Director, Strategic Account Technology Strategist

Overview

We are looking for a Director, Strategic Account Technology Strategist to cover a global grocery retailer in North America based near their US headquarters, preferably in Salisbury, MA, Charlotte, NC or alternatively Quincy-Boston, or Chicago, IL.

The Director, Strategic Account Technology Strategist acts as the Chief Technology Officer, trusted advisor to the client, providing clear technology guidance and leading the integration of Microsoft solutions into customer businesses. This role partners directly with senior decision-makers, including CxOs, to identify opportunities, drive demand generation, and champion digital transformation initiatives. By synthesizing business insights, the strategist orchestrates global teams and resources to deliver alternative solutions aligned with customer needs and Microsoft priorities. Responsibilities include formulating and executing technology strategies, developing technical roadmaps, mapping business scenarios to Microsoft platforms, and ensuring best practices in account planning. The role also involves coaching peers, enabling customer technical specialists, and delivering regular briefings to decision-makers, with a strong focus on building enduring customer partnerships and achieving strategic objectives.

Works closely with the Global Account Executive and Global Technology Strategist based in the Netherlands and the US Retail downstream team to match Global Customer Strategy to the US Customer Strategy.

We would love to hear from you if you:

• Have the creativity to open doors and challenge internal processes to maximize value for the customer.

• Can see the ‘big picture,’ and can comfortably engage the C-Suite – beyond just IT- on their business goals, and interpret these into capabilities and outcomes with technology peers

• Have experience of working with a globally distributed customer and colleague base, with an engagement style that seeks to understand and embrace geographical and cultural differences

• Are a leader, set out the direction, open a conversation, address any challenge with open mind, challenge the status quo as long as it benefits customers strategy and goal

• Feel comfortable playing the chameleon, address conflicts and manage direct feedback.

• Have a belief in the need of being the Frontrunner in AI

• Can think creatively on how technology trends can translate into superpowers for orgs
• Can articulate complex problems and solutions in a clear and logical manner, visualize in customer language the why, the what and the how.
• Can apply business acumen, understanding of business needs & competition to develop business opportunities

• Can apply technology to drive sales outcomes, recognize customer needs, qualify opportunities, identify how Microsoft solutions can enable business capabilities that drive growth and innovation, while staying abreast of emerging technology trends.

• Have an understanding of our products and services, as well as the ability to effectively communicate their technical aspects to both technical and non-technical decision-makers

• Can work with multiple teams and lead and orchestrate ideation into opportunities.

• Advocate growth mindset, turning challenges into opportunities

Responsibilities

Customer and Industry Insights

• Applies deep expertise and thought leadership to identify and inform the development of the right Industry Sales Kits and industry partners within the customer's vertical industry. Articulates and understands specific industry-related market trends, as well as customer threats, opportunities, and barriers to growth as they relate to the customer's broader industry. Leverages industry trends from other industries to gather insights and develop an informed perspective on similar issues that may occur within their industry/industries. Applies industry knowledge to support customers in solving issues.
• Synthesizes and combines various business and industry insights from their team, global best practices, proof points from experience/case studies with countries and/or regions, and deep industry expertise (e.g., level 200) related to customers and their competitors to conduct forecasting and develop recommendations for managing accounts and subsidiary planning. Ensures that all levels of the organization challenge customers to consider alternatives and adapt strategies, plans, business models, and solutions to insights. Orchestrates cross-regional teams to gather information, collaborate on performance markers, and identify potential risks in customer accounts. Oversees technical teams for driving opportunities with others, as necessary. Brings in business and industry insights to address the broader business challenges for the customer and deliver solutions.

Differentiated Value Proposition

• Partners with a line-of-business leader or senior executive within a large-scale or high-impact customer organization to articulate how complex Microsoft technology/services will meet future business needs better than the competition and will enable the achievement of long-term growth and success. Provides an outside-in view around existing and emerging compete or other solutions that are also a requirement for the customer.
• Acts as the customer's Technology Mentor in established relationships with a line-of-business leader or senior executive within a large-scale or high-impact customer organization senior leaders, including technical decision makers (TDMs) and/or Business Unit leaders at the C-level (e.g., HR, Risk, Finance leadership). Develops extended relationships beyond core customers, advises on solutions, and aligns Microsoft capabilities with customer needs. Drives market share (e.g., cloud, collaboration, AI). Leads customer business transformations through digital technologies for assigned accounts to drive business outcomes and create business value for customers by understanding customer industry and position to provide guidance and to challenge customer thinking with innovative ideas that showcase the need for change and new strategic direction, and proactively involves corporate and cross-industry resources to drive customer transformation. Ensures line-of-business wins are captured (e.g., customer write-ups) as reference for scale, and represents the face of the business during public relations events for significant business wins.

Education and Thought Leadership

• Leads customer technology engagement by engaging and influencing technical resources of customer, partner, and Microsoft towards customer’s business transformation. Delivers regular (e.g., quarterly, monthly) industry/technology briefings to customer technology senior decision-makers technical teams.
• Uses existing and new readiness resources and demonstrates expertise in creating enablement plans for large and high-stakes customers, and all-up Microsoft business. Drives innovations to help customers meet capacity and capability goals, maximize reach, and impact and drive long-term engagement and thought leadership on the Microsoft platform, and influences large customers to see and adopt the strategic value. Drives customer skilling initiatives and execution.

Mapping and Account Planning

• Establishes best practices and standards around account planning for budgeting, quota attainment, consumption goals, and customer consumption gaps to inform quarterly and fiscal objectives. Coordinates highly complex extended account teams (e.g., spanning complex technologies, geographies, functions) and drives forecasting and tracking of the business. Owns the technical portion of the account plan and leads the customer plan delivery for large, critical, and/or strategic accounts. Captures all Account Planning input in MSX D365 Account Plan.
• Helps customer technical specialists build the message to sell Microsoft offerings to other parts of their business or end users. Creates stakeholder maps for accounts, determines, and orchestrates a coverage plan, and builds out an execution framework across multiple Rooms of the House of the customer.
• Orchestrates internal teams and local partners (inclusive of global systems integrators and consultancy partners) to ensure sufficient technical resources for demand generation, when appropriate.

Technology Sales: Demand Generation and Orchestration

• Leads Account Strategy Envisioning (ASE, formerly IDTA) with the extended account team, customer, and partner to deliver the outcomes for the customer through joint envisioning, as a vehicle for Industry Sales Kits and Solution Plays. Creates new Stage 1 opportunities, both billed and consumed, with technical decision maker (TDM) customer stakeholders, managing consumption pipeline with extended team to maintain velocity, and unblocking issues. Coaches peers (often as a mentor across a region or country) on how to create and maintain an opportunity initiation and how to map Microsoft priorities to opportunities. Defines the blueprint for opportunity initiation and sets and shares standards and best practices for others to follow.
• Leads the customer journey into the era of AI and Industrial Metaverse by creating a targeted approach tailored to their current business requirements and positions Microsoft as a leader for the future, both for accelerating productivity as well as helping the customer create new capabilities to support their business. Leverages expertise of current technology landscape and understanding of AI and Industrial Metaverse capabilities to plot the foundational elements on the technology roadmap that need to be in place to realize value for the customer. Builds a mid-term strategy for AI and metaverse projects as well as an immediate opportunity pipeline and orchestrates execution through the appropriate technical teams from the Specialist Team Unit (STU) and with appropriate Partners
• Creates, develops, and drives opportunities based on industry best practices, presents opportunit

For more details click Job Post.