Overview
Do you get excited about helping partners turn customer interest in AI into funded, production-scale transformation? Are you the kind of architect who can whiteboard a business process with an executive in the morning and build and deploy a working agent in Azure in the afternoon? Do you want to shape the assets, workshops and bootcamps that help the Microsoft partner ecosystem lead with AI-first value?
We are looking for an experienced Solution Architect with deep, hands-on knowledge of Microsoft AI Business Solutions (ABS) technologies and practical experience designing, building and deploying agents on and across the Azure AI stack. The ideal candidate combines strong solution architecture fundamentals with a passion for partner enablement, and can connect AI and agent capabilities to business processes, measurable outcomes and partner economics.
You will join the Field and Partner Center of Excellence, a global team of architects that works closely with Microsoft product engineering, marketing, partner skilling and field teams. The team builds the programs, intellectual property and technical readiness that help partners move customers from AI experimentation to Frontier Transformation
Responsibilities
Partner technical pre-sales and readiness
- Work directly with partners to drive technical pre-sales motions for ABS solutions, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, extended with custom agents built on Azure.
- Help partners move from point agents to end-to-end, process-level solutions that combine people, agents and systems and can be tied to customer KPIs.
- Support partner technical onboarding of COE workshops, bootcamps and go-to-market materials, and review partner solution designs and proposals for technical soundness.
- Coordinate with Microsoft stakeholders to build technical readiness roadmaps for partner AI and agent practices.
Agent architecture, build and deployment
- Design reference architectures and patterns for agents across the Microsoft stack, from Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility to pro-code agents built with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI and the Foundry Agent Service.
- Build and deploy working agents and demos, including multi-agent orchestration, retrieval over enterprise data, tool and API integration (including Model Context Protocol), and connections to Dynamics 365, Dataverse and line-of-business systems.
- Define guidance for production readiness: identity and access, security and governance, responsible AI, evaluation and observability, cost and consumption management, and ongoing operations.
- Lead cost- and value-based architecture discussions that connect the build, deployment and run cost of an agent solution to ROI and measurable business outcomes.
Intellectual property and practice development
- Create and maintain partner-facing IP: reference architectures, solution accelerators, sample agents, lab environments, workshop and bootcamp content, and delivery guides.
- Contribute to COE programs such as AVA and AITP, including process decomposition, value quantification and advisory-offer content for partner sellers and consultants.
- Help partners package repeatable, outcome-based advisory and delivery offers around ABS and Azure agent solutions, and drive reuse of IP across pre-sales and delivery.
- Deliver and facilitate partner workshops, bootcamps and train-the-trainer sessions in person and virtually.
Trusted advisor and thought leadership
- Build a strong network across product groups, partner skilling, field and partner teams to remove blockers and land partner feedback with engineering.
- Act as the technical conscience in partner and customer conversations: challenge unrealistic expectations and steer discussions toward business value rather than features.
- Stay current on the fast-moving Microsoft AI and agent platform and the competitive landscape, and share insights with internal communities and external audiences.
- Mentor partner architects and colleagues on technical and advisory skills.
Day-to-day activities
- Build, test and refresh demo agents and reference solutions in the COE lab environment as the ABS and Azure AI platforms evolve.
- Update workshop, bootcamp and playbook content on a monthly and quarterly cadence so partner materials match the latest product capabilities.
- Run technical deep-dives, office hours and design reviews with partner architects working on live customer opportunities.
- Support COE program delivery, including AVA bootcamps, train-the-trainer sessions and partner events, as facilitator or subject matter expert.
- Partner with product groups, partner marketing and skilling teams to land feedback, close technical gaps and resolve partner escalations.
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
- Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security) OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security) OR equivalent experience.
- 2+ years managing multiple projects or portfolios
- 1+ year(s) experience leading blended, multidisciplinary teams
Additional or preferred qualifications
- Proven solution architecture experience across the full lifecycle, from envisioning and design through deployment and operations, with enterprise customers or partners.
- 3+ years of hands-on experience with Microsoft AI Business Solutions technologies, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
- Hands-on experience building and deploying AI agents or generative AI solutions on Azure (for example Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Azure Functions or Logic Apps).
- Bachelor's degree AND 12+ years of relevant experience; OR Master's degree AND 8+ years; OR equivalent experience.
- Experience with agent frameworks and patterns, such as Semantic Kernel, Microsoft Agent Framework, multi-agent orchestration and Model Context Protocol, plus agent evaluation and observability.
- Working knowledge of Azure identity, security and governance for AI solutions (Microsoft Entra, Purview, responsible AI practices).
- Experience in a Microsoft partner, consulting or technical pre-sales role, and a track record of partner enablement or practice development.
- Ability to connect technology to business processes and economics: process decomposition, value quantification, ROI and outcome-based offers.
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills with both technical and executive audiences; comfortable presenting at events and leading workshops.
- Relevant Microsoft certifications, such as Azure AI Engineer Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert or Power Platform Solution Architect Expert.
- Willingness to travel for partner engagements, workshops and bootcamps.
Solution Architecture IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $124,500 - $214,600 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 $154,500 - $231,700 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.
