Solution Area Specialist - App Innovation

Are you insatiably curious, deeply passionate about the realm of digital applications and innovation, and ready to tackle complex challenges in a dynamic environment? If so, we invite you to join our team as a Solution Specialist in Digital Application & Innovation at Microsoft.

Digital Application & Innovation is a growth opportunity for Microsoft Azure, as well as its partners and customers. It includes a rich portfolio of products including Managed/PaaS services on the Azure Platform, GitHub, and Visual Studio. These technologies empower developers to build, deploy, and manage applications in a cloud-native way leveraging cutting edge services.

Our team purpose is to help customers increase business agility and unlocking digital innovation through digital and AI transformation, improved developer experience (and overall IT modernization). We are expanding the team and looking for candidates with experience in ISVs (Independent Software Vendors).

The main goal of a Microsoft Solution Specialist is to own and win the business decision of customers. By demonstrating the value of Microsoft’s cloud services, you will help organizations trust Azure for their workloads, tools, and data. As an App Innovation Specialist, you’ll be at the forefront of cloud-native architecture. This means designing systems that fully leverage the unique capabilities of the cloud, such as scalability, automation, and cost efficiency. You will work within a virtual team of sales, technical, partner and consulting resources to advance the sales process and achieve/exceed sales and usage/consumption targets for Application Innovation related workloads in your assigned accounts. You will be a trusted advisor and a cloud application development subject matter expert.

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.

Proven track record of building deep technical and non-technical relationships with senior leaders, application architects, and development leads; managing various stakeholder relationships to gain consensus on solution/projects.

Deep domain knowledge in at least two of the following areas:

Cloud-native design and development. Well versed around cloud-native, including the ability to articulate its value proposition to senior leaders, good understanding of the technology landscape inlcluding (but not limited) to Kubernetes and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) projects and initiatives.
API strategy and governance. Proven experience defining or implementing API strategy and governance programs at large scalec customers.
Developer Experience and/or Platform Engineering, thorough understanding of the value and objectives of these concepts and how to position these in conversations.
AI Transformation (App led), understanding and experience of how (AI) technology can transform existing and new value propositions and processes.
Application modernization, understanding and experience of how to apply applicaition modernization at scale and can articulate the value it brings.
ISV related expertise
Understand and have experience with delivering packaged or SaaS-based solutions and the implications this has from a support and organizational perspective.
Understanding and/or experience with mid- or large engineering systems/populations which you typically have in ISV organizations.

• Create “buy-in” vision with the Apps Decision Makers. Take active role in defining and influencing the customer’s business challenges and opportunities and understand the financial, qualitative and competitive drivers impacting customer business so as to establish credibility and trust by demonstrating that Microsoft solutions not only solve customer business problems realize business value of our solutions.
• Identify customer’s digital transformation needs, business drivers, their perspective, and concerns. Establish and understand the buying decision criteria and timeline to make decision regarding the solution.
• Lead solution design. Become proficient in delivering Microsoft Apps vision, strategy, value to C-level and Apps Decision Makers.
• Orchestrate technical the experts to create the solution, validate it via Proof of Concept, and showcase how it meets customer business and technology requirements.
• Substantiate the value of the solution. Building business cases with Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis and negotiate a deal that’s based on value by leveraging various Microsoft offers and programs. Secure customer commitment for business proposals.
• Sales Excellence. Drive the App Innovation business to exceed revenue, consumption and scorecard  Maintain excellence in pipeline management, accuracy of sales forecast, and deal close plans.
• Be the Voice of the customer and influence the Microsoft Application Innovation go to market strategies by providing feedback to sales, marketing, and engineering on product requirements and sales blockers.
• Maintain and grow expertise in developer tools, cloud native architecture and technologies, keeping up to date with market trends and competitive insights; collaborate and share with the specialist community and customers.