Escalation Engineer- SQL Server

** The position can be located in any of the following areas-- Seattle, WA; Dallas, TX; or Charlotte, NC.**   Premier Field Engineering, jointly with Mission Critical Services, is seeking an enthusiastic, high energy, and flexible engineer to manage critical and high impact SQL escalations for those global customers in the Mission Critical Program (MCP), an innovative and unique service solution offering that is at the leading edge of a new and flourishing business for some of our most prominent customers and partners.  We are looking for a seasoned professional who understands what it takes to satisfy customers in such high profile application critical environments, yet is not afraid to challenge existing processes and to think creatively to continually improve the customer experience.  This is a role that requires a solid understanding of Microsoft’s structure and the ability to traverse multiple services and product groups, to deliver the highest level of support with the minimum disruption to the customer’s business.  The successful candidate will have a blend of technical support knowledge, leadership, business acumen and the capability to work collaboratively and creatively under pressure.  You can expect to be communicating at very senior levels both within and outside of Microsoft and hence the need to be able to present information in a clear, credible and unambiguous manner is essential.   Responsibilities include: • Represent Microsoft and communicate with MCP customers regarding technically complex problems related to the usage of SQL Server and other Mission Critical application products and platforms.  • Manage support escalations by setting customer expectations, devising action plans, being available 24x7, and professionally communicating to all parties involved.  May act as technical focal point in cooperative relationships with other external partners.  • Use trace analysis, source code, and other sophisticated debugging tools to solve technically complex, mission critical, and/or politically hot customer issues involving broad and/or in-depth product knowledge; maintain ownership of issue until resolved completely.  • Identify & coordinate resources from other groups as needed to resolve support issues.  • Share knowledge by developing and delivering technical training to other Engineers and MCP Customers as needed, write complex technical articles and sample programs, and assertively triage issues to share knowledge with other engineers and develop customer solutions efficiently.  • Additional responsibilities include acting as a key technical interface to Sustained Engineering and Windows/SQL Development for the resolution of high impact or pervasive issues and driving product improvement. Technical Requirements: • Five or more year’s industry experience with Microsoft products.  • Five or more years experience in systems development, network operations, and software support or I.T. consulting.  • Experience and strong expertise in SQL Server, DB, Analysis Services, MS Cluster Server/Multi-vendor Cluster and SAN implementations.  • Solid understanding of client/server, networking, and Internet technologies fundamentals.  • Superior knowledge and demonstrated technical proficiency in 2000/2003 Server and Microsoft client products, Active Directory design and deployment, DNS, DHCP and other related areas with ability to troubleshoot at expert level within large network environments.  • In addition, the successful candidate must possess excellent knowledge of TCP/IP and other protocols including use of troubleshooting tools - scripting, resource kit diagnostic tools and packet sniffers and/or Netmon.  • Ability to debug using a variety of dump analysis tools and tracing utilities.  • Strong code level analysis and programming experience is essential.  • Must possess effective learning skills, flexibility, strong problem-solving skills, and be able to work well in a team environment.  • Periodic travel both domestically and internationally may be required.     Education: • College degree, preferably in Computer Science, is required.  We will consider related field (or equivalent) experience.  • MCSE strongly preferred, but not required at hire; however, must be obtained within 12 months of hire. Microsoft offers an excellent benefits package to full-time employees including medical, dental, vacation, employee stock purchase plan, and 401k, plus some great extras including: our 24-hour nurse line, stay fit program, product discounts, and paid infant care leave. All part of our commitment to our most important asset: our employees. For more information about life at Microsoft, please visit our careers website. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) and strongly supports diversity in the workforce. Key Words: Active Directory, Directory Services, Live Communications Server (LCS), Office Communications Server (OCS), Terminal Server (TS), MCSE ;