve effectiveness, optimize investment, and accelerate business results.
• Partner across a diverse ecosystem of stakeholders, including Marketing, Product, Engineering, Analytics, Data Science, MarTech, Finance, and Agency teams, to align media investments with Microsoft's strategic priorities and product go-to-market objectives.
• Advance first-party data activation and measurement capabilities by leveraging customer data platforms, CRM ecosystems, cloud analytics, clean room technologies, and privacy-centric solutions to improve audience engagement and marketing performance.
• Explore the intersection of media, AI, and technology, applying emerging capabilities such as generative AI, machine learning, and advanced automation to enhance planning, optimization, measurement, and campaign execution.
• Influence and inspire without authority, building trusted partnerships across highly matrixed teams and creating alignment around shared goals, priorities, and business outcomes.
• Ensure operational effectiveness and responsible advertising practices by managing investments effectively, maintaining brand safety standards, and delivering campaigns with integrity, compliance, and accountability.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation, encouraging curiosity, innovation, and diverse perspectives while helping Microsoft remain at the forefront of media and marketing transformation.

Other

• Embody our culture and values .

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Advertising, Marketing, Communications, or related field AND 4+ years' experience in media, marketing, or advertising on the client or agency side
• • OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in in Business, Advertising, Marketing, or Communications related field AND 6+ years' experience in media, marketing, or advertising on the client or agency side
• • OR equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of experience coordinating media strategies with product, marketing, analytics, agency, and executive stakeholders.
• 8+ years of experience in designing campaign measurement frameworks before launch.
• 8+ years in consumer-facing media, marketing, gaming, entertainment, technology, or subscription businesses.
• Experience supporting Xbox, PlayStation, Riot Games, EA, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Roblox, Twitch, Discord, Steam, or similar gaming/media ecosystems
• Experience managing large-scale media budgets and optimizing investment allocation across channels.
• Experience supporting AAA, console, PC, cloud gaming, mobile gaming, or subscription-based gaming services is a plus.
• Subject matter expertise across paid social, paid search, programmatic, video, audio, display, and emerging media channels.
• Proficient understanding of customer journey mapping and buyer behavior.
• Demonstrated executive communication and storytelling skills.
• Comfortable leveraging AI, automation, and advanced analytics to improve media outcomes

Media IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U. S. is USD $106,400 - $203,600 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 $137,600 - $222,600 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 o