Principal Technical Program Manager - Quantum

Partnership Execution 

• Serve as Microsoft's primary point of contact for QuNorth, building a trusted working relationship with CEO and leadership team. 

• Lead regular business reviews, executive alignment sessions, and joint planning cycles that keep both organizations focused and accountable. 

• Own escalation management: identify blockers early, route them to the right teams, and drive resolution across both organizations with urgency and clarity. 

Ecosystem Development 

• Build Microsoft's quantum ecosystem presence in Denmark and across the Nordic region — not by following a playbook, but by writing one.  

• Work with QuNorth in jointly put together winning playbook in making Denmark, a Quantum center of excellence across Nordics, where not only Quantum enthusiasts converge to but also commercial companies and users.  

• Engage key government stakeholders and funding bodies, to align QuNorth and Microsoft's quantum efforts with national and regional priorities. 

• Develop and deepen relationships with leading Nordic universities and research centers — DTU, the Niels Bohr Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Aalto University, Chalmers University of Technology — as pathways for talent, research collaboration, and technology adoption. 

• Identify and cultivate partnerships with emerging Nordic quantum companies (including start ups and existing quantum companies etc) to expand Quantum's partner network and regional relevance. 

Technical Triage & Cross-Org Bridge 

• Receive, assess, and prioritize technical challenges surfaced by QuNorth — translating partner needs into actionable requests for Microsoft engineering teams. 

• Route problems to the right people across Microsoft's quantum labs in Lyngby, engineering teams in Redmond and Prague, and the broader Microsoft Quantum organization — and make sure they don't get lost in transit. 

• Track resolution end-to-end, ensure follow-through on commitments, and report recurring patterns and systemic issues to Microsoft Quantum leadership. 

• Serve as a two-way translator: help QuNorth understand Microsoft's technical capabilities and internal constraints, and help Microsoft understand the real-world needs and timelines of a partner building a quantum computer on European soil. 

Strategic Influence 

• Represent Microsoft Quantum at Nordic industry events, government roundtables, quantum working groups, and academic forums — as a credible, informed voice. 

• Contribute to Microsoft's global quantum partner strategy through learnings from Nordic market insights — competitive dynamics, policy shifts, funding trends, talent flows  

Required 

• Deep experience in partner management, business development, or ecosystem development within deep technology sectors (quantum computing, semiconductors, photonics, advanced computing, or adjacent fields). 

• Demonstrated experience working across multiple countries and time zones with distributed engineering and product teams. 

• Technical fluency in quantum computing, photonics, neutral-atom systems, semiconductor physics, or related deep tech domains — sufficient to engage credibly with scientists and engineers, though a PhD is not required. 

• A track record of building something from 0→1: a new market entry, a new strategic partnership, a new program in an organization that didn't exist before you arrived. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Fluent in English. Danish or another Scandinavian language is preferred. 

Preferred 

• Direct experience in the Nordic technology or research ecosystem. 

• Experience working at or partnering with national laboratories, quantum startups, government R&D agencies, or public-private innovation programs. 

• Familiarity with Microsoft's technology stack — Azure, AI services, developer tools — and how enterprise cloud platforms integrate with emerging hardware. 

• Background in product management, program management, or technical business development at a large technology company. 

• Comfort operating with high autonomy, limited local infrastructure, and ambiguity — the kind of environment where you set the agenda rather than follow one. 

Other

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:    
  • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.  
  • Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their U.S. permanent residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.   
• Experience with AI-driven productivity tools (e.g., Copilot, automated testing, intelligent alerting).
• Hands-on experience using latest AI development tools to drive engineering efficiency.

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