Principal Technical Program Manager - FDE
Microsoft · Japan, Tokyo-to, Tokyo ·
- Work mode
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Principal
- Category
- Project management
- Experience
- 1+ years
In the Microsoft Frontier Company Engineering team, you won’t just build software; you’ll deliver real outcomes for some of the world’s most complex organizations.
We are a global team of world-class engineers who have been working in a Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model for more than a decade, embedding directly within customer teams to solve their toughest challenges, side-by-side, and shipping production-ready solutions in days, not months.
As a Principal Technical Program Manager, you will embed with strategic customers to lead complex technical programs, owning the full customer journey from problem definition through delivery and driving measurable business outcomes. You’ll work in small, multidisciplinary crews alongside engineers, data scientists, and designers, operating with high autonomy to turn ambiguous problems into shipped solutions.
Our work is powered by AI, applying the mindset and tooling across the entire development lifecycle to move from idea to production in days while maintaining the highest standards of security, quality, and trust.
This role offers the opportunity to:
Lead complex technical programs from problem definition through to delivered outcomes
Drive decisions that directly influence business strategy and customer outcomes
Collaborate with leading global organizations across industries
Apply the latest advancements in AI and engineering workflows to deliver value at scale
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
Embed with strategic customers to lead complex technical programs with high autonomy, aligning business needs with engineering solutions across AI, cloud, and data. Take ownership of the customer journey end-to-end, from problem definition through co-engineering delivery to measurable business outcomes.
Apply AI assisted engineering practices as a daily operating mode: use AI tools across the full software development lifecycle to accelerate requirements-to-specs, generate high-quality engineering artifacts from customer context, and drive continuous flow of value from business need to production.
Operate fluently in engineering tooling (e.g., VS Code, GitHub, AI agents) as primary work surfaces for planning, documentation, and technical program leadership. Validate AI-generated outputs with domain expertise to maintain quality at speed.
Navigate ambiguity in customer environments with self-direction and high ownership. Make technical and program decisions with incomplete information, proactively identify opportunities and manage risks, providing data-driven recommendations to stakeholders.
Champion and cultivate reusable solution patterns, open-source assets, and engineering playbooks that scale impact beyond individual engagements. Contribute to the broader engineering community through knowledge sharing and best practices.
Partner with multi-disciplinary engineering teams (software engineers, data scientists, designers) to evaluate, design, and deliver AI-powered cloud solutions side-by-side with customer engineers. Give key stakeholders data-driven recommendations based on identified risks and tradeoffs.
Qualifications
Required/Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree AND 6+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
Or equivalent experience
3+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
Experience partnering directly with customers or internal stakeholders to deliver solutions end-to-end.
- Fluency in Japanese and English language skills
Additional or Preferred Qualifications (PQs)
Bachelor’s Degree AND 10+ years experience in engineering, product/technical program management, data analysis, or product development
Or equivalent experience
8+ years of experience managing cross-functional and/or cross-team projects.
1+ years of experience in customer-facing technical roles (e.g., consulting, solutions engineering, field engineering, or similar).
Experience with AI/ML technologies, cloud architecture, data engineering, and using AI tools and workflows in creating software engineering artifacts.
Enjoy travel and are comfortable with travel up to 25%
#FDE
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.