Senior Account Executive
Microsoft
Senior Account Executive
Microsoft
Builds workplace software, PCs and cloud services
We are currently looking for a Senior Account Executive to join the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) OU, now in its second year, and help us continue transforming how we serve our DIB customers.
Microsoft's US Public Sector Industries DIB Team focuses on empowering our commercial Department of Defense (DOD) customers through their digital journey, from envisioning new possibilities to delivering solutions that result in targeted business outcomes, a solid customer experience and revenue growth for Microsoft.
You will have the opportunity to drive digital technology transformation (in partnership with your customer) to achieve both Microsoft and customer business outcomes. Leveraging your large, multi-functional team across the breadth of the Microsoft product portfolio, you will engage at executive levels to bring industry-relevant solutions that help the customer adopt and embrace digital technologies.
With a proven history of driving growth in market share, achieving sales targets, customer obsession and partner collaboration, you will have the opportunity to leverage your extensive customer network and sales experience to execute against a territory account plan.
The Senior Account Executive at Microsoft leads our most valued customers into the digital era. Embracing a challenger mindset, the successful Account Executive manages, orchestrates and leads their virtual teams and closes opportunities with customers that produce transformative business outcomes.
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.
Customer Engagement
Proactively cultivates relationships with customers and uses Microsoft sales strategies with executive, business, and technical decision makers at high levels of the customer's organization through consultative engagement to establish alignment and secure buy-in and execution. Connects the customer to Microsoft business and technical executives. Establishes Rhythm of Business (RoB) with top customer sponsors to regularly highlight the value of the Microsoft solutions and subsequent Return on Investment (ROI). Works with the customer partners foster trust and brand growth and loyalty through multiple levels of the customer's organization in the assigned accounts. Assists partners in joint-selling by establishing joint desire to create new go-to markets by starting to build relationships in new markets. Leverages digital selling methods to grow your network and create a pipeline, consume account-based marketing output, and reflect in the engagement strategy in our customer plan.
Proactively develops a comprehensive understanding of the customer's business and technology needs and priorities for each assigned account. Identifies opportunities to drive optimizations and new business and technology solutions based on customer's strategies. Presents solutions and ideas based on customer insights. Advocates on behalf of the customer internally, ensuring requests and needs of assigned accounts are being addressed. If industry aligned, also develops a comprehensive understanding of the customer's industry.
Supports business transformation through technology for assigned accounts in multiple business units to drive business outcomes and create business value for customers. Leverages consultative and insightful listening skills that disrupts the mindset of customers by bringing innovative ideas that showcase the need for change and new strategic direction. Is sought out by the customer for guidance related to transformation. Proactively involves corporate resources and engages cross-industry resources to drive customer transformation. Ability to influence and mitigate proactively competitive risk. Ensures line-of-business wins are captured as reference for scale through insightful listening.
Account Management
Develops and oversees the execution of account plans utilizing common sales and delivery methodology for the Microsoft sales organization for multiple accounts and works to ensure engagements yield high volume sales for both Microsoft and the customer that are on track with goals, outcomes, and forecasts. Leads multiple, diverse, and high-performing teams and coordinates with internal industry experts on account planning and execution for various accounts. Coordinates with industry experts to identify new business opportunities and drive account growth. Leads extended team and embraces partners to scale business by understanding partner goals and creating an interest in mutual business growth, and deep understanding of plan to ensures achievement of revenue and consumption targets and drives integrated joint account governance through customer plan on regular frequency to achieve customer outcomes. Identifies initial stakeholders, customer needs, and customer priorities. Proposes initial Solutions/Sales Plays. Leverages sales acumen to set action items and approach to drive big bets and drive new business opportunities based on customer strategy and priorities.
Thinks strategically about customer planning for assigned accounts, setting standards and priorities, outlining where to and how to invest resources of the account management team and other stakeholders, engaging internal and external decision makers on long-term business planning, and anticipating needs of assigned accounts to turn enterprise accounts into strategic accounts. Influences to scale strategic plans (inclusive of partners) and involves executive leadership team. Ensures teams are documenting in the Account Plan.
Oversees multiple accounts and leads planning and prioritization efforts to anticipate and ensure appropriate responses to account needs. Develops strategies to manage pipeline and meet sales goals by reviewing forecasts, assessing and mitigating risks, and ensuring strategy alignment with business priorities. Leads virtual teams to properly re-adjust priorities, all while maintaining a high level of commitment and accountability. Prioritizes line of business projects to achieve business outcomes. Reduces complexity for the customer and for internal teams by prioritizing the most strategic partners to deliver outcomes.
Expands network of key internal and external partners and other business decision makers in customers' accounts to grow sales and partner impact and to provide a seamless account management experience to the customers, ensuring proper execution of core tasks and account transactions. Engages with key mainstream partners to promote long-term, mutually-beneficial business and technology transformation strategies. Expands network of influence on the board to expand reach and influence decision making. Drives joint solutions with partners. Where applicable, shares opportunities outbound with partners, and reviews/accepts opportunities shared inbound. Proactively engages and works with partners’ sellers directly to drive non-qualified opportunity momentum and deal closure inclusive of partners.
Sales Excellence
Actively seeks customer feedback (both formal and informal) of assigned accounts regarding ways to identify and understand the drivers of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction. Helps in the creation of long-term strategies aimed at maintaining levels of customer satisfaction. Orchestrates others to anticipate issues/risks on customer satisfaction, determine the root cause of problems, remove blockers, and establish recovery action plan to improve customer's overall experience. Leverages key executive relationships to build trust with the customer organization. Proactively establishes agreement on success measures and manages execution on success measures to prevent need for recovery plans.
Positions oneself as a thought leader and trusted advisor internally and externally to executive-level business decision makers of multiple assigned accounts by leveraging best-in-class sales and communication techniques to lead extended virtual teams and key stakeholders with deep industry experience (e.g., customers' sponsors) to build relationships with decision makers of assigned accounts. Document and creates stakeholder map in the account plan of the key decision makers, influencers, and sentiment.
Engages decision makers of assigned accounts to clearly articulate Microsoft's value proposition aligned to customer's business objectives. Translates features into business impact and outcomes that accelerate the customer's digital presence. Develops plans to offer more targeted solutions that satisfy customers' key performance indicators (KPIs) and align the right partner solution for customer industry needs.
Develops compelling, value-proposition presentations and specialized business plans for customers that drive business outcomes. Demonstrates thought leadership and presents business plans to customers to generate new non-qualified opportunities. Guides others on how to tailor industry-specific presentations. Presents outcome based cross solution strategies.
Develops and implements plans for maximizing upselling/cross-selling non-qualified opportunities in certain accounts. Drives plans to highlight Microsoft's and partners' solutions to solving additional business and technology issues and aims to expand budget allocated to Microsoft. Leverages virtual teams to identify and act on new non-qualified opportunities while utilizing common sales and delivery methodology for the Microsoft sales organization.
Industry Knowledge
Proactively builds and maintains knowledge of Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy, as well as of the business priorities and potential threats the customers face. Coordinates with internal industry experts to gather industry data of assigned accounts and improve planning. Demonstrates understanding of the customers' business strategy and the direction of the industry.
Other
Required Qualifications
Other Requirements:
Preferred Qualifications
5+ years experience making recommendations to and/or collaborating with mid-to-senior level executives.
5+ years experience closing large, complex agreements/deals.
5+ years account management experience OR equivalent.
Azure Certifications and/or business value selling certifications preferred.
Strategic Account Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $133,000 - $222,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $170,300 - $239,800 per year.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
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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