As an Azure Data & AI Specialist, you are a business leader with technical expertise within our Specialist Team Unit (STU) sales organization, working with our most important customers. You will lead a virtual team of sales, technical, and services resources to help customers realize digital transformation through cloud computing achieve/exceed quarterly Azure Data & AI consumption targets for related workloads in your assigned accounts. You will be able to engage with decision makers to uncover digital transformation initiatives and have a passion for learning how Azure cloud services can deliver digital transformation. You will develop and maintain an Azure Data & AI expertise, able to identify projects, build a compelling business case, and drive the consumption project to production. You will build and maintain relationships with customers, influence long-term strategic direction and act as a trusted advisor driving engagement at the c-suite level with technology decision makers. You will help customers evaluate their cloud strategy, determine approaches related to modernize their data estate and identify Data & AI use cases and recommend solutions that meet their requirements.

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

Sales Execution

• Engages in conversations with customers through seminars, demos, workshops, webinars, and direct engagement to introduce how Azure infrastructue workloads could enable digital transformation areas that are aligned with the customer's industry.
• Collaborates with account teams and partners to discover new opportunities and drives incremental Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) growth. Applies Microsoft's sales process (MCEM) to determine the quality of the opportunity and whether to proceed.
• Identifies opportunities to drive consumption and grow business with existing customers by initiating conversations, providing demos or quotes, and collaborating with partners or internal teams (e.g. Technical Sales Professionals, Cloud Solution Architects, Global Black Belts (GBBs)...).
• Identifies customer business needs and technical readiness. Collaborates with internal teams, partners to propose solutions that align with customers' needs. Leverages the value propositions to communicate business impact of proposed solutions and listens tocustomers to understand business outcomes.
• Develops an understanding of external stakeholders' mapping, including who the decision makers and influencers are. Participates with account teams (e.g. Account Executives) in communication with business or subject matter decision makers at the customer's/partner's business.
• Implements strategies to help accelerate the closing of deals in collaboration with other team members. Implements close plans (e.g. how to map timeline, engage the customer, get customer buy-in and commitment) to de-risk and drive predictable deal closure.

Scaling and Collaboration

• Collaborates with Global Microsoft Solutions (GPS) organization and relevant partners to jointly sell our solutions and implements proposals with the mentioned partners. 

Technical Expertise

• Extends relationships with peers and team members across solution areas. Creates connections at technical community events.
• Initiates conversations with prospective customers/partners at events to expand external network and acts as a subject matter expert internally and externally and is perceived as a trusted advisor by our customers.
• Researches competitor products and solutions and positions Microsoft against competitors in customer communication.

Sales Excellence

• Manages the pipeline of the assigned territory. Conducts forecasting for assigned accounts and develops a portfolio and territory plan.
• Collaborates with partners and resources and learns about customer business. Supports team members to explore business and emerging opportunities.
• Proactivly seeks client feedback to identify and understand the drivers of satisfaction and execute plans to maintain and continue to build on it, and to identify and understand the drivers of dissatisfaction and shares feedback with account teams and comes up with ideas to constantly improve the relationship with our customers.
• Completes required training and obtains relevant product and role certifications aligned to the role and workload/industry.
• Embodies our culture and values

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Several years of technology-related sales or account management experience
• OR Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration or related field AND several years technology-related sales or account management experience.

• Ability to solve customer problems through cloud technologies and expertise in selling to senior business decision makers by aligning & reinforcing the value of the solution to the customer’s overall business pain and/or strategic opportunities and decision criteria AND Understanding of partner ecosystems and the ability to leverage partner solutions to solve customer needs.
• Understanding of cloud platforms including Azure infrastructure services, hybrid cloud technologies, developer tools and services and/or complementing solutions. Ability to engage with developers and IT architects as trusted advisors, as well as ability to articulate and present the business value of Microsoft's  cloud solutions and have firm understanding of Microsoft's strategies. 
• Full proficiency in German and English

Additional/Desired Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration or related field

• Solution Sales experience in the cloud computing field

• Azure Associate or Expert Certifications (otherwise be prepared to earn certification within 3 months)

• Success-driven, works well in a diverse team and enjoys a dynamic and changing environment.
• Orchestrate and influence virtual teams to pursue sales opportunities and lead v-teams through influence.

The salary for this role is starting from 90,400 euros per annum depending on experience.

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.