Specialist Sales Leader - Azure

Overview

In SMC and Digital Sales, we have set out with the purpose of empowering our customers through the unique value of the Microsoft cloud by building a globally led, digital-first scale organization aligned with partners. Dedicated to one of the fastest growing customer segments, the Small, Medium, Corporate (SMC) and Digital Sales organization is on pace to be Microsoft's next $100 billion-dollar business - this is where you come in. As part of local subsidiaries around the world, you will support a dedicated set of customers in identifying and achieving their business objectives through best-in-class digital engagement and partner co-selling. You will also have an opportunity to work cross-collaboratively while living our shared SMC and Digital Sales Culture priorities: Diversity and Inclusivity, Wellbeing, Sustainability, and Learning. If you have been described as customer obsessed and have a passion for digital-first solutions, we invite you to learn more about the SMC and Digital Sales organization and the value we deliver to our customers, partners, and one another, every day.

As the Azure Specialist Manager, you will be leading a team of Azure Specialists to provide and sell the best-in-class cloud service and platforms to our managed customers, building the momentum for digital transformation for our customers and partners as well as Microsoft itself. The Azure Specialist Manager is a great sales coach and leader, has a challenger mentality, is savvy in sales-leadership practice and contributes with vision and flawless execution of solution sales across solution areas. This opportunity will allow you to accelerate your career growth, honing your solution sales and collaboration skills, and deepening your cloud expertise. This role is flexible in that you can work up to 50% from home.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

People Leader

• You will build and grow highly successful teams through talent management, diversity and inclusion, coaching, and career development.
• Ability to attract, retain, and develop the most technical resources in the field. Inspire and foster a culture of customer-centricity and consumption, adoption and use through collaboration with peers and extended teams.

Sales Execution

• Lead teams to identify and track new opportunities, bring impactful industry insights into customer engagements, and lead a virtual cross-organizational team on strategic projects and high impact solution sales deployments that enable digital transformation and deliver business value.
• Lead team to develop strategies through orchestration for driving and closing opportunities and guide team on communicating with customers to understand their business needs or facilitate customer interactions to assess needs.

Scaling and Collaboration

• Coach team to learn and apply the orchestration model and guide team to build a network of partners to cross-sell and up-sell.

Technical Expertise

• Coach team on business and market knowledge and act as a thought leader to help team connect Microsoft solution to customer business impact.

Sales Excellence

• Lay out customer satisfaction long-term strategies, guide team in whitespace analysis, and participate in regular strategic planning for assigned territory, review plans via ROB meetings, and align plans of team across departments.
• Ensure team meet sales targets and operational standards and maintain the health of metrics within the assigned territory while mentoring/coaching team on growing knowledge on sales or products and ensuring team completes training and obtains certifications as required.

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications (RQs/MQs)

• 9+ years of technology-related sales or account management experienceOR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field AND 7+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
• OR equivalent experience.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications (PQs)

• 11+ years of technology-related sales or account management experienceOR Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, or related field AND 10+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
• OR Master's Degree in Business Administration (e.g., MBA), Information Technology, or related field AND 8+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience
• OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of solution or services sales experience.
• 3+ year(s) of people management experience.
• Strategic thinking & execution. Ability to develop sales and business strategy options, while also being able to successfully execute plans and build strong relationships.
• Excellent Communicator. Strong negotiation, organizational, presentation, financial acumen, written, and verbal communication skills.
• High Performer. Highly driven person who consistently exceeds goals and expectations and has the ability, characteristics, and determination to compete effectively against skilled and diverse competition.
• Work cohesively with members of the Microsoft sales & services team, Microsoft partners, engineering, and marketing to solve customer and partner issues, leverage best practices, & deliver results.
• Purposeful Planner & Executor – Delivers business impact with intentional planning, driving clarity to the team with consistent coaching rhythms, removing blockers and ensuring quarterly business budget goals are met.
• Growth Mindset. Ability to overcome and work around problems that are inevitable in rapidly growing businesses – positive approach to problem solving, learning, and development.
• Disciplined Operator – Maintains excellence in pipeline management, forecasting and driving integrated territory and budget achievement planning.
• Deep understanding of Azure & related hyperscale solutions and how they translate into business impact, including competitive landscape and related MS commercial cloud offeringsIndustry certifications including but not limited to: PMI, Selling, local technology associations, etc. a plus.
• Meaningful non-Microsoft prior sales leader experience at IT Consulting and services or cloud services company, ideally with complex sales training (e.g., Miller Hyman, Spin, Michael Bosworth, Challenger, Sandler, etc.)
• Certification in Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) and equivalent competitive certifications and/or prepared to attain AZ-900 certification within 3 months

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.