Central Planning Lead, Copilot

Job description

**Overview** Copilot plans and ships in 12-week Cycles, with each Cycle broken into meetups, milestones, and sprints across a large set of engineering workstreams and squads. The Copilot Program Management Office (PMO) owns release visibility and drives effective planning for every one of those efforts. Keeping that program healthy takes someone who lives in the details: the deliverables, the meetings, the data, and the follow-ups. We are looking for a Central Planning Lead to be that person. You will maintain the deliverables that keep the planning program moving, serve as the day-to-day liaison between engineering DRIs and the leadership team, and make sure our planning system of record, Atlas, reflects reality. You will set and run the workstream reviews and previews, own the follow-ups that come out of them, and keep teams accountable for the inputs each Cycle depends on, from mission sheets to staffing. This role is equal parts operator and analyst. You will make the cadence run, and you will also bring a critical eye to the resourcing itself, using a working understanding of org and team design to tell whether teams are staffed and structured to succeed, not just whether the fields are filled in. When something is not working, you are the person who spots it, troubleshoots it, and drives the process improvement so it works better next Cycle. If you are organized, data-minded, comfortable holding senior people to commitments, and energized by making a complex program run smoothly, this role is for you. **Responsibilities** **Maintain the planning program and its deliverables** - Own the recurring deliverables that keep the planning program on track across the 12-week Cycle, from planning artifacts and trackers to status rollups for leadership. - Serve as the primary liaison between engineering DRIs and the leadership team, translating leadership priorities into clear asks for teams and bringing team realities and risks back up to leaders. - Keep the planning calendar and Cycle checkpoints coordinated with the broader PMO so meetups, reviews, replanning, and end-of-cycle activities land on time. **Own workstream reviews and previews end to end** - Set and run the workstream reviews and previews and the related team-level sessions (mission reviews, dependency reviews, and demos): invite the right attendees and keep each session purposeful and efficient. - Draft and circulate agendas in advance, including topics, desired outcomes, and time allocations; develop or curate the content needed to meet each meeting's purpose. - Keep discussions on time and on topic, and drive toward clear decisions, conclusions, and owners for next steps. - Ensure notes, decisions, and action items are captured, then distribute a concise summary with decisions made, action owners, and deadlines. - Own the follow-ups: track progress on commitments, chase them to closure, and bring updates back to subsequent reviews. **Drive quality inputs into Atlas** - Track and steward the inputs that flow into Atlas, our resource management and planning system of record, so the data leaders rely on is accurate and current. - Run staffing entry as a Cycle task: make sure every team inputs and updates its staffing in Atlas on schedule, and follow up with teams that are behind. - Safeguard data quality across workstream ownership, squad membership, DRI assignments, mission sheets, milestones, and dependencies, holding inputs to the PMO's readiness standards and flagging gaps and inconsistencies early. **Analyze resourcing and team design** - Go beyond data entry to assess the resourcing itself: use a working knowledge of org and team design to evaluate whether workstreams and squads are staffed and structured to deliver their missions. - Surface staffing gaps, over- and under-allocation, double-assignment, and structural risks, and partner with DRIs and leadership on options to resolve them. - Provide clear, data-grounded analysis that helps leaders make resourcing and org-design decisions each Cycle and at the midpoint replan. **Improve the process and troubleshoot** - Improve the day-to-day mechanics of the planning program: streamline how reviews, follow-ups, and data collection run, and apply better tooling and automation, including AI-assisted approaches where they add accuracy or save time. - Troubleshoot when things are not working, diagnose the root cause, and put durable fixes in place, escalating systemic or methodology-level changes to the PMO. **Qualifications** **Required Qualifications** - Bachelor's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 6+ years experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or business-related roles OR equivalent experience. **Preferred Qualifications** - Demonstrated experience running recurring meetings or reviews end to end: agenda, facilitation, decisions, documentation, and follow-up. - Experience owning data quality in a planning, resourcing, or portfolio tool such as Atlas, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Jira, or Azure DevOps. - Strong written and verbal communication and the ability to hold senior stakeholders accountable to commitments. - Experience acting as a liaison between execution teams and senior leadership in a fast-moving organization. - Working knowledge of org design or team design, and the ability to analyze whether teams are staffed and structured to succeed. - Experience supporting a Program Management Office or a comparable central planning, resourcing, or delivery-excellence function. - Comfort working with resourcing and allocation data, including spotting gaps, conflicts, and structural risks. - Track record of driving process improvement and troubleshooting operational breakdowns. - Familiarity with software or platform release cycles, milestone-based delivery, and dependency management. - Strong bias for action, comfort with ambiguity, and a habit of getting ahead of problems before they become blockers. Business Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $116,900 - $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 $148,400 - $222,600 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: Business Management IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $277,200 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 - $303,600 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: 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.**](https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)