Pursuit Lead

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Date posted

Aug 02, 2024

Job number

1743243

Work site

Up to 50% work from home

Travel

0-25 %

Role type

Individual Contributor

Profession

Consulting Services

Discipline

Pursuit Management

Employment type

Full-Time

Come join the new Sales Activation and Transformation (SAT) organisation! We operate in a highly competitive environment and the ability to meet customer expectations, shape profitable deals, and lead pursuits efficiently is critical to our success as an organization.

The SAT Organization plays a pivotal role in landing Microsoft Solutions Strategy with customers and enabling their continuing Digital Transformation. As a pre-sales pursuit leader, you will be accountable for supporting the presales process by shaping and scoping deals with your extended Microsoft Services pursuit team. This role reports to the Time Zone Solution Area Pursuit Lead Manager.

The SAT Organization is looking for a passionate, purposeful leader to join the team. The Pursuit Lead (PL) is a presales leader accountable for supporting the presales process by shaping and scoping deals to satisfy customer’s requirements. You work closely with sales teams, delivery managers and other technical solution resources as required, to define and scope quality solutions that drive business outcomes, focusing where possible on digital transformation. You are responsible for leading a collaborative solution design process. You are accountable for providing deal scope, solution/approach, accurate cost estimates, pre-staffing plans, financial costs, risks and contingency / risk reserve requirements and budgetary estimations. You reuse Intellectual Property (IP) to scope end-to-end lifecycle solutions across your portfolio of pursuits that enable growth while ensuring that deal velocity and deal quality remain paramount.

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
• OR bachelor's degree in business, Management, Technology or related field AND 6+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
• OR master's degree in business, Management, Technology or related field AND 4+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• 14+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
• OR bachelor's degree in business, Management, Technology or related field AND 8+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
• OR master's degree in business, Management, Technology or related field AND 6+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience.
• 10+ years pre-sales or bid management experience.

Pursuit Leadership

• Participates and supports the ORB (Opportunity Review Board) process, managing prioritization against pursuit management capacity. Assembles and leads a large team of technical and sales resources with a broad variety of expertise across domains to support pre-sales engagements and deal shaping for highly complex and large pursuits.
• Leads collaborative engagements between pursuit, sales, delivery, and business operations to drive deal pursuits. Influences customers and internal stakeholders to remove obstacles and drive deals forward. Learns and applies lessons from experience to future pursuits. Shares lessons with others to enhance growth and efficiency. Leads and coaches' partners and Microsoft stakeholders on the common sales and delivery methodology for Microsoft and related processes. Represents the Regional/Industry Pursuit Organization to drive clarity with partners and stakeholders.
• Reflects deal qualification in pursuit to create winnable deals. Knows when to challenge. Continues deal qualification as appropriate to influence in/out of a pursuit. Helps sales team expand deals.

Deal Quality

• Coordinates and influences the development of pursuit artifacts for highly complex deals that meet customer expectations of scope, timeline, deliverables, and business outcomes. Defines expectations and accountabilities for artifact development and ensures they are followed by team members. Ensures consistency and direction across artifacts.
• Works with pursuit team to balance customer expectations with Microsoft business goals while mitigating risk and maximizing delivery best practices by applying right shoring and delivery mix capabilities including partners as appropriate for deal complexity, deal profitability, and customer maturity.
• Provides clarity on complex or unclear requirements (e.g., region), and analyzes insights to shape deals and pursuit artifacts. Identifies those who can apply solution-area knowledge to improve deal quality. Leverages lessons learned and shares knowledge with others.

Execution

• Collaborates with sales and the Industry Solutions teams to create and execute combined opportunity close schedule for large and highly complex deals that outlines owners and their actions and drives deal velocity.
• May create intellectual property (IP). Identifies trends in the use of intellectual property (IP). Adapts practices according to trends. Models reuse of intellectual property (IP) appropriately. Seeks and actively includes intellectual property (IP). Reaches out to community to learn and reuse pursuit approaches, best practices, tips, and tricks, and contributes back to the community.
• Enables quality reviews through inclusive pursuit, adhering to Microsoft business rules and policies, to shape, review and approve a deal. Works with sellers, operations and Deal and Contract Assistance (DCA) to issue contracts, supporting sales through negotiations with the customer as well as contract signature and processing.
• Manages and executes highly complex pursuits using standard processes and tools according to the defined sales and delivery methodology for Microsoft, including sales to delivery handover. Appropriately demonstrates creativity in approach.

Business Growth

• Supports sales growth, consumption, and win rate. Ensures pursuit team alignment and holds team accountable for delivering on strategy. For designated accounts, supports sales growth and consumption within account and escalates if virtual account team is selling off strategy.