Partnership and Event Activation Manager
Microsoft
We’re building a Frontier marketing organization that learns faster, activates smarter, and delivers measurable outcomes. Our team establishes diverse partnerships with authentic technology implementations and integrates those partnerships across scale marketing engines. We prioritize outcomes over activity, embrace rapid learning loops, and collaborate across organizations and disciplines to show the potential impact of Microsoft’s technology solutions to our partners.
To support this transformation, we’re seeking a Partnership and Event Activation Manager to lead hospitality-driven and experiential partnership activations across marquee Microsoft and partner events.
As part of this role, you will own the end-to-end delivery of partnership activations with an emphasis on event experience, hospitality execution, and onsite operations, while maintaining tight operational rigor across partners, agencies, and internal stakeholders. You’ll ensure activations are executed successfully, align to partnership objectives, and tell a cohesive story before, during, and after the event.
In this role, you will bring a blend of partnership management, event activation, campaign execution, and project leadership and thrive in fast-moving, high visibility environments.
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.
In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.
Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end planning and execution of live events, VIP hospitality programs, and partner experiences, including planning, onsite execution, and post-event follow up.
Staffing Models
Run-of-show
Journey Mapping
Technology showcases
Report on partnership activations and campaigns, mapping activities to KPIs (key performance indicators) and identifying opportunities for optimization and greater impact.
Manage the development and execution of partnership campaigns and activations from briefing to partner engagement to delivery and reporting.
Develop clear, detailed creative and production briefs
Establish and maintain work back schedules and event timelines
Manage creative development and reviews
Facilitate internal and partner approvals
Deliver assets to channels on time
Support reporting, insights, and post-event recaps delivery
Execute optimizations based on performance and learnings
Drive internal visibility of partnerships and activations by establishing regular engagement cadences, sharing best practices, and enabling broader company utilization.
Manage a complex activation and event budgets, ensuring adherence to all targets, compliance with procurement policies, and efficient use of resources.
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Economics, Public Relations, or related field AND 3+ years experience in sponsorship activation, integrated marketing (e.g., digital, relationship, social media, campaign), event management, marketing strategy, business planning, marketing operations, or related work experience
OR equivalent experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications
Experience managing partnerships or sponsorships, particularly within Formula 1 (F1)
Proven experience leading live events, premium hospitality activations, or VIP experiences from planning through onsite execution.
Works with a customer-centric mindset, with experience crafting memorable, high-quality experiences.
Proven track record in project management, navigating varying priorities, tight timelines, organizational alignment, measurement, and accountability.
Communication skills with internal and external executives in fast-paced environments.
Excellent storytelling, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Detail oriented with the ability to maintain a strategic, big picture perspective in complex event environments.
Ability to manage ambiguity with persistent drive, guiding workgroups towards consensus and meaningful outcomes.
Experience solving complex business challenges, remaining optimistic and motivating teams to stay focused throughout the process.
Ability to operate and prioritize effectively in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment, both independently and as part of a team.
Integrated Marketing IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $106,400 - $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 $137,600 - $222,600 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.