Partner Development Manager

The Partner Development Management role involves leading the creation of a long-range strategic vision rooted to the partner's impact and potential across segments, selling account vision to senior business decision makers at highly sought-after partners, identifying market opportunities based on industry trends, developing go-to-market and co-selling strategies, ensuring partner readiness through marketing plans, and resolving complex escalations on the partner's behalf. The role requires skills such as optimizing account operations, cultivating strategic partnerships, selling solutions, strategically managing sales pipelines, communicating with impact, and maximizing business opportunities.

Responsibilities

Microsoft Business LeaderUses Challenger mindset to build, maintain, and own a trusted-advisor relationship with C-suite leaders of complex partners to achieve strategic alignment and drive growth. Understands and aligns partners’ priorities, strategies, and goals with Microsoft’s to build mutually beneficial account plans.  Executes and drives action through regular partner reviews and quarterly business reviews (e.g., MBRs, QBRs) to track plan execution, identify gaps and agree on any correction of errors. Builds, maintains, and owns trusted advisor relationships with partner through an advanced understanding of their local strategy and business imperatives. Identifies and clearly articulates current and future business opportunities and ways to pursue them. Influences and plays an active role across a complex stakeholder map. Leads the integration of skills, capability, and capacity plans for the partner business. Influences partner to create a learning culture. Strategically builds solutions for partners that utilizes the right mix of sales and tech trainings and bootcamps to increase the partners' capabilities. Builds up an intensity within the organization by establishing Centers of Excellence and other related bodies. Leads partner to convert capacity and capability to revenue by setting clear revenue targets and works with partners and/or customers to provide coaching and guidance to convert partners to revenue streams. Strategically builds plans to drive growth and transformation.  Create local strategies to align capacity and capability of the partner to compete, gain, and win share for Microsoft solutions to expand platform and sockets for services. Creates process to build and scale partner digital selling capabilities. Actively monitors market landscape and partner's impact and uses in-depth knowledge to influence the local strategy in business planning decisions. Evaluates managed partner portfolio to identify patterns, opportunities, and gaps in partner accounts. Proposes existing products and solutions or recommends new solutions in which partners can jointly invest to fill gaps. Aligns partner needs and interests with market opportunities. Applies working knowledge to build and maintain Quarterly Execution Plans focused on Core & New to build a healthy portfolio of solutions offerings Leads the creation of a long-range strategic vision rooted to the Partners impact and potential across segments, and serves larger and more complex partners. Demonstrates a deeper and expert understanding of the industry and Partners business and how it can be integrated into the Microsoft landscape and conveys the value of partnering with Microsoft based on the business opportunity and possible competition. Responsible for establishing new market partnerships by working with market makers and making connections to think long-term, and establishes long-term strategic vision and the art of the possible for the partnership, leading opportunities for deeper commitments. Sells account vision to senior business decision makers at highly sought-after partners by aligning and reinforcing overall Microsoft value proposition and value propositions of products, channels, or solutions to the partner's business goals.  Leads Executive roundtables and updates on Microsoft’s cloud and Industry strategies with prep sessions and prepares solid backgrounders for Executives. Develops and maintains deep end-to-end knowledge of products, channels, end customers, and industry and market trends to share with partner(s). Upholds Microsoft policies, procedures, and/or legal compliance standards. Delivers and influences long-term partnership horizons. Drives deep ownership of the multiple facets of a partnership. Works to coach the ecosystem to help direct partners' commercial and marketing business plans, and aligns partner with current industry trends. Leads Business Design briefings to architect framework for partnership to optimize mutual success, advising partner leadership on building a high-impact Microsoft partner practice. Develops and executes strategic partner business plans directly aligned with field goals and objectives for all managed partners that grow partner business and promote cloud consumption and digital transformation.  Develops plans that fully consider short- and long-term goals and performance expectations that are aligned with partner’s needs and capabilities. Shares expert knowledge with partners, to create strategies with line of business executives that challenge the partners to consider new or different ways to grow businesses. Champions Microsoft as a valued partner by aligning vision for tech and services with future opportunities to transform how we compete. Drives a strategic, effective, and actionable World-class Account Plan to land Global Partner Solutions (GPS) priorities. Establishes and maintains partner Rhythm of Business (RoB) across all levels and takes share as appropriate. Brings deep subject matter expertise to enrich designs and plans. Partner Assessment and QualificationDevelops partner recruitment plans to recruit new partners or expand current partnerships to create a balanced portfolio, grow business, and fill market opportunities. Influences partners and business leaders to upsell Microsoft products and services. Understands the ecosystem and the various disrupters, influencers, etc., and how best to bring in potential big wins. Leverages their understanding of the investing community and pulls information and insights from them. Partner Performance and ImpactEnsures partners are investing in the building of world class teams that are staffed with talent and enabled and incentivized to drive sales. Leads with Intelligent Edge/Intelligent Cloud to create strategic alignment through strong storytelling with local partner executives to gain commitment to build their selling/technical skill sets and incentivizes for their customers.  Leverages other organizations within Microsoft to provide better solutions and faster sales cycles for partners. Acts as a trusted advisor to CRO in Cloud sales transformation (e.g., readiness, compensation, territories) Ensures results on partner's behalf through resolution of complex and urgent escalations. Leads the orchestration of response to the partner to ensure timely action and resolution from internal teams. Executes a rhythm of business (RoB) for regular partner reviews and quarterly business reviews (e.g., MBRs, QBRs) to track plan execution, identify gaps and agree on any correction of errors in alignment with appropriate stakeholders.  Advocates to and guides other groups in prioritizing partners' solutions and issues. Champions internal processes that benefit partners and brings insights into the organization around what the partner experience looks like. Advocates for the development of relationships with Channel Sales counterparts (PDM, PMM, PSS, PSA, PSM) in support of Microsoft solutions through partner GTM. Advocates for partner internally at the local level by connecting partner to Microsoft executives to facilitate local reviews for opportunity pipelines and transformational projects.? Actively seeks opportunities to demonstrate the value of the partner to other organizations within Microsoft. Partner Sales and ConsumptionLeads campaigns with various functional areas and the partners marketing teams. Designs and creates new offer and incentive structures to the partners and provides perspective when others are drafting Go-to-Market packages. Oversees planning, campaign tactics, offers, and incentives. Ensures core activities are agreed upon before executing and helps to coordinate resources. Ensures sales targets are clear and that actions and accountabilities are being routinely followed up. Provides oversight to ensure Launch Excellence with sales readiness, and GTM activities. Critically analyzes current investment structures and incentives in order to identify and recommend improvements. Ensures partner readiness by developing marketing plans to promote customer sales (e.g., campaigns, incentives, and promotions). Secures marketing resources (e.g., go-to-market offers) to support partners with developing marketing plans. Develops plans to work on deals to gain commercial and consumer share. Helps ensure Launch Excellence by developing plans to promote Partner sales readiness and go-to-market activities. Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of GTM programs and runs complex campaigns, and actively coaches team. Identifies new sources of GTM funding. Identifies strategies to build and launch integrated industry specific offerings on Marketplace with partners. Develops go-to-market and co-selling strategies with complex partners that outline activities and expectations to drive Microsoft and partner sales goals. Prioritizes and allocates incentives and go-to-market resources across accounts. Helps partners understand what a consumption-led business is and how it operates, coaches partners around consumption economics (e.g., leverages reports, analyses, etc.). Demonstrates advanced pipeline management, broad seller mobilization, and strong leadership sponsorship. Prioritizes co-selling and customer transactions through Marketplace.Coaches and challenges partners to transform their plans and strategies around consumption and key targets. Leads reviews of Partner’s pipeline, top deals, and consumption targets. Shapes the thinking of partners on top deals and ensure close alignment between the partners sales team, channel managers, and other relevant teams. Works with partners sales leaders on how to overcome obstacles, compete, create deal proposals, etc. Leads the development of partnerships with Global Partner Solutions (GPS) to gain support for strategic transformational initiatives to drive incremental cloud growth. Leads efforts to collaborate across the Microsoft and partner sales teams to manage pipeline and drive large opportunities/deals.  Leads the guiding of partners through Digital transformation by building Digital capabilities with a Challenger mindset: sharing ideas, perspectives, and building a trusted advisory relationship. Leads effort to drive partner integration of the common sales and delivery methodology for Microsoft for customer opportunities, accelerate pipeline by removing blockers, and drive key sales motions, programs, and incentives with their partner. Leads efforts to identify new opportunities with partner, document in MSX, connect Microsoft and partner sellers, and help move through sales stages. Demonstrates precise pipeline ownership, translating into advanced deal control and forecasting.

Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business Operations, Computer Science or a related field AND 12+ years experience in partner management, sales, business development, or partner channel development in the technology industry or related experience OR equivalent experience. Additional or preferred qualificationsMaster's Degree in Business Administration, Business Science, or an advanced degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or a related field AND 15+ years experience in partner management, sales, business development, or partner channel development in the technology industry or related experience OR equivalent experience.

 

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

 

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.