Sales Specialist

Are you a passionate sales focused technologist who wants to help Startups and Digital Natives grow their businesses? Microsoft is at the forefront of AI innovation; come and help organizations rethink aspects of their business in a way that sets them and their people up for success. As a Digital Native team, we enable customer success by deeply understanding their business, embedding technical sales people alongside our customers to help them build solutions leveraging the Azure, Data & AI Microsoft Clouds.

The main goal of Digital Natives Solution Specialist is to win the commercial and technical decision of customers to purchase and use Microsoft technology and cloud services. The role is expected to help the customers’ evaluators and decision makers to take the best decisions, as well as find new opportunities through their contacts and engagements for the team to pursue.

You work within a team of technical, partner and sales resources to help educate your customers at a commercial and technical level, demonstrate, and prove our solutions, and win the commercial and technical decision. Being part of this team will allow you to maintain and develop your sales and technical expertise across Microsoft and non-Microsoft cloud-based technologies.

Ideally you will come from a technical pre sales background and have experience across Azure, Open Source and other cloud technologies. A good understanding of the Digital Native and AI landscape is critical to the success of this role.

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.

• Experience: Candidates typically need 10+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience, with a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, IT, Business Administration).
• Technical Acumen: Proven experience with cloud and hybrid infrastructure, architecture design, migrations, and industry standards.
• Communication & Collaboration Skills: Excellent communication, negotiation, organizational, and presentation skills, with the ability to orchestrate and influence virtual teams.
• Strategic & Analytical Mindset: Ability to analyze customer needs, market trends, and competitive landscape to develop effective sales strategies.
• Growth Mindset: A desire to continuously learn, adapt to new technologies, and drive change within a fast-paced environment. 

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

The Digital Native business operates like a startup within an enterprise. The ideal candidate will thrive in an ambiguous environment, network to leverage the team around them and bring a get it done attitude for our customers.

• Lead commercial and technical discussions with customers using consultative sales methodology, demos, and programs to understand needs and showcase Microsoft solutions.
• Develop a commercial and technical strategy by mapping customer vision, resolving concerns, and building a strong business case for investment.
• Drive commercial propositions and technical assessments to create migration plans aligned with customer goals.
• Design commercial solutions using technical knowledge and methodology, ensuring agreement from decision-makers.
• Identify new opportunities to support customer objectives.
• Scale through partners, facilitating resources and processes.
• Work with licencing and compliance teams to build complex value based deals.

1. Technical & Commercial Expertise

• Cloud-Native Solution Design: The specialist possesses expertise in designing and implementing cloud-native architectures, including infrastructure, data, and AI platforms, leveraging technologies like Agentic AI, TensorFlow, PyTorch, containers, and microservices.
• Business Acumen & Strategic Alignment: They understand customer business goals and map Microsoft solutions to desired outcomes, developing commercial and technical strategies that align with the customer's vision.
• Consultative Sales Approach: The role involves leading technical discussions and demonstrations, using a consultative sales methodology to showcase Microsoft solutions and build a strong business case for investment.
• Partner Collaboration: They identify and leverage Microsoft's partner ecosystem and independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop and deliver comprehensive solutions that meet customer needs. 

2. Key Responsibilities

• Customer Engagement & Advisory: Act as a trusted advisor, engaging with customers to understand their challenges and demonstrate the business value of Microsoft Cloud solutions, especially those related to infrastructure migration and application modernization.
• Pipeline Management & Deal Execution: Manage the sales pipeline from early stages to close, collaborating with account teams and partners to drive revenue and achieve sales targets.
• Technical Solutioning & Proofs of Concept: Design and propose technical solutions that meet customer requirements, including creating proofs of concept (PoCs) that showcase the capabilities of Microsoft technologies.
• Market Development & Growth: Identify emerging opportunities, analyze market trends, and pursue high-potential customers to develop target lists and grow the business.
• Driving Consumption & Adoption: Work with customers to ensure successful adoption and consumption of Microsoft solutions post-sale, including addressing technical blockers and facilitating deployment plans.
• Knowledge Sharing & Thought Leadership: Contribute to internal teams and communities by sharing insights and technical guidance, participating in events, and speaking externally as a thought leader on cloud and AI technologies.