Strategic Initiatives Director

Strategic engagement leadership 

Proactively identifies and determines high-impact parties to partner with/sell to through orchestrating a customer assessment of their current needs and defining a value proposition to meet those needs. Prioritizes and pursues large and transformative market opportunities and trends for Microsoft that provide opportunities for customers to leverage Microsoft platforms/products by identifying, quantifying, and qualifying opportunities. Evaluates opportunities and leads overall planning in cooperation with various internal functions in region and HQ (e.g., field sales, industry and solution specialists, partner development org) to identify and prioritize goals and objectives for an achievable target. 

Leads end-to-end functional thinking and discussions to design and drive customer strategic deals for a commercial strategic framework that are aligned with business objectives and customer current state and needs at an appropriate motion and cadence in cooperation with customers. Oversees that strategic deals incorporate relevant market factors (e.g., competitive, economic, industry specific) to drive optimal results and return on investment. Ensures prospective pipelines and opportunities are built into deals across customers. Empowers a strong customer presence through a deep customer focus and strategic development, attracting and committing customers to the journey through the integration of customer feedback. Ensures information from prior engagements and learnings are integrated to build an improved strategy. Drives understanding of customer needs, gains internal customer alignment, and mobilizes partners to achieve the strategy. Facilitates the incorporation and feedback of other internal teams (e.g., product, engineering, finance, legal, sales, marketing) and executive-level leaders to help inform the strategy. 

Provides thought leadership and commercial coaching to peers, team members, and account teams in order to strengthen the team's commercial capability as a durable asset of the organization. 

Stakeholder Management 

Identifies appropriate executive-level stakeholders within customers to connect and work with in pursuit of new business generation. Acts as the voice and a trusted advisor for customers/partners across the organization to design and oversee plans/programs. Connects customers with key senior level influencers/players, as well as Microsoft's value proposition, in order to drive effective customer models and strategies. 

Builds trusted advisor partnerships with executive-level leaders and managers, representing the organization to area/regional leadership. Influences across the company to accomplish initiatives and achieve business goals, owning the relationships with cross-functional (e.g., finance, engineering, legal, commercial, product, sales segments) and multi-country team members.  

Secures cross-organization investment and resourcing for strategic partnerships - including engagement with HQ teams - and holds those commitments to delivery. 

Deal execution 

Leads discussions with customers to align on customer and Microsoft needs and define desired outcomes for strategic customer and partner engagements. Shapes and drives negotiations with existing and new customers and partners, aligning long-term priorities to develop strategically important deals. Identifies and engages key senior stakeholders across Microsoft (e.g., product, engineering, finance, legal, sales, and marketing), secures their support, and drives internal alignment to advance negotiations. 

Plays a leading role in closing effective, mutually beneficial deals with customers, in collaboration with internal stakeholders (e.g., account team, solution specialist team). Orchestrates the creation of an action plan that spans across the end-to-end strategic landscape to ensure the deal is properly closed through the integration of reports, risk analyses, driving agreements, and assessing value in strategic deals. Leads conversations and coordinates with Microsoft's legal team to ensure that contracts are signed, that the deal is effectively closed, and that there is compliance between teams. 

Serves as the escalation point and final commercial reviewer for deals led by other team members, and formally mentors less experienced team members through deal cycles so that deal-making capability is transferred, not concentrated. 

Strategic engagements execution and on-going process improvement 

Post-deal, establishes and owns the partnership governance model, including partnership PMO, executive cadence, and initiative-level ownership where requirements exceed the capacity or capabilities of the account team (ATU/STU/CSU). Leads cross-functional execution against strategic objectives, aligning stakeholders, resources, milestones, and performance indicators to ensure timely delivery of agreed outcomes. 

Continuously evaluates performance and stakeholder feedback to identify gaps, incorporate lessons learned, and improve strategic plans and execution. Drives in-flight adjustments and process improvements to strengthen customer centricity, technological intensity, and execution simplicity. 

Strategic projects 

Apart from strategic customer/partner engagements, lead Area-level strategic projects prioritized by the Area VP to help improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency. 

Required/Minimum Qualifications 

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years experience in business development, management consulting, field sales, account management, sales operation, or marketing OR equivalent experience. 

• 3+ years project leadership/management experience. 

Additional or Preferred Qualifications 

• 8+ years experience in a related business/ functional domain. 

• 5+ years project leadership/management experience. 

• 5+ years experience working in a matrixed organization, preferably in the technology industry. 

• Master's Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Computer Science, Law, or related field AND 8+ years experience in business development, sales, consulting, or marketing OR equivalent experience. 

• Readiness to grow into a people-leadership role within 12-18 months.