Director of Manufacturing & Energy Startups

Microsoft Corp.; United States; Remote; USD 131,000 - 252,000; Full time

Job summary

Microsoft seeks a Director of Manufacturing & Energy Startups in New York, NY. You will lead an industry portfolio spanning Manufacturing, Energy, Cybersecurity, and AI startups, partnering with account teams to accelerate co-sell and marketplace opportunities.

You will advise founders, executives, and Microsoft teams, shaping investment theses and GTM strategies to scale startups into managed coverage.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, Sciences, or related field plus 12+ years of relevant work experience OR equivalent.
• Master's/Advanced Degree plus 10+ years relevant work experience OR equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop the industry investment thesis to guide startup targeting and scale potential.
• Coordinate with Microsoft account teams and leadership to create enterprise access and pipeline for portfolio startups.
• Drive co-sell and marketplace execution with founders and accounts to convert pipeline into signed deals.
• Coach startups on GTM execution and Microsoft engagement to accelerate maturity and coverage.
• Transition startups into managed sales coverage when field sellers can scale Azure revenue.
• Build relations across VC, partner and industry ecosystems to generate referrals into the portfolio.
• Serve as industry SME for Microsoft for Startups and represent the portfolio at events.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, Sciences, or related field

Master's/Advanced Degree in Business, Sciences, or related field

Job description

Director of Manufacturing & Energy Startups

United States, New York, New York

Company and benefits

• Job number: 200061573
• Date posted: Oct 14, 2026
• Work site: 0 days / week in-office – remote
• Travel: 25-50%
• Profession: Business Development & Ventures
• Discipline: Business Development
• Role type: Individual Contributor
• Employment type: Full-Time

Job description

Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS)-Core accelerates customer outcomes and business growth. By uniting product, engineering, marketing, sales, customer success, and partners around a common customer mission, we help customers realize value faster and turn innovation into measurable business impact. Through deep technical expertise and differentiated go-to-market execution, we win competitively, capture market share, and scale repeatable growth motions. We differentiate through value creation - delivering world-class, AI-powered customer experiences that accelerate adoption, strengthen loyalty, and create sustainable competitive advantage, driving growth that outpaces the market.

Worldwide (WW) Enterprise Partner Sales, part of MCAPS-Core, is accountable for co-building and co-selling Microsoft solutions and services, with our global Enterprise partners. Our Enterprise Partner portfolio comprises Microsoft for Startups, Digital Natives, Model & Hardware, Advisory & Consulting, Global System Intergrators (GSI) and Independent Software Vendor (ISVs) working together to empower people and organizations to achieve more.

Microsoft for Startups is a global team that takes a 360-degree approach to building startup success. We work with venture capitalists, accelerators, industry organizations, customers, and Microsoft field teams to identify the most promising startups. We then partner side by side with founders and executive leadership teams to leverage Microsoft assets and drive success through our global B2B market footprint.

The Director of Manufacturing & Energy Startups will be part of the Microsoft for Startups Industry team and will be responsible for a portfolio of Manufacturing, Energy, Cybersecurity, and AI startups serving customers in the Manufacturing and Energy industries. The role requires a strong technical and business understanding of the customer scenarios these solutions address, as well as how startup solutions and Microsoft first‑party offerings can combine to create customer value.

The Microsoft for Startups Industry team is accountable for the commercial development of high‑potential startups within a defined industry. The team uses industry expertise, customer knowledge, and market research to develop the investment thesis that guides Recruit team targeting and advances the commercial maturity of the resulting portfolio.

The Director of Manufacturing & Energy Startups is accountable for the commercial development of this defined industry portfolio. The role serves as a trusted advisor to startup founders, startup senior leadership, enterprise customers, and Microsoft account teams, and represents Microsoft for Startups across the investor, partner, customer, and industry ecosystem.

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.

Responsibilities

• Develop the industry investment thesis, leveraging deep industry expertise and market research, to guide Recruit team targeting toward startups with the highest propensity to scale.
• Orchestrate with Microsoft account teams and field leadership to generate qualified enterprise customer access and pipeline for portfolio startups.
• Drive co‑sell and marketplace execution with founders and account teams, converting pipeline into transactable opportunities and marketplace billed sales.
• Coach portfolio startups on GTM execution and Microsoft engagement models to accelerate commercial maturity and readiness for managed coverage.
• Transition startups into managed sales coverage at the maturity where field sellers can scale their Azure consumed revenue.
• Build and sustain relationships across the VC, partner, and industry ecosystem to generate qualified referrals into the Recruit motion.
• Serve as the industry subject matter expert for Microsoft for Startups, advising account teams, customer executives, and founders, and representing the portfolio externally at industry and ecosystem events.

Qualifications

• Required/minimum qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, Sciences, or related field AND 10+ years relevant work experience (e.g., investment banking, consulting, finance, marketing, corporate strategy, sales, venture capital, legal, business development, product management, project management, software development, or related field) OR equivalent experience.
• Additional or preferred qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, Sciences, or related field AND 12+ years relevant work experience (e.g., investment banking, consulting, finance, marketing, corporate strategy, sales, venture capital, legal, business development, product management, project management, software development, or related field) OR Master's/Advanced Degree in Business, Sciences, or related field AND 10+ years relevant work experience (e.g., investment banking, consulting, finance, marketing, corporate strategy, sales, venture capital, legal, business development, product management, project management, software development, or related field) OR equivalent experience.
• 8+ years experience in the technology industry OR in a technical role (e.g., IT, Engineering).

Pay

Business Development 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