Vacant Positions at Microsoft

Qualifications

In general - 

• Core Competencies: Organizational Leadership, Strong Business Acumen, Strategic Insights, Trusted Advisor, Strategic Sales Planning, Sales Team Leadership
• Professional Competencies: Adaptability, Customer Focus, Drive for Results, Influencing Impact, Judgement, Collaboration, Executive Maturity/Presence, Value Selling, Analytical Problem Solving, Organized & Disciplined, Initiates/Embraces Change
• Experience: 10+ years of related experience in: Senior Sales or Channel Management/Leadership Roles, Business Transformation, Coaching Solution Sales.
• Strong Business Understanding & Strategic Sales Planning Skills (understands financials, sales processes, scorecards and key performance indicators) and build sales plans.
• Education: bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience, MBA/Masters a plus with focus on business administration, economics, finance, organizational management, business management
• Coaching & Leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Be the partner to the Enterprise Lead Running the Business
• Establish and drive a well-defined, predictable rhythm of the business (RoC), that enforces great discipline in sales and consumption processes and delivers over-achievement of business results through core sales and consumption motions
• Coach and advise on sales motions/strategies for up-sell and co-sell opportunities. Drive awareness to product mix needed to meet targets, meet with customers and partners to generate new business and accelerate the close of existing opportunities
• Coach pipeline discipline leading to healthy coverage and infuse the proper forecast rigor, accuracy and accountability
• Instilling sales process discipline, adherence to standards and excellence in execution while holding sales managers accountable to quality and accuracy

Sales Leader Coaching for Growth

• Coach and support Sales Managers on executing our key priorities
• Leverage business insights and transformational leading indicators (TLIs) to benchmark performance and define current and future actions needed to grow the business faster than the overall market
• Coach sales managers to drive new Digital Transformation projects through business outcome selling

Supporting Executive Capacity

• Supports segment leader capacity as a senior leader. Advises on and contributes to various aspects of business management (e.g., employee engagement, resource allocation, change management, building high-performing teams) in collaboration with leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Represents the segment as an internal advocate and an extension of the segment leadership.

Driving Sales Process Discipline 

• Contributes to analytics on key revenue drivers (e.g. by channel, by product, by geo). Integrates findings from data analysis.
• Leverages reporting and analytical capabilities to generate data-based insights and enable visibility into revenue and forecast for sellers, sales managers and leaders, or partners. 
• Instills sales process discipline, adherence to standards and excellence in execution, or pipeline health.
• Holds sales managers accountable for account plan quality and completeness.
• Helps ensure consistency and excellence in the sales process within the segment/region.
• Shares best practices within their team. 
• Consolidates input from the supported area into the feedback loop. Communicates feedback to engineer/partner teams on tools. 

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Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or equivalent AND 1+ years industry experience
• OR 2+ years industry experience and college course work.
• Background Check Requirements: 
• 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.

While not required, we also look for the following Preferred Qualifications:

• 2+ years’ experience in Critical Environment infrastructures (e.g., UPS, Generator, AHU) or working in physical IT infrastructures (e.g., Servers, SANs, Networking, Capacity, DC Rack/Enclosures, structured cabling).
• Technical College degree in Computer Science, Math, Telecommunications, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• Applicable certifications: ASICS/Inventory Control, CompTIA, Microsoft, Network Certifications, PMP, ITIL, CDCP.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrate conscientiousness on cost adheres to budget requirements; keep costs reasonable and contribute to staying within budget.
• Follow and adhere to safety and security policies and procedures. Report immediately any safety or security issues or concerns.
• Perform troubleshooting for service incidents and escalates, as appropriate, to meet SLA/OLAs, with minimal disruption to the client/customer and business.
• Recognize potential customer impact of other events and issues (e.g., customer lockdown), communicate potential impact, and plan for impact accordingly.
• Proactively review schedules and avoid conflicts when possible. Identify, coordinate, manage expectations, and offer alternatives when defining customer solutions.
• Manage relationships with clients and suppliers to ensure that all expectations are clarified, understood, documented, and met.
• Suggest ways for reducing the risk of performing maintenance; work with others to accommodate scheduling needs.
• In alignment with management priorities, hold self-accountable for the end-to-end service quality, completeness, and resulting customer experience (including but not limited to availability, safety, security, customer service). Support escalation of issues to appropriate owner.

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Qualifications:

Experiences Required: Education, Key Experiences, Skills and Knowledge:  

• Construction, environmental or technology-related experience, preferably engaging with skilling and/or sustainability non-profit partners, public/ government affairs, research and/ or communications. 
• Experience presenting/meeting with diverse stakeholders including government policymakers, community leaders, non-profits, environmental groups, educators and school administrators, education partners and students in rural, suburban and urban environments.
• Experience in building trust with local municipality, non-profit decision makers and community members, articulating the impact of the cloud and Microsoft’s commitment to responsible technology leadership.
• Able to set clear expectations internally and externally based on community needs, available funding and timelines.
• Understanding of research methodologies, and experience in developing and sharing strategic recommendations from a broad range of data sources (e.g., survey data, social intelligence, qualitative research, online telemetry, business metrics)
• Experience with creating and implementing external communications plans, including crisis communication management, utilizing modern communication strategies.
• Ability to work across groups managing individuals both directly and indirectly, marshalling resources toward a common goal and drive for results.
• Experience managing contractors, agencies, and/or other third parties. 
• Strong team player with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Skilled at prioritization, creating order out of ambiguity.
• Excellent communications skills (e.g., listening, written, oral, and data visualization)
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced multinational environment working across multiple lines of business.

Basic Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Ability to communicate and work in Afrikaans and English languages.

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Experience with infrastructure development and/ or construction preferred.
• Strong project / program management skills.
• Strong technical skills, understanding Microsoft Cloud offerings. 
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Track record of developing 6-month plans and driving them to completion.
• Able to work across cultures effectively, valuing diversity within virtual team.
• Working knowledge of international business practices.

Responsibilities:

• Act as a primary point of contact between the local community and Microsoft’s datacenters.
• Coordinate qualitative (e.g. community listening sessions) and quantitative data collection, and turn that research data into actionable insights to understand and prioritize community needs, as well as identify social risks and opportunities
• Use research findings and exercise thought leadership to develop location-specific community strategy that delivers on Microsoft’s mission and vision, including:
• Immediate corrective and preventive action recommendations, identifying key internal stakeholders (like Land Development, Design or Construction) to implement these recommendations.
• Local community communication plan, building awareness of the role of datacenters, their local value, as well as the impactful and meaningful projects Microsoft supports. 
• Local social impact investment plan aligned to community needs
• Lead strategic engagements and build relationships with local community groups such as municipal leaders and community based non-profit organizations to drive community acceptance
• Collaborate with the global functional team to localize and implement our community research methodology, community communications priorities, as well as community development initiatives in each community.
• Coordinate activities with a broad set of CO+I stakeholders, including Land development, Research, Construction, Permitting, Environmental, Engineering and Design, Energy, Government Affairs, and Operations teams as well as with local Microsoft teams.
• Measure impact mapped to the global Community Affairs scorecard and deliver a regular cadence of program updates to Community Affairs leadership team.

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Qualifications

• Required/Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Sociology, Psychology, Computer Science or related field AND 6+ years customer success, solution delivery, practice management, customer-facing consulting, or portfolio management experience
• OR Master's Degree in Business, Sociology, Psychology, Computer Science, or related field AND 4+ years customer success, solution delivery, practice management, customer-facing consulting, or portfolio management experience
• OR equivalent experience.
• Program Management experience & CRM
• Technical Cloud Knowledge (L100)
• Additional or Preferred Qualifications
• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Sociology, Psychology, Computer Science or related field AND 12+ years customer success, solution delivery, practice management, customer-facing consulting, or portfolio management experience
• OR Master's Degree in Business, Sociology, Psychology, Computer Science, or related field  AND 10+ years customer success, solution delivery, practice management, customer-facing consulting, or portfolio management experience
•  OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years relevant work experience within customer industry.
• Microsoft or competitor equivalent (e.g., AWS) certification in relevant technologies (e.g., Azure, 365).
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation certification or equivalent service management certification.
• Project Management Institute (PMI) or equivalent Project Management certification.
• Prosci or equivalent certification.

Responsibilities

Customer Relationship Management

• Builds and coaches others on customer, partner, and internal stakeholder engagement strategy and models.
• Creates, influences, and evolves healthy, strategic relationships with key customer stakeholders, partners, and technical professionals to lead quality solution delivery and health using partnerships with other account team leaders and lead orchestration across internal/external stakeholders.
• Expands and holds accountability for executive customer and partner relationships with a focus on leading the definition of business outcomes and how to align Microsoft strategy to customer business priorities.
• Identifies, navigates, communicates, and influences key customer technical, business, and executive-level stakeholders (including partners).
• Guides and leads conversations to facilitate the achievement of customer business objectives by leveraging their investment in Microsoft.
• Maps internal roles to customer priorities to action the needs of customers and provides input into customer priorities.
• Holds, maintains, and nurtures internal stakeholder relationships. Influences and challenges senior/executive internal stakeholders.
• Leads business value conversations at customer executive levels and coaches others to communicate effectively in business value conversations.
• Synthesizes and combines various insights from their team and customer industry regarding business and Information Technology objectives for customer organizations using partnership with other account team leaders.
• Identifies customer priorities with shared accountability for the creation of shared customer account plans to support customer objectives specific to the customer's business transformation programs and common to the industry.
• Provides leadership to the team to execute support and consumption delivery programs.
• Uses industry trends and program delivery progress to identify priority area to drive customer environmental health outcomes.
• Shares industry trends with customers in terms of Microsoft current practices for their industry.

Technical Relevance

• Understands, identifies, and aligns Microsoft solutions, cross-cloud and technical capabilities (e.g., Azure, Modern Work, Dynamics) to expand upon and accelerate customer needs and priorities.
• Leverages deep foundational industry, technical expertise, and visionary mindset to enable customer success. Articulates cross-cloud technology, solutions, and services in a compelling way to internal and external stakeholders.
• Evangelizes Microsoft's position in the customers' cloud technology marketplace against competitors.
• Leverages understanding of the customer's technology platform and Microsoft's technology roadmap to enable customer digital transformation.

Customer Success Leadership

• Drives conversations with customers to demonstrate alignment between customer objectives and the current Microsoft portfolio of work in the customer account.
• Embraces the organizational and customer success strategy to maximize customer's investments and value.
• Drives and agrees upon a long-term approach to fuel adoption of Microsoft technology and services in alignment with the customer's goals and objectives.
• Drives account team planning, promoting business and technical needs for change to challenge customer thinking that drives transformation towards modern digital approaches.
• Aligns with the account team to link Customer Success Plans (CSPs) with account plan priorities and develop bookable programs of work.
• Challenges the customer and influences their strategic decision making, driving the case for change towards improved operational health.
• In partnership with key stakeholders and executives, develops and delivers strategic roadmaps for executing program planning and customer-facing program review, prioritizing engagements, and influencing key stakeholder and executive expectations to address agreed-upon customer outcomes and account priorities to deliver ongoing customer success.
• Leverages, improves upon, and streamline Microsoft delivery management methodologies, processes, and tools to improve and mitigate risks to customer operational health.
• Proactively anticipates, identifies, and mitigates customer blockers and risks by leveraging Microsoft solutions and services, and develops deliverable programs of work.
• Orchestrates delivery resources to facilitate value realization with a focus on driving operational health.
• Leads delivery program reviews with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment on customer outcomes and account priorities.

Leads escalation management and communications for delivery programs in the customer account.

• Leverages and improves upon methods for identifying, monitoring, and mitigating actual and potential blockers to consumption through data analysis and customer feedback.
• Mobilizes resources to address actual and potential blockers to consumption, ensure delivery on and continuously refine Customer Success Plans (CSPs), and identify opportunities for consumption optimization.
• Holds accountability for identified consumption milestones and their completion.
• Partners with customers to understand their business objectives and priorities, identify cross-selling and add-on opportunities, optimize usage, drive adoption, prioritize Microsoft products and services delivery to meet the most critical agreed-upon customer outcomes and account priorities, and develop and execute CSPs to meet them in order to manage consumption holistically across the entire portfolio.
• Proactively drives business growth strategies.