The Account Technology Strategist (ATS) is a technical thought leader responsible for the digital and AI transformation of our customers through the adoption of Microsoft technologies. As a core part of the sales team, the ATS is responsible for facilitating interactions between clients and Microsoft, fostering new opportunities, inspiring customers, demand generation, market share growth, digital and AI transformation, and aligning industry/business scenarios with technological solutions. In partnership with the Account Executive, you will set the strategy to drive your customer’s innovation agenda through a deep understanding of their environment and by inspiring them around the possibilities that Microsoft technology can deliver. This particular ATS role has a core focus on the Victorian and Tasmanian State Governments. With the huge opportunity we have with AI and our core focus on Security, there has never been a more exciting time to join Microsoft and particularly this industry, where the impact of AI is endless.

Responsibilities

Customer and Industry Insights

• Synthesises and combines various business and industry insights from their team, global best practices, and proof points from experience/case studies, to identify new opportunities.

• Oversees technical teams for driving opportunities with the extended team. Brings in business and industry insights to address the broader business challenges for the customer and deliver solutions.

• 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 and which Microsoft solutions can play a key role.

Trusted Advisor

• Provides technical thought leadership inclusive of information technology (IT), business strategy knowledge, and technology landscape, and shares best practices internally. Leverages this thought leadership in partnership with account executives to set strategy, own accountability for outcomes, and lead extended teams. Provides technical guidance to internal teams to position technology while using customer landscape knowledge.

• Creates security thought leadership with the customer's executives (e.g., technical decision maker [TDM]/business decision maker [BDM]) using the Microsoft Security and Zero Trust narratives and engages TDM and BDM stakeholders to position security as a business enabler and instil a security mindset in all aspects of the customer's technology landscape.

• Leverages a broad knowledge of Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy to address customer's needs. Drives and leverages leaders from the partner ecosystem to bridge process gaps. Leverages deep understanding of their customer to share knowledge with extended team and leverages advanced knowledge of competitors to promote customer business perspectives.

• Acts as the voice of the customer, industry, and internal advocate by providing insights, feedback, and challenges from the customer to internal teams (e.g., product groups, engineers) across all levels of the organisation. Drives action to ensure that internal teams understand and respond to insights. Articulates the business opportunity for Microsoft based on product gaps.

Technology Strategy Formulation

• Leads analysis of overall customer needs, current technology landscape, desired outcomes, and blockers. Determines key stakeholders for driving execution. Leads the adoption of technologies by plotting the long-term vision of the customer's business strategy and driving action to bring to fruition.

• Leads and ensures execution of technology strategy and digital transformation by anticipating and/or leading the resolution of technical blockers that arise during strategy planning and implementation, and driving technology adoption.

• Creates mid- and long-term (e.g., 12 or more months) multi-horizon technology and business roadmaps for accounts based on a deep understanding of business and technology priorities and industry landscape. Challenges and validates the strategy and plan with customer stakeholders and drives envisioning and articulates business and program changes in the roadmaps around new and groundbreaking capabilities.

Technology Sales: Demand Generation and Orchestration

• Creates, develops, and drives opportunities by creating demand with our customers. Develops a plan, within a broader strategy, to create and qualify a set number of opportunities for product sales, solutions sales, or consumption.

• Creates new opportunities, with TDM customer stakeholders, managing consumption pipeline with extended team to maintain velocity, and unblocking issues. 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 Security 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.

Differentiated Value Proposition

• Acts as the customer's technology advisor in established relationships with line-of-business leaders or senior executives within your accounts, including TDMs and/or Business Unit leaders at the C-level (e.g., HR, Risk, Finance leadership).

• Partners with leaders and executives to articulate how Microsoft technology/services will meet future business needs better than the competition and will enable the achievement of long-term success. Provides an outside-in view around existing and emerging compete or other solutions that are also a requirement for the customer.

Mapping and Account Planning

• 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.

Education and Thought Leadership

• Leads customer technology strategy by engaging and influencing technical resources of customer, partner, and Microsoft team.

• Uses existing and new readiness resources and demonstrates expertise in creating enablement plans.

• Drives innovations to help customers meet their business goals leveraging the Microsoft platform, and influences customers unlock the strategic value.

Qualifications

There will be many opportunities for you to learn and grow into this role and Microsoft. However, to be able to best deliver on the purpose of this role, these are the core skills and experiences you should have on day one:

• Experience working with customers to drive digital and AI transformation in a technical consulting or technical sales role. It is preferred that this is with Government customers, but not essential.

• An understanding of how to build a technical strategy and roadmap, gaining executive buy in and how to orchestrate a team to execute against that.

• Passion for and a knowledge of a range of technical solutions such as cloud platforms, applications, security and productivity tools. Level 100 across all Microsoft technologies is the target state for this role.

• This position requires verification of Australian Citizenship due to citizenship based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports federal, state and /or local Australian government agency customers and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by law. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport.

Microsoft believes that by investing in our people and creating an inclusive environment, our team will do their best work. We offer a wide range of supportive benefits such as coaching and mentoring programs and up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave. We encourage you to ask about our flexible working options and how we can support your career. See our complete list of benefits and why we are recognised as an Endorsed Employer for Women by WORK180.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .