Solution Area Specialists--Data & AI
Job Summary
Job Description
Microsoft seeks a Solution Area Specialist in Data & AI. This role requires 7+ years of technology sales or account management (or a Bachelor's degree and 6+ years). Responsibilities include sales execution (closing deals, thought leadership, lead generation), scaling and collaboration (partner engagement, resource coordination), technical expertise (mentoring, industry insight sharing), and sales excellence (business planning, account management). The ideal candidate will possess strong technical skills, industry knowledge, and leadership qualities to drive business growth and customer satisfaction within the Data & AI domain. This role involves orchestrating teams, driving deal closure, and collaborating across departments to achieve strategic goals. Experience with digital transformation and advanced workloads is preferred.
Must have:
- 7+ years tech sales/account management
- Strong sales execution & thought leadership
- Partner collaboration & resource coordination
- Technical expertise and industry knowledge
- Business planning and account management
Good to have:
- Master's degree in relevant field
- Experience with digital transformation
- Advanced workload knowledge
- Social selling experience
- Experience with high-value, global accounts
Perks:
- Industry-leading healthcare
- Educational resources
- Product and service discounts
- Savings and investment programs
- Maternity and paternity leave
- Generous time off
- Giving programs
- Networking opportunities
7 skills required
Job Details
Overview
Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. You can help us to achieve our mission.
Qualifications
Required/Minimum Qualifications
• 7+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
o OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field AND 6+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience.
Additional or Preferred Qualifications
• 9+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
o OR Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, or related field AND 8+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
o OR Master's Degree in Business Administration (i.e., MBA), Information Technology, or related field AND 5+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience.
• 6+ years of solution or services sales experience.
Responsibilities
Sales Execution
• Brings impactful industry insights into customer engagements and closes deals with customers. Acts as a thought leader across solution areas to advise customers across business functions on digital transformation. Leads virtual transformational shifts to drive deployment and create business value for customers. May lead partner integration into account/territory planning and customer engagements. Provides thought leadership.
• Orchestrates with team members on conducting personal campaigns to discover new opportunities and generate new leads. Leads conversations with strategic/high-potential customers (e.g., high budget, global account, highly competitive) along with account teams or partners. Facilitates the account team unit (ATU) and/or Specialist Team Unit (STU) to build pipeline in collaboration with partners and services. Guides others on social selling. Applies Microsoft's sales process (MSP) to determine the quality of the opportunity and whether to proceed, and educate the customers on how to best address their needs.
• Drives consumption and grow business with existing strategic customers by initiating conversations, guiding others on demos or quotes, and the collaboration with partners or internal teams (e.g., Technical Sales Professionals, Global Black Belts). For licensing transactions and project engagements, ensures rapid and robust deployment plan at point of sale that is validated by services and partners. Drives advanced workloads and usage.
• Explores and assesses the needs of strategic/high-potential customers. Articulates business value and long-term implications for customer business. Collaborates with internal teams, partners, and services to lead the proposal or development of solutions that align with customer and Microsoft priorities. Analyzes market trends to identify opportunities for new solutions.
• Proactively builds and governs external stakeholder network and leverages internal partners to engage external stakeholders. Acts as a thought leader and subject matter advisor to the executive-level business decision makers at the customer's/partner's business. Guides others on identifying and engaging decision makers and stakeholders to expand the relationship with customers/partners.
• Develops strategies for driving and closing strategic and/or prioritized opportunities. Collaborates with account teams to ensure alignment with the account strategy and plan. Leads deal execution with the deal teams across the organization. Coaches others on the implementation of close plans (e.g., how to map timeline, engage the customer, get customer buy-in and commitment) to de-risk and drive predictable deal closure.
Scaling and Collaboration
• Leads the planning and execution on opportunities with resources and partners to cross-sell and up-sell. Identifies, leverages, and coordinates partners and resources across solution areas. Validates partner solution relevance for customers. Provides input and feedback to One Commercial Partner (OCP) on developing partner strategies and connects the partner ecosystems to scale business results.
• Leads the sales orchestration with internal stakeholders and partners (e.g., Enterprise Operating Unit). Applies a holistic approach to build network across territories. Positions opportunities to promote collaboration and participation.
Technical Expertise
• Leads conversations and sets up events within Microsoft. Mentors others and develops strategies for best practice sharing across subsidiaries. Contributes ideas that can be instituted across Microsoft.
• Posts information or speaks at external events, drives conversations with prospective customers/partners as a thought leader across solution areas.
• Leverages and shares competitor knowledge across solution areas as a subject matter expert to inform decisions on pursuit or withdrawal. Collaborates with the 'compete' global black belts (GBB) to proactively provide analysis of the competitive landscape in supported solution area. Leads the communication to provide feedback to other teams (e.g., sales, marketing, engineering) on future product trends or sales blocker.
Sales Excellence
• Builds and transforms new markets by leveraging technical and industry expertise, partners, and resources. Leads a team to explore business and emerging opportunities to optimize the portfolio and facilitate customer innovation.
• Reviews feedback report and sets long-term strategies aimed at maintaining levels of client satisfaction. Coaches others on ensuring customer/partner satisfaction and decreasing dissatisfaction by establishing recovery action plans to improve clients' overall experience. Manages and/or orchestrates sales and delivery success through the account team and pursuit team.
• Engages with internal and external stakeholders on business planning, Rhythm of Business (ROB) meetings to review and plan for strategic accounts across territories.
• Collaborates with extended sales team, partners, and marketing to lead business analysis (e.g., whitespace analysis, identify industry trends) to pursue high-potential customers and develop a target list of potential business. Acts as a thought leader and clears opinions and perspectives from business analysis.
• Manages the end-to-end business for strategic accounts across the organization. Leads forecasting for accounts and develops a portfolio and territory plan to drive intentional selling with on-strategy engagements in high propensity accounts. Mentors junior team members.
• Completes required training and obtains relevant product and role certifications aligned to the role and workload/industry. Proactively seeks training, including information that adds to the understanding of customers' business, and shares it with team members.
Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.
Industry leading healthcare
Educational resources
Discounts on products and services
Savings and investments
Maternity and paternity leave
Generous time away
Giving programs
Opportunities to network and connect
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