Strategic Account Executive, Telco

Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our culture is centred on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. You can help us to achieve our mission.

Vodafone and Microsoft recently announced a far-reaching 10-year strategic partnership that leverages their respective strengths in offering scaled digital platforms to more than 300 million businesses, public sector organisations, and consumers across Europe and Africa. Through the partnership, the companies will collaborate to transform Vodafone’s customer experience using Microsoft’s generative AI, hyperscale Vodafone’s leading managed IoT connectivity platform, develop new digital and financial services for businesses, particularly SMEs across Europe and Africa, and overhaul its global data centre cloud strategy.

An exciting opportunity has become available as a Global Strategic Account Executive to be responsible for the relationship between Microsoft and Vodafone. The role will look to maximise the value of the customers Microsoft investments so they can empower their people, engage their customers, maximise operations and provide actionable business insight through integrated solutions that leverage the Microsoft Cloud & AI capabilities.

This Strategic Account Executive role is an exciting opportunity to drive market shaping opportunities around digital technology and transformation. This role is responsible for promoting technology intensity at the highest level, and ultimately owns the go to market strategies for our UK facing accounts.  The Strategic Account Executive is a senior position, accountable for shaping customer strategy and transformation, whilst exemplifying our approach to ethical sales, successful account management, developing sustainable partnerships, and shaping industry strategy with experts and business decision makers across the organisation.

Internally, you will drive a culture for winning as a team; being customer obsessed first, operating as #onemicrosoft across the multi-functional team to deliver market leading solutions. You will also be expected to find synergies in how we work by sharing learning across both Microsoft and Vodafone.  

We would love to hear from you if you:

• Can see the ‘big picture,’ and are able to comfortably engage the C-Suite on their business goals
• Have a passion for working in technology-led business transformation
• Have a strong knowledge of the Telco industry, and future industry trends
• Have a desire to work in genuinely industry breakthrough innovation
• Can articulate complex problems and solutions with clarity
• 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
• Have a strong reputation for sales excellence and accountability
• Embrace diversity and inclusivity in all that you do, and create environments for others to be successful
• Advocate growth mindset, turning challenges into opportunities.

Business Relationship Owner: You will be responsible for defining the strategic vision, and leading the transformation with the customer’s CxO level Technology, Digital and Business Decision Makers. This requires leadership skills, leading with empathy and understanding, and the ability to challenge conventional thinking. 

Team Mobiliser and Orchestrator: You will have a large Microsoft and Partner eco-system to call upon to meet your customer’s goals.  You will be a proven leader, who creates clarity for team members both individually and as a collective, with a balance of empowerment and support for them to be successful.

Sales Leader and Operational Excellence: You will achieve results by understanding digital transformation drivers and customer priorities, identifying new opportunities and helping customers accelerate their move to the digital age for their own benefit as well as their customers and stakeholders. You will demonstrate Operational Excellence through delivering consistent, repeatable achievement of revenue and consumption targets.

Sales Challenger: In an always learning culture you will continuously build your industry and technical knowledge, bringing innovative industry solutions, benchmarks and references to C-level executives that drive greater efficiencies, optimisation and increase customer satisfaction.

Strong Communicator:  You will be able to articulate complex problems and solutions in a simple, logical, and impactful manner.

Strategic Thinker:  You will always consider the ‘bigger picture’ for your customers, with the ability to quickly absorb information, and be conceptual and creative in problem-solving excellence.

Inclusive Leader:  With strong interpersonal skills you will create an inclusive culture within your team that embraces diversity and reflects our mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more.  You will have the ability to easily establish trust-based relationships and gain valuable insights through collaboration and communication with your customer and your team.

Common attributes we look for:

• Highly developed interpersonal and team coaching skills, mentoring and developing mid-senior level executives to thrive in sales environments.
• Track record of successfully engaging CxO and delivering impactful change for their business and market
• Natural and at ease influencing at CxO level,  shaping thought leadership with industry bodies, collaborating with senior level executives. 
• Extensive experience in Enterprise Sales, Business Consulting or Consultative Selling
• Proven expertise in digital transformation roles and strategy
• Commercial knowledge and experience of the Telco industry 
• Experience working and/or leading a global team (there may be a need for global travel as part of this role).