Customer Operations Manager

Organization Summary: If you love the pursuit of excellence and are inspired by the challenges that come through driving innovations that impact how the world lives, works, and plays, then we invite you to learn more about Microsoft Operations - and the value we deliver across Microsoft, our partners, and our customers. We offer unique opportunities to work on interesting global projects in an environment that appreciates diversity, focuses on talent development, and recognizes and rewards great work. We make doing business with Microsoft easy.

Microsoft Enterprise Direct Services, within Microsoft Business Operations, provides direct and centralized operations services for Direct Enterprise Agreement customers to transact with Microsoft. We are accountable to design and execute transactional services across the Enterprise customer lifecycle. We relentlessly pursue process efficiency, timeliness, quality, and compliance, all while providing a world-class Customer experience. We are looking for team members to join our team focused on delivering an exceptional Customer experience with deep expertise in Contracting, Order Management, Billing, Supplier Management, and Customer relationship experience.

Position Description: The Customer Operations Manager is responsible for customer-facing licensing solutions and must be a subject matter expert within our Volume Licensing concepts and processes. The Customer Operations Manager will provide direct, front-line transactional support for Microsoft Field sellers and our customers. The Customer Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring adherence to the Microsoft account plan, ensuring deliverables are executed on time and of high quality for our customers.

The Customer Operations Manager role requires fluency in both English and Italian to effectively support our Italy-based clients and ensure smooth communication across all transactional and customer service activities. You will be expected to interact directly with Italian-speaking customers and internal stakeholders.

The role will also provide fantastic opportunities to lead and shape next-generation experiences for internal stakeholders and end customers. Are you ready to make an impact in this exciting and challenging role?

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. 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. 

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND operations, program management or process management work experience
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Fluency in Italian and English languages, with the ability to communicate effectively with both external and internal customers/stakeholders, including writing, reading, and speaking.
• Experience in areas such as contracting, order management, pipeline management, billing execution, with a focus on financial accuracy, compliance, risk management, contract validation, credit approval, customer service, stakeholder engagement, process optimization.
• Proficiency in data-driven decision-making, using KPIs to monitor performance, and acting as a trusted advisor to internal and external customers.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in customer service operations, managing escalations, improving service metrics, & implementing process improvements to streamline operations.
• Experience with similar industry Business Value deal constructions.
• Experience with Microsoft licensing concepts, including contracts, quotes, and invoices, as well as evaluation and review of complex proposals, agreements, and amendments.
• Experience providing direct support for Microsoft Volume Licensing sales and support lifecycle.
• Italian language certifications, such as CILS, CELI, or PLIDA, are preferred to validate language proficiency in a business context.

This role requires an on-site presence of minimum 3 days/week.

Contracting and Order Management:

• Deal and Contract Validation: Manage the validation and execution of agreements and post-sales lifecycle transactions, enabling accuracy in downstream financial processes followed by compliant issuance of customer contracts in accordance with Policies, Global and SOX-approved deal financials.
• Pipeline Management: Manage critical deal lists on a monthly and quarterly basis in alignment with expectations with the Sales, Sales Excellence, and key Subsidiary sales stakeholders on all critical deals for the month.

Billing Management:

• Billing Execution: Ensure accurate and compliant order and invoice approval and dispatch (standard and local) to maximize cash flow and collectability for all invoices.
• Credit Approval Management: Orchestrate all Finance exception approvals on high-value credits and execute all credits and associated rebills.
• Billing Status and Risk Management: Track and communicate contract billing status to key stakeholders, highlighting risks with contractual requirements, customer PO coverage, customer sign-offs, and credit/payment status.

Customer Service:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all operational customer service inquiries, concerns, and issues.
• Oversee the daily operations of the customer service team to ensure quality standards are met and maintained.
• Monitor customer service metrics and KPIs to identify areas of improvement and implement strategies to boost performance.
• Handle escalated customer service issues and complaints in a professional and efficient manner.
• Work closely with other departments to resolve customer issues and ensure a positive customer experience.
• Develop and implement processes and procedures to streamline the customer service operation.
• Stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices to ensure the customer service team provides the highest level of service possible.
• Generate reports on customer service metrics and activity for senior leader consumption and monthly business reviews.

Operations Excellence: Optimization and Process Improvement:

• Act as a thought leader to drive consistency in processes, capabilities, and services, meeting performance expectations for consistency, accuracy, simplification, and timeliness of delivery.
• Be a trusted advisor for customers and internal clients on operational processes and capabilities, providing efficient, scalable operational solutions across a portfolio of accounts.

Stakeholder Management (Field, Partners, Customers):

• Use voice of customer frameworks and metrics to identify trends and influences across multiple customers and internal groups.