Strategic Partnerships Account Director

In the Technology division, we leverage innovation to build the connections and capabilities that power our Firm, enabling our clients and colleagues to redefine markets and shape the future of our communities. This is a Principal Technology Leadership & Strategy position at the Vice President level, which is part of the job family responsible for driving innovation, developing technology roadmaps, and providing vision and strategic direction to align technology initiatives with long-term business objectives, fostering a culture of excellence, growth and transformation across the organization. 

Morgan Stanley is an industry leader in financial services, known for mobilizing capital to help governments, corporations, institutions, and individuals around the world achieve their financial goals.

Interested in joining a team that’s eager to create, innovate and make an impact on the world? Read on.

We are seeking an Account Director to join the Strategic Technology Partnerships Team within Firmwide Innovation at Morgan Stanley. In this position you will play a pivotal role in optimizing product use and engagement with the Firm's most strategic technology partners. The position is designed for those with proven experience in enterprise technology sales, business development, sales engineering, and/or account management. A technical background and prior experience managing relationships with strategic/named accounts and/or large financial services accounts is a bonus.

Your primary focus will be to enhance Technology partnerships via optimizing the usage of partner products, driving revenue growth opportunities, and positioning Morgan Stanley as the partner of choice for our comprehensive suite of offerings. Additionally, you will foster opportunities for co-development, co-innovation, and co-investment with our strategic partners.

The Firmwide Innovation team builds long-lasting partnerships with technology innovators that make up the cornerstone of Morgan Stanley's technology strategy. We believe in the power of enduring partnerships to deliver world class technology solutions for our business and clients. We engage early with companies that have the potential to disrupt the market and provide the capabilities to shape the future of financial services and our integrated Firm. We partner with VCs and PE firms to understand the transformative shifts in our industry.

What You Will Do in the Role:

1. Optimize Product Use and Technology Engagement (Core):

• Develop and execute account strategy, ensuring alignment with the strategic goals of both Morgan Stanley and our Strategic partners.

• Conduct comprehensive portfolio mapping to align relevant products with Firm buyers, use-cases, and sponsoring businesses, while maintaining a competitive heatmap.

• Maintain an updated list of stakeholders and subject matter experts, ensuring effective communication and engagement.

• Manage meeting cadences, including agendas, preparations, summaries, and follow-ups on a monthly (MBR), quarterly (QBR), and annual (ABR) basis.

• Oversee ongoing communications, addressing any concerns or risks related to portfolio performance or stakeholder execution.

• Collect status updates from key stakeholders and monitor/report progress on follow-ups.

• Coordinate with internal sourcing, legal, and business management teams for major renewal and expansion milestones.

2. Drive Revenue Growth Opportunities:

• Map and maintain all relevant firm products and sellers for the account, create a virtual team to uncover uncharted sales and upsell/cross-sell opportunities.

• Devise and implement strategies for more effective selling, particularly during tech contract renewals and expansions.

• Coordinate efforts across all sellers, resolve conflicts and ensure a unified approach.

• Surface opportunities for increased collaboration and mutual product development or go-to-market initiatives.

• Map firm intellectual property and challenges to partner's current and future offerings, identifying opportunities for IP sales, exchanges, or spin-outs.

3. Foster Co-Development and Co-Innovation:

• Identify and nurture opportunities for co-development, co-innovation, and co-investment with strategic partners.

• Collaborate with partners to explore new avenues for mutual growth and innovation 

What You'll Bring to the Role:

• A minimum of six years of experience in technology sales, business development or account management within an enterprise SaaS company, with a proven track record of managing relationships with large enterprises (preferably within Enterprise Technology for Financial Services).

• Strong stra