Principal Program Manager, Partner Developer Relations - Minecraft
Microsoft · Washington, United States · 7d ago
At Mojang Studios, the creators of Minecraft, we are on a mission to build a better world through the power of play.
Why play? Well, play is at the heart of everything we do. It’s the blocky backbone of our games, the core of our development philosophy, and even the origin of our name. From the relentless experimentation of our endlessly inspiring community to the classrooms where Minecraft has become an essential teaching tool, play is the bedrock of our existence.
We enable millions to create and play together, connect people across the globe, and foster a community that is among the most active and passionate in the world. Our community is global and incredibly diverse. When we are developing anything within our franchise, we keep this in mind. We want everyone to not only feel included in Minecraft, but also to see themselves in what we make. Our goal is for the Mojang Studios team to be as diverse as our community.
In the end, it’s the people of Mojang Studios that make this place truly special. When you join, you’ll find yourself in the company of incredibly bright, warm, and creative individuals – all united and working toward a single goal. Come help us reach it!
We are looking for a partner-obsessed Principal Program Manager to lead Partner Developer Relations for the Minecraft Marketplace’s most strategic creator partnerships. In this senior individual-contributor role you own the technical programs, developer-enablement systems, and cross-functional execution that scale how our largest studios build, publish, and grow on the platform.
You set the operating model, standards, and outcomes for partner-facing developer programs, and turn portfolio-wide creator and developer insight into roadmap influence with product and engineering leadership. You are the senior program owner our top studios rely on, driving the tooling, workflows, and feedback loops that anchor the majority of Marketplace ecosystem health. You blend deep program ownership with real technical fluency, and you are measured on the delivery, adoption, and health of the partner developer programs you own.
Responsibilities
- Own the strategy and delivery of the top-tier partner developer program portfolio: define scope, roadmap, milestones, and success metrics for the technical programs serving our largest, most strategic, franchise-defining creator partners.
- Define the developer-relations operating model and quality bar: set program standards, onboarding and enablement workflows, tooling requirements, and the KPIs and guardrails that keep quality, safety, and player trust non-negotiable.
- Serve as the senior voice of the creator and developer: synthesize portfolio-wide feedback into a prioritized, structured signal that shapes the Creator Success roadmap directly with product and engineering leadership.
- Act as the senior program advisor to top studios, driving cross-team resolution of the high-stakes blockers that put strategic launches at risk, and owning the programs behind special projects, featured placement, and platform enablement within defined thresholds.
- Own executive-level program reviews and escalations: run business/program reviews with our leadership and partner founders and executives, and act as accountable escalation owner during safety, payout, outage, or PR-sensitive events.
- Drive competitive and retention strategy at the program level, defending against competing platforms (Roblox, Fortnite/UEFN, Unity, Fab) through better developer experience, tooling, and enablement at portfolio scale.
- Direct vendor-delivered and cross-functional program work to clear, measurable outcomes by defining scope, standards, deliverables, the quality and safety bar, and review cadence, and mentor program managers to raise the craft across the discipline.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years experience in relevant technical domain (e.g., cloud services, security), technical sales, marketing, product management, customer support, or cross-group/cross-functional engineering
- OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 12+ years experience in relevant technical domain (e.g., cloud services, security), technical sales, marketing, product management, customer support, or cross-group/cross-functional engineering
- OR equivalent experience.
- Experience with gaming, creator/marketplace ecosystems, or UGC platforms, and familiarity with Minecraft Marketplace, creator publishing, or content review/monetization processes.
- Working knowledge of adjacent creator platforms (Roblox, UEFN/Fortnite, Unity, Fab) sufficient to shape retention and competitive strategy.
- Experience directing external or vendor-delivered work to measurable outcomes, and mentoring or leading other program managers.
#MojangJobs #GamingJobs
Partner Enablement Program Mgmt 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.