Director of Creative Production

Microsoft's Creative, Advertising & Integrated Marketing team is looking for a Director of Creative Production to help shape and deliver breakthrough advertising campaigns across Windows, Surface, and Services. This is a role for someone who thrives at playing a critical role at the intersection of strategy, creativity and execution. You'll lead the production from initial concept through final delivery, partnering with internal creative teams, external agencies, production partners and business stakeholders to bring ambitious ideas to life. The work spans high profile advertising campaigns, hardware launches, films, photography, social and creators. Success in this role requires exceptional production expertise, strong creative instincts and the ability to navigate ambiguity while maintaining the highest standards of craft. We're looking for someone who knows how great advertising and creative gets made, who has built trusted relationships across the production ecosystem, and who can assemble the right team for a given challenge. This role will influence the work, not simply manage it, helping teams make better creative decisions while ensuring ideas are executed at the highest level.

• Lead the end-to-end production of integrated campaigns across advertising, film, photography, digital, social, experiential.
• Partner with creative teams and agencies from concept development through launch, helping bring ambitious ideas to life while maintaining the integrity of the creative vision.
• Identify and engage the right directors, DPs, photographers, production companies, editors, creators and specialist partners for each assignment.
• Build and manage relationships with world-class production partners and vendors, ensuring every project is staffed with the right talent and expertise.
• Translate strategic and creative briefs into production plans that elevate the work while delivering against business objectives.
• Serve as the primary bridge between internal stakeholders, creative teams, agencies and production partners throughout the lifecycle of a campaign.
• Lead production planning, budgeting, bidding, scheduling, contracting and delivery across concurrent campaigns and projects. 
• Own creative quality throughout production and post-production, ensuring execution delivers against the ambition of the idea.
• Bring informed perspective and constructive challenge when production approaches or creative solutions are not meeting expectations.
• Lead production reviews, synthesize feedback and drive clear decisions that improve the work while maintaining momentum. 
• Anticipate production risks and solve problems proactively without compromising creative quality.
• Ensure all work meets Microsoft standards for brand, accessibility, legal and global market requirements.

Required Qualifications:

• 6+ years experience in professional production environment (e.g., lighting, shooting, audio recording, web production, writing), post-production environment, or broadcasting (e.g., local news)
  • OR equivalent experience. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10+ years experience in end-to-end production. Award-winning or viral film and TV advertising.
• Proficient in production tools and emerging AI-enhanced workflows.
• Proven ability to manage complex projects and cross-functional teams.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent project management and communication skills
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-volume, collaborative environment
• Experience working with internal creative teams, freelancers and productions houses
• Experience with budgeting, scheduling, workforce allocation and vendor coordination

Video Production IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $142,800 - $274,800 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 $188,000 - $304,200 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.