Director, Solution Area Specialist - Cloud & AI

As a Solution Area Specialist for the Cloud and AI Platform solutions area, you will be working with Japan Global Accounts in the North America region focused on Financial/Banking institutions.

The Solution Area Specialist is a trusted advisor who leads the design and execution of the customer’s commercial strategy and negotiation, selling the right commercial solution at the right time and ensuring every deal is compliant and profitable for Microsoft. You will be responsible for revenue generation and growth, deal making​ and as the lead negotiator, for the negotiation strategy as you develop trusted relationships with key stakeholders and peers. As a sales and negotiation professional, you are unafraid of conflict. With a positive attitude and a passion for working with customers and partners, you are comfortable speaking at all organizational levels, from the senior leaders to the procurement / purchasing teams. You will make choices for the customer based on their commercial strategic needs. As a strategic player you will be able to analyze data to identify trends, risks and opportunities. In-depth and strategic understanding of Microsoft Support, licensing programs and contracting is essential, however not required.  

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

Customer Engagement

Leads the sales strategy tailored to each customer's security priorities, showcasing Microsoft's dedication to secure, AI-powered transformation and addressing their specific needs within the customer success plan, fostering long-term partnerships through AI-driven insights. Leads partner teams and resources, and fosters lasting relationships that activate co-selling strategies and drive partner attach to each opportunity through every stage in the sales lifecycle. Leads partner organization connections (i.e. GPS) that lead to enduring relationships, shared gains, partner health and alignment with execution plans to accelerate customer value realization at scale.

Assesses and qualifies sales opportunities following sales frameworks and guidelines, ensuring alignment with AI-enhanced sales methodologies and best practices. Leads strategy development for driving and closing complex, high-value opportunities. Partners across organizations (e.g., Account Team Unit [ATU], CSU, ISD, GPS) to drive deal orchestration and ensure seamless handoffs throughout the deal lifecycle. Advances best practices to gain customer trust, secure deals, and strategically mitigate risks to enhance sales activities across the market.

Sales & Pipeline Management

Strategically analyzes business and emerging opportunities to enhance the customer portfolio and drive customer innovation. Integrates technology (e.g., AI sales agents, automation, Power Platforms) to accelerate growth across assigned domain. Employs comprehensive analysis of propensity, renewal, consumption, and usage data to refine and execute sales strategy. Manages optimization of partners assigned to each account and/or opportunity to ensure seamless handoffs with other teams (e.g., Global Partner Solutions [GPS], Customer Success Unit [CSU], Industry Solutions Delivery [ISD], Partner) throughout the deal lifecycle.

Leads sales pipeline reviews with internal senior stakeholders to drive forecasting accuracy and meeting sales targets, ensuring the use of AI-powered analytics and forecasting tools to enhance precision. Coaches others on and maintains sales and/or consumption pipeline hygiene to enable tracking to achieve assigned sales metrics using all available tools, resources, and processes Coaches others on and leads to achieve usage and/or consumption pipeline hygiene targets to actively monitor adoption trends, identify opportunities for intervention, enabling customers to realize the value of solutions purchased, drive expansion, and ensure healthier, more predictable renewals.

Sales Strategy

Leads discussions with senior stakeholders and decision makers for high-value customers to identify, qualify, and accelerate sales opportunities. Serves as a key point of contact for, and partners with internal senior stakeholders within and across organizations to strategically drive customer success. Proactively engages with account teams to align the customer's artificial intelligence (AI) transformation vision with their busin