Solution Sales Specialist - Azure Digital & Application Innovation

Are you insatiably curious, deeply passionate about the realm of digital applications and innovation, ready to be at the forefront of AI and intelligent applications, 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 intelligent applications in a cloud-native way.

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 Application Innovation Specialist, you’ll be at the forefront of AI & 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.

Required Qualifications (RQs)
• Technology-related sales or account management experience
• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field combined with Cloud Technologies Solution Selling experience
• OR equivalent experience
• Proficiency in both spoken and written communication in English and German

Preferred Qualifications (PQs)
• Master's Degree in Business Administration (i.e., MBA), Information Technology, or related field combined with Cloud Technologies Solution Selling experience
• Solution or services sales experience

Professional
• Sales or Consulting experience in the described field of expertise.
• Experience selling Cloud Application Platform services, PaaS and Integration, database, Developer Productivity tools, Low Code tools with a demonstrated track record in working towards sales goals.
• Ideally Industry knowledge of application landscape and trends in verticals in Financial Services Industry.
• Executive presence with experience selling to C-Suite and Senior IT and Business Decision Makers.

Technical
• Technical passion with good understanding of cloud architectural patterns leveraging managed or Platform-As-A-Service offerings, rearchitecting monolithic applications with cloud native technologies, related databases and modern DevOps/ DevSecOps practices.
• Subject Matter Expertise with one or more of the following:
o Experience with Application Modernisation (.Net/Java) on Cloud (e.g. Jboss EAP, Spring Cloud, VM Ware, Tanzu, Pivotal Cloud Foundry)
o Experience with Cloud Native technologies like Containers, Kubernetes, Serverless and APIs. – preferred
o Experience with Enterprise Integration Services and API Management - preferred
o Understanding of Low Code platforms like Power Platform and associated use-cases is a plus
• Experience with competitive Application development services across public cloud is a plus.

• Create “buy-in” vision with the Apps & AI Decision Makers: Take active role in defining and influencing the customer’s business challenges and opportunities. Understand the financial, qualitative and competitive drivers impacting customer business. Establish credibility and trust by demonstrating that Microsoft solutions not only solve customer business problems but also the value they realized.
• Map customer current and desired state: Identify customer’s digital & AI 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: Proficient in delivering Microsoft Apps & AI vision, strategy, value to C-level and Apps & AI Decision Makers. Orchestrate the technical 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 the business proposal.
• Sales Excellence: Drive the App Innovation & AI business to exceed revenue, consumption and scorecard targets. Maintain excellence in pipeline management, accuracy of sales forecast, and deal close plans.
• Be the Voice of the customer: Influence the Microsoft Application Innovation & AI 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, AI & cloud native architecture and technologies, keeping up to date with market trends and competitive insights; collaborate and share with the specialist community.