OverviewApplies a range of impactful strategies to convince C-suite leaders of Microsoft's value over competitors. Reviews proposed account visions to ensure they are aligned with overall Microsoft value proposition and value propositions and overall partner business goals. Reviews across accounts to identify high-level opportunities to secure Microsoft as an industry leader and ahead of emerging trends. Sets an example for creating/developing long-term trusted-advisor relationship with major global partners, even in difficult situations. Coaches and holds team accountable for providing thorough training or onboarding on a variety of topics. Develops strategies for initiating and leading seamless and successful digital transformation processes of partner plans and strategies around solutions and services. Leads complex and high impact campaigns with various functional areas and the partners marketing teams. Supports team members and partners in the building of world-class teams that are staffed with talent and enabled and incentivized to drive sales. Leads team on developing marketing strategies. Ensures partner advocacy is a guiding force within the culture of the team, and holds team accountable for advocated internally and escalating urgent partner issues. In addition, this role has people management responsibilities including driving employee growth and development, executing projects, and managing performance.
Responsibilities Microsoft Business Leader
Coaches and holds team accountable for providing thorough training or onboarding on a variety of topics (e.g., independent selling, market opportunities, technical information) based on partner needs to ensure partner readiness. Defines and incorporates partner capacity into onboarding and training processes. Works with executive partner stakeholders to drive capabilities. Works with stakeholders (e.g., Go-to-Market managers and teams) to secure right training/onboarding offering information and ensure it is in place. Leads team to drive growth and transformation. Leads team to create local strategies to align capacity and capability of the partner to compete, gain, and win share for Microsoft solutions to expand platform and sockets for services. Builds and scales partner digital selling capabilities. Identifies innovative strategies to monitor market landscape and partner's impact and leverages their end-to-end understanding to influence the local strategy in business planning decisions.
Sets an example for creating/developing long-term trusted-advisor relationship with major global partners, even in difficult situations, to ensure strategic alignment and drive growth. Provides guidance on developing mutually beneficial account plans that account for both partner and Microsoft priorities, strategies, and goals. Directs and sets expectations for teams to leverage trusted advisor relationships and expertise to clearly articulate short- and long-term business opportunities for partners and ways to pursue them.? Drives long-term strategies to influence C-suite/board level across complex stakeholder maps.
Applies impactful strategies to convince C-suite leaders of Microsoft's value over competitors. Adapts or customizes Microsoft corporate strategies based on local partner market in collaboration with internal teams (e.g., Segments, Global Partner Solutions, Business in Marketing Organization (BMO)). Coaches team on communicating Microsoft's value to partner leaders above competitors. Anticipates and communicates competitive threats throughout the selling and account management lifecycle. Defines partner selection for the team. Delivers business impact and focuses the team on driving business outcomes. Responsible for establishing new market opportunities by working with market makers and establishing a long-term strategic vision and the art of the possible for partners, leading opportunities for deeper commitments. Reviews proposed account visions to ensure they are aligned with overall Microsoft value proposition and value propositions and overall partner business goals. Mentors and challenges team to influence senior business decision makers to adopt proposed account visions. Articulates value propositions to C-suite decision makers. Sets expectations for teams to build, maintain, and apply in-depth knowledge of products, channels, end customers, and industry and market trends to share with partners.? Upholds Microsoft policies, procedures, and/or legal compliance standards. Delivers and influences long-term partnership horizons. Drives deep ownership of the multiple facets of a partnership. Reviews across accounts to identify high-level opportunities to secure Microsoft as an industry leader and ahead of emerging trends. Disseminates competitive intelligence information to team members to enable development of informed plans to address opportunities.
Sets and communicates the strategic vision for developing and executing partner business plans that leverage creative solutions, drive growth for the partner and Microsoft, and streamline cloud consumption and digital transformation. Reviews the goals, strategies, and expectations of plans. Establishes and ensures high quality and rigor of the planning and execution process (e.g., ensures follow through, tracking of key metrics, etc.) for both Microsoft and partners. Ensures additional cloud services and prioritized solutions are included in the plan. Shares expert knowledge with partners, to create strategies with line of business executives that challenge the partners to consider new or different ways to grow businesses. Champions Microsoft as a valued partner by aligning vision for tech and services with future opportunities to transform how we compete. Drives a strategic, effective, and actionable World-class Account Plan to land Global Partner Solutions (GPS) priorities.? Establishes and maintains partner Rhythm of Business (RoB) across all levels and takes share as appropriate. Brings deep subject matter expertise to enrich designs and plans.
Ensures team members develop plans and strategies to capitalize on patterns, opportunities, and gaps in partner accounts by leveraging existing products or investing in building new solutions to drive business. Reviews plans across different sales teams to ensure opportunities have been realized and facilitate strategic alignment. Consults with industry experts to recommend portfolio enhancements for partner. Guides team to build and maintain Quarterly Execution Plans focused on Core & New to build a healthy portfolio of solutions offerings
Partner Assessment and Qualification
Sets and manages recruitment strategies to identify and onboard new partners and upsell products and services with current partners to create a strong portfolio, maximize business, and capitalize on market opportunities. Provides opportunities for others to influence partner executives to pursue opportunities with Microsoft. Develops and shares best practices across teams on portfolio balance and partner capacity, and leveraging actionable insights from investing the investing community.
Partner Performance and Impact
Ensures partner advocacy is a guiding force within the culture of the team, and holds team accountable for advocated internally and escalating urgent partner issues. Acts as a role model for the team and organization for partner advocacy. Provides coaching and guidance to team members on escalation processes and resolution tactics. Drives shared accountabilities across GPS and with Segment Leaders. Orchestrates regular business reviews, Build, and Co-Sell rhythms of business (RoBs), mobilizing the ideas, resources and support required to exceed targets in alignment with appropriate stakeholders. Establishes relationships with Channel Sales counterparts (PDM, PTS, PMA-MW) in support of the Device + Services with Modern Workplace and M365, Teams, including the Azure opportunity through direct, and indirect partner GTM.? Ensures team advocates for partner(s) internally at the local level by connecting partner(s) to Microsoft executives to facilitate local reviews for device roadmaps and opportunity pipelines and transformational projects.? Actively seeks opportunities to demonstrate the value of the partner to other organizations within Microsoft.
Supports team members and partners in the building of world class teams that are staffed with talent and enabled and incentivized to drive sales. Coaches team members on how to provide the right mix of incentives and offers to the partners. Provides team direction to lead with Intelligent Edge/Intelligent Cloud to create strategic alignment through strong storytelling with local partner executives to gain commitment to build their selling/technical skill sets and incentivizes for their customers.? Acts as a trusted advisor to CRO in Cloud sales transformation (e.g., readiness, compensation, territories)
Partner Sales and Consumption
Leads the development and implementation of strategies for orchestrating go-to-market, co-selling, and incentive strategies for strategic, global and local partners. Outlines activities and expectations for both Microsoft and the partner to sales goals while taking into account Microsoft and partner business situations. Demonstrates advanced pipeline management, broad seller mobilization, and strong leadership sponsorship. Leads teams to build and launch integrated industry specific offerings on Marketplace with partners. Leads co-selling and customer transactions through Marketplace.
Develops strategies for initiating and leading seamless and successful digital transformation processes of partner plans and strategies around solutions and services. Guides, challenges, and sets up structures for key team members to stay on top of the pipeline by deeply integrating themselves with partners and being proactive in challenging partners' needs and goals. Provides team expertise to partner with Global Partner Solutions (GPS) to gain support for strategic transformational initiatives to drive incremental cloud growth. Leads team across the Microsoft and partner sales teams to manage pipeline and drive large opportunities/deals. Leads team to guide partners through Digital transformation by building Digital capabilities with a Challenger mindset: sharing ideas, perspectives, and building a trusted advisory relationship.? Develops and initiates innovative strategies on how to drive sales rhythm for partner business with Partner Development Managers (PDMs), connect to segment sales teams, and recommend methods, programs, and/or incentives to improve connection between partners and Microsoft sellers. Serves as sales sponsor for big enterprise opportunities with partners. Develops strategies to ensure partner pipeline is reflected in MSX.
Leads complex and high impact campaigns with various functional areas and the partners marketing teams. Creates structures and processes to ensure campaign tactics, offers, and incentives for partners are relevant and updated as needed. Holds team members accountable for following up on the core sales activities and will guide resourcing efforts. Ensures sales targets are clear and that actions and accountabilities are being routinely followed up. Leads team to ensure Launch Excellence with sales readiness, device assortment and GTM activities. Critically analyzes current investment structures and incentives in order to identify and recommend improvements. Leads team on developing marketing strategies (e.g., campaigns, incentives, and promotions) that are aligned across teams to drive customer sales and secure partner readiness. Reviews the implementation of marketing plans to evaluate return on investment (return on investment [ROI]). Coaches and challenges team on advising partners on marketing initiatives. Provides expertise to work on deals to gain commercial and consumer share. Leads team to ensure Launch Excellence including Partner sales readiness and go- to- market activities. ??Demonstrates an advanced understanding of GTM programs and runs highly complex campaigns, and actively coaches team. Identifies new sources of GTM funding. Guides others to build and launch integrated industry specific offerings on Marketplace with partners.
People Management
Managers deliver success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching, and caring. Model: Live our culture. Embody our values. Practice our leadership principles. Coach: Define team objectives and outcomes. Enable success across boundaries. Help the team adapt and learn. Care: Attract and retain great people. Know each individual’s capabilities and aspirations. Invest in the growth of others.
QualificationsRequired/minimum qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business Operations, Computer Science or a related field AND 10+ years experience in partner management, sales, business development, or partner channel development in the technology industry or related experience OR equivalent experience.
5+ years people management experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications
Master's Degree in Business Administration, Business Science, or an Advanced Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or a related field AND 12+ years experience in partner management, sales, business development, or partner channel development in the technology industry or related experience OR equivalent experience.
8+ years people management experience.
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
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 with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.