Help build an incredible portfolio of Microsoft Office brands and branded products while working in a high performing brand strategy team. In this position within the Applications and Services Group (ASG), you’ll be developing and driving effective brand architectures and names for brands, branded products and features across the ASG portfolio. If you are a strategic thinker with a passion for brand hierarchies and meaningful and memorable names with the cross-functional skills to shape and strengthen our brands and business, then this could be the next role for you.
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As a Director of Brand Architecture and Naming you will be responsible for infusing a strategic mindset and consumer-led perspective into our portfolio of ASG services, apps and features. You will create and direct the application of world class architectures across the ASG system, working toward fewer stronger product brands and platforms that are more closely aligned with Office and Microsoft. You will create names and architecturally sound homes for products, services and initiatives within the Microsoft ASG portfolio. This role focuses mostly on Office, Office 365, and Skype but will also include new apps, features and services that are currently in development. With more than 1.2B users worldwide, Office plays a critical role in helping Microsoft realize its mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. In this role, you will have the opportunity to develop architecture and naming for the Office ecosystem.
Engagement with the Product teams, Engineers, Brand and Strategy leads and Central Marketing Research (CMR) will ensure integration across all areas of the business, including product management, product/program marketing, and product development and will drive the development of a powerful brand portfolio. Success in this role also requires close collaboration with others in the Brand and Marketing community working on strategies and execution of research to gain learning about and validate architectures and name.
This position has accountability for brand stewardship as it related to architecture and naming. This may include implementing naming and architecture tools and guidelines, providing strategy support and leading internal brand education and training.
You will be responsible for tackling the following kinds of strategic challenges working in close collaboration with partners from Product Marking Managers (PMM), CMR, Engineering and Brand/Marketing:
• Collaborate with CMG (Central Marketing Group) and CMR (Central Market Research) to drive best-practices in naming and architecture processes, analytics, measurement, and ROI analysis.
• Collaborate with CMR to brief and conduct alternative consumer research to inspire fresh thinking about names.
• Drive naming projects for assigned brands, products and features to ensure fit with brand strategy, alignment with corporate goals, and to maximize marketplace impact.
• Drive architecture into logo design and visual identity-centered initiatives, as needed.
• Drive facets of brand management including visual and naming guidelines, “brand tools” assets and support brand alias escalations.
• Conduct naming and architecture training and evangelism activities with internal product groups and external agency partners.
• As needed, drive important, unplanned strategy projects that require smart thinking and quick attention.
• Train and mentor junior colleagues to drive a culture of learning and improvement.
• Gain the trust and admiration of Microsoft senior leadership by leveraging your unique combination of marketing expertise and business understanding to help them drive their business forward.
As a Director of Brand Architecture and Naming you’ll be in a position to showcase your strategic thinking skills while also driving for results. This role includes frequent cross-group team leadership and periodic contact with senior Microsoft executive management.
The Brand Strategy Team is a “Center of Discipline Excellence” for the marketing group within ASG; therefore, brand discipline expertise is highly valued and leveraged across the team. There is an expectation of continual improvement for our discipline application and within the team’s collective skills.
Experience: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required. Advanced degree or MBA desired. Candidates should have 10+ years in business-building roles (i.e. business analytics, business development, marketing, sales, etc.) including five years senior-level experience driving marketing or brand strategy and execution either on the corporate or agency side. Branding, naming and architecture experience is essential. Technology branding experience is preferred.
Keys to success include:
• Demonstrated strength leading cross functional teams.
• Fluency in corporate objectives, business objectives, and product and technology strategies.
• Ability to build strong collaborative relationships with a diverse range of partners.
• Excellent communication skills and the proven ability to influence at multiple levels of the organization.
• Ability to shape and harness qualitative and quantitative research to drive good decision-making.
• Ability to simply explain and apply complex concepts and research outputs.
• Strategic understanding of the relationship between brands, names and architecture as it relates to a wide range of marketing communications, e.g., advertising, public relations, internal communications and visual identity.
• Ability to assimilate business group strategy and objectives and develop naming and architecture programs that support business goals.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, impact and influence, and conflict-management skills.
• A track record of success working in a consultative or advisory capacity at all levels of top-tier organizations.
• A track record of success in the consumer branding/marketing strategy arena.
• A track-record of building sustained relationships with senior leaders in an environment where you had to consistently message new or unpopular thinking.
• Ability to teach and mentor more junior colleagues, helping them learn new skills and methodologies.
• Skilled at leading groups in scoping problems by identifying key issues, inputs, stakeholders, and outcomes.
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