Why Microsoft

Our love for innovation, technology and doing meaningful work, is at the heart of everything we do at Microsoft Australia. It is a shared passion that inspires our team and customers to think bigger.  

We are looking for a Client Technology Strategist for a leadership position within our Australian Defence and Intelligence business unit. The Client Technology Strategist will apply their deep expertise and leadership abilities to drive the technology strategy for our Home Affairs portfolio of clients. This role is based in Canberra. 

Responsibilities

The Purpose of this role

Customer and Industry Insights

Applies deep expertise and thought leadership to identify the right industry priority solutions (IPSs) and industry partners within the customer's vertical industry. Articulates and understands global industry-related market trends, as well as customer threats, opportunities, and barriers to growth as they relate to the customer's broader industry. Receives internal and external credibility as a thought leader within their specialized industry. Leads partnerships with customer and/or partners to provide innovative solutions in new industries, and to integrate Microsoft technology in their business..

Trusted Advisor

Leverages their subject matter expertise in Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy to address customer's needs. Partners with internal industry experts (e.g., with industry-solutions executives) to strengthen understanding of the industry. Leverages a deep understanding of their customers to drive and create deep impact, share knowledge with virtual team, and promote customer business perspectives.

Acts as the voice of the customer 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 organization. Drives action to ensure that internal teams understand and respond to insights. Escalates pressing issues for customers to Microsoft internal stakeholders (e.g., Headquarters) to facilitate the appropriate solutions and capabilities for the customer.

Technology Strategy Formulation

Expands Microsoft relationships with large, complex, and/or global customers into strategic partnerships, and leads the adoption of technologies by plotting the strategic, long-term vision of the customer's/partner's business strategy, and drives action to bring to fruition. May lead others to provide analyses and architect solutions for a sector or industry. Holds accountability as a strategic link between Microsoft and the customer for identifying a pathway for strategic efforts and resources necessary for building a strategy.

Contributes to the creation of trusted, long-term (e.g., three years plus) technical and business roadmaps for a strategic account with global and high-stakes impact for the business, based on a deep understanding of business and technology priorities and the customer's industry landscape. Drives envisioning and articulates business and program changes in the roadmaps around new and groundbreaking capabilities for highly complex technologies. Orchestrates the translation of the customer's business objectives in conjunction with industry priority scenarios (ISPs), sales plays, and solution areas (including heavy workloads and cloud services) to develop highly effective Industry Technology Architecture that drives consumption and adoption of Microsoft cloud and a higher share of customer potential and propensity (CPP).

Technology Sales: Demand Generation and Orchestration

Develops and drives opportunities based on industry best practices. Presents opportunities to the customer, and creates demand. Develops a plan, within a broader strategy, to identify and qualify a set number of opportunities for product sales, solutions sales, or consumption. Leverages multiple channels (e.g., social media) to create demand. Oversees technical teams for driving opportunities including solution technology units (STUs), customer success units (CSUs), and others as necessary. Leads efforts to reach out to key stakeholders to give customer-driven pitches and drives the appropriate customer reach together with the account executive to generate new demands.

Lead industry and digital transformation acceleration (IDTA) with the account team, customer, and partner. Delivers customer outcomes through joint envisioning, as a vehicle for industry priority scenarios (ISPs), sales plays, and solution areas. Increases the number of successful engagements over time, managing engagement pipeline with extended team to maintain velocity, and unblocking issues. Defines, coaches, and directs the solution pipeline strategy for a subsidiary in partnership with the Sales Team, and works with subsidiary leadership to close any gaps. Defines the blueprint for opportunity initiation, and sets and shares standards and best practices for others to follow.

Differentiated Value Proposition

Acts as the "virtual Chief Technical Officer (CTO)/Chief Digital Officer (CDO)" or "go-to" person in established, long-term relationships with technical decision makers (TDMs) and/or business decision makers (BDMs) at the Chief X Officer (CXO)-level. Leverages professional credibility to create extended relationships beyond core customers, advise on solutions, and position Microsoft capabilities to best meet the customer's needs. Orchestrates high-impact innovative solutions (e.g., forward-thinking, flagship) that enable customer business transformations through digital transformation for assigned accounts and drives outcomes that create business value for customers. Owns the development of strategies that showcase the value added by innovative ideas grounded on digital transformation for accounts based on account needs and customer's expectations. Is sought out by the customer for guidance related to transformation. Ensures high-profile line-of-business wins are captured (e.g., press release, video) as reference for multi-region/worldwide scale. Deploys showcase solutions into customer digital transformation centers for broader distribution. Leads efforts to host workshops that draw a viable picture for customer transformations post-transformation, and adapts digital transformation efforts to fit customer positioning within their partnership with Microsoft and at their needed level or platform.

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.).

Education and Thought Leadership

Drives customer technology engagement by motivating and inspiring technical resources of customer, partner, and Microsoft towards customer’s digital transformation (DT). Delivers regular (e.g., quarterly or monthly) industry/technology engagements and/or briefings to customer Chief X Officers (CXOs), their technical team, and business decision makers (BDMs) to drive execution and focus on competitive advantage. ​

Provides thought leadership and guidance across teams, business units, executive stakeholders, customers, and the broader community on enablement plans to build and educate large and high-stakes customers at the global level. Allocates resources, manages budget, and provides guidance and final authority for decisions to their immediate team as well as other teams and customers on creating and implementing the enablement plan build practices. Drives team to contribute to innovations that help customers meet capacity and capability goals, including skilling initiatives and execution along with the account executive (AE) and enterprise skilling initiative (ESI) teams.

Qualifications

What skills do you need to have?

Required/Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND 9+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, practice building, or related technical/sales/industry experience

OR equivalent experience.

Security clearance: Australian Citizen with minimum NV1. 

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 6+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, practice building, or related technical/sales/industry experience

OR equivalent experience.

7+ years experience in digital transformation or using technology to drive customer business outcomes.

6+ years experience in business consulting, consultative selling, or change management.

7+ years experience leading global technical, support, and/or partner teams.

Team Culture and Support 

Microsoft believes that by investing in our people and creating an inclusive environment, our team will do their best work. See our complete list of benefits and why we are recognised as an Endorsed Employer for Women by WORK180. Microsoft Benefits | WORK180 Endorsed Employer 

Our mission is deeply inclusive.  Inside Microsoft | Global Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft 

 What next?  

 Even if you feel you may not meet 100% of the criteria, please apply. You may exceed your own expectations, or we may have another opportunity that suits your potential.  While we’re not able to reach out directly to every applicant, we will always do our best to help you feel heard and supported throughout the experience.       

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