Principal Product Manager, Ads Retail Lead

About the role

The Monetization Product Team at Microsoft is responsible for building and scaling advertising, commerce, and revenue-generating experiences across Microsoft's consumer ecosystem. We partner closely with engineering, design, data science, sales, and business teams to develop products that help advertisers connect with customers while creating meaningful value for consumers. Our team combines strategic thinking, customer obsession, and rapid execution to bring innovative monetization solutions to market.

As the Ads Retail Lead, you will define and drive the product strategy for retail and consumer product advertising experiences. You will work at the intersection of advertiser needs, consumer engagement, data-driven insights, and platform innovation to create advertising products that help brands reach customers more effectively and achieve measurable business outcomes. This role requires a deep understanding of the retail advertising landscape, consumer marketing trends, and emerging monetization opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the product strategy for retail and product advertising experiences, identifying opportunities to connect consumers with relevant products while delivering measurable value for advertisers.
• Own a key advertising product area, including customer insights, product vision, roadmap prioritization, requirements definition, and end-to-end execution from concept through launch and optimization.
• Lead initiatives that improve product discovery, shopping, and purchase-related user journeys through innovative advertising and monetization experiences.
• Partner closely with Engineering, Design, Data Science, Research, and Product Marketing to translate advertiser and user needs into scalable advertising products and platform capabilities.
• Develop a deep understanding of advertiser objectives, consumer behavior, auction dynamics, measurement frameworks, and industry trends to inform product investment decisions.
• Define success metrics, establish experimentation strategies, and leverage data-driven insights to optimize advertiser performance, user engagement, and business outcomes.
• Navigate ambiguity, influence across organizational boundaries, and drive alignment among stakeholders to deliver impact in a fast-moving environment.
• Serve as the product lead for your area, shaping long-term strategy while collaborating with cross-functional teams to bring innovative advertising solutions to market.
• Evaluate emerging trends in digital advertising, retail media, commerce, and AI-powered recommendations to identify new opportunities for growth and differentiation.
• Communicate product vision, strategy, and results effectively with senior leaders, partners, and cross-functional stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 8+ years experience in product management including experience advertising in retail or consumer products OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree AND 12+ years experience in product management including experience advertising in retail or consumer products OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ years experience taking a product, feature, or experience to market (e.g., design, addressing product market fit, and launch, internal tool/framework).
• 6+ years experience improving product metrics for a product, feature, or experience in a market (e.g., growing customer base, expanding customer usage, avoiding customer churn).
• 6+ years experience disrupting a market for a product, feature, or experience (e.g., competitive disruption, taking the place of an established competing product).
• Experience leading product teams building products in advertising, privacy, conversational AI, generative AI, or transferrable skills.
• Experience building consumer products leveraging Machine Learning or Large Language Models.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, manage multiple priorities, and adapt to changing requirements and deadlines.
• Proven ability to collaborate and contribute to a positive, inclusive work environment, fostering knowledge sharing and growth within the team.
• Experience with data analytics and experimentation tools. Working knowledge of SQL and coding skills (Python, Javascript).

Pay

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.