Pursuit Lead
Microsoft
Pursuit Lead
Microsoft
Builds workplace software, PCs and cloud services
Join the Global Pursuit Organisation within Business Excellence at Microsoft Frontier Company. Frontier Company brings engineering, industry, delivery, commercial and partner capabilities together to help customers reinvent priority business processes with AI and achieve measurable outcomes. As a Pursuit Lead, you will orchestrate qualified, strategic and complex opportunities across the end-to-end pursuit lifecycle—shaping the customer outcome, commercial path, delivery approach, economics, risk position and transition to execution. The role operates across geographies, industries and organizational boundaries and reports through the applicable Global Pursuit Organisation leadership structure.
The Global Pursuit Organisation is seeking a purposeful, customer-obsessed leader who can turn strategic opportunities into winnable, executable and economically sound engagements. The Pursuit Lead works upstream with account, industry, solution, engineering, delivery, commercial, finance, legal and partner stakeholders to qualify the right work, define measurable business outcomes and design the path from opportunity through delivery handover. The role is accountable for an integrated pursuit strategy, including scope, solution and delivery approach, commercial model, estimates, staffing assumptions, profitability, risks, contingencies and governance. Pursuit Leads accelerate decision-making, challenge weak qualification, reuse proven intellectual property and patterns, and strengthen the feedback loop from customer outcomes into future portfolio choices.
Pursuit Leadership
Leads upstream identification, qualification and governance of strategic and complex opportunities, including the Opportunity Review Board process and prioritization against pursuit capacity. Orchestrates the right mix of Global Pursuit Organisation, account, industry, Forward Deployed Engineering, Industry Solutions Delivery, commercial, operations and partner resources to shape a customer outcome and an executable path to value.
Leads collaborative engagements between pursuit, sales, delivery, and business operations to drive deal pursuits. Influences customers and internal stakeholders at the C-level 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. Sets overall strategy and best practices for artifact development and ensures they are followed throughout the organization. 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.
Pursuit Execution and Governance
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.
Identifies, adapts and reuses relevant intellectual property (IP), pursuit approaches and best practices. Monitors emerging trends, applies lessons learned and contributes useful assets and insights 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 Commercial Excellence to issue contracts, supporting sales through customer negotiations, 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 sales organization process, including sales to delivery handover.
Profitable Growth and Customer Value
Drives sales growth, AI and cloud services consumption, and win rate by aligning the pursuit team to strategy and holding owners accountable. For designated accounts, proactively realigns stakeholders and actions to the agreed account strategy.
Culture and Leadership Expectations
Embody Microsoft’s culture and values by acting with integrity, accountability, inclusion and a growth mindset. Build trust across organizational boundaries, invite diverse expertise, challenge constructively and make decisions that serve customers and Microsoft responsibly.
Success measures
A portfolio of well-qualified pursuits that progress with speed and discipline; coherent customer, solution, delivery and commercial strategies; healthy economics and transparent risk decisions; effective mobilization of FDE, ISD and partner capacity; accountable handovers into delivery; and reusable insights that improve future pursuits and customer value realization.
2+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
OR bachelor's degree in business, Management, Technology or related field AND 2+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience
OR Master's Degree in Business, Management, Technology or related field AND 2+ years enterprise technology sales, consulting, or delivery management experience.
1+ years pre-sales or bid management experience.
Candidates with relevant foundational experience in pre-sales consulting are encouraged to apply.
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.
Microsoft builds workplace software, operating systems and cloud infrastructure for consumers, businesses and government agencies, from small organizations to global enterprises. Microsoft 365 combines Word and Excel with Teams communication and Copilot AI features, while Windows runs PCs and Surface supplies the company's own computers. Azure rents computing capacity, storage and databases to build and run web applications. Microsoft also sells Xbox consoles and games, collecting revenue through software licenses, subscriptions, usage charges and product sales. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.
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