Account Technology Strategist / Technology Officer (Retail)

Microsoft

12d ago

Job
Full-time
Senior Level
IT & Cybersecurity
Product
Dubai

AI generated summary

You need a Bachelor’s in a relevant field and 8+ years in technical consulting or related experience, plus expertise in digital transformation and the retail industry.
You will generate business insights, challenge customer assumptions, lead technical teams, build technology strategies, drive account planning, and create opportunities for Microsoft solutions.

Requirements

Required/minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND 8+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, business consulting, practice building, or related technical/sales experience OR equivalent experience.
Additional or preferred qualifications:
- 8+ years experience in digital transformation, or using technology to drive customer business outcomes.
- 8+ years experience in relevant customer industry.
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND 8+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, business consulting, practice building, or related technical/sales experience OR equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

- Generates business insights based on knowledge of the customer's technology landscape, engagement experience, and proactive collaboration with the customer, internal teams, and industry, to conduct forecasting and develop recommendations for managing accounts.
- Challenges customers to consider alternative business models to meet business and market needs, and adapts plans to insights.
- Orchestrates teams to gather information, collaborate on performance markers, and identify potential risks in customer accounts.
- Leads technical teams for driving opportunities with other teams, as necessary.
- Brings in business and industry insights to address the broader business challenges for the customer and deliver solutions.
- Applies expertise (deep expertise across few accounts or broad expertise across many accounts) in customer businesses, technology platforms, and maturity to build digital technology strategy with the customer that is aligned to business outcomes.
- Challenges customers’ assumptions with constructive dialogue about their business and technology.
- Leverages industry trends to gather insights and develop an informed perspective on similar issues that may occur within their industry/industries.
- Helps customer technical specialists build the message to sell Microsoft offerings to other parts of their business.
- Creates stakeholder maps for accounts, and determines, and orchestrates a coverage plan.
- Drives account planning for budgeting, quota attainment, consumption goals, and customer consumption gaps to inform quarterly and fiscal objectives.
- Coordinates extended account teams and drives forecasting and tracking of the business.
- Owns the technical portion of the account plan and leads the customer plan delivery.
- Captures all Account Planning input in MSX D365 Account Plan.
- Orchestrates internal teams and local partners (inclusive of global systems integrators and consultancy partners) to ensure sufficient technical resources for demand generation, when appropriate.
- Proactively builds and maintains a broad knowledge of Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy in the industry of assigned accounts, as well as of the business priorities and potential threats the customers face.
- Leverages leaders from the partner ecosystem to bridge process gaps.
- Coordinates with internal industry experts (e.g., Regional Experts) to gather industry data of assigned accounts and leverages knowledge of competitors to improve planning.
- Demonstrates a strong understanding of the customer's business strategy and the direction of the industry.
- Leverages account information technology (IT), industry, and business strategy to provide coaching to internal Microsoft teams on customer technology profiles and strategies.
- Provides technical guidance to internal teams to position technology while using customer landscape knowledge.
- Creates mid- to long-term (e.g., 12 or more months) technology and business roadmaps for one or more accounts, to outline the digital transformation journey and core wins.
- Updates and articulates business changes in the roadmaps around foundational, traditional capabilities.
- Builds technical engagement or enablement plan, captures baseline, and drives envisioning to support mid- to long-term business plans.
- Discusses the strategy and plan with customer stakeholders.
- Translates an understanding of the customer's business objectives and scenarios in conjunction with Industry Sales Kits and Solution Plays to develop technology architecture.
- Ensures that developed architecture influences cloud journey to position all Microsoft clouds and drives consumption, usage, and a higher share of customer potential and propensity (CPP).
- Ensures execution of technology strategy and/or digital transformation by identifying and resolving technical blockers that arise during strategy planning and implementation and driving technology adoption.
- Acts as the customer's Technology Mentor in established relationships with senior leaders including technical decision makers (TDMs) and/or Business Unit leaders at the CIO or CIO direct-report level by researching organization charts, identifying and contacting TDMs/BDMs, and beginning to advise on solutions and position Microsoft capabilities to best meet the customer's needs.
- Uses existing and new readiness resources to support enablement plans for customer technology adoption at the national and regional level.
- Contributes to innovations to accelerate meeting goals for customer capacity, maximize reach and impact, and drive long-term engagement and thought leadership on the Microsoft platform.
- Supports customer skilling initiatives and execution.
- Leads Account Strategy Envisioning (ASE, formerly IDTA) with the extended account team, customer, and partner to deliver the outcomes for the customer through joint envisioning, as a vehicle for Industry Sales Kits and Solution Plays.
- Creates new Stage 1 opportunities, both billed and consumed, with technical decision maker (TDM) customer stakeholders, managing consumption pipeline with extended team to maintain velocity, and unblocking issues.
- Identifies customer issues, creates demand, and creates opportunities to uncover new solutions.
- Creates and qualifies a set number of opportunities for product sales, solution sales, or consumption.

FAQs

What is the role of the Account Technology Strategist / Technology Officer in the retail industry?

The Account Technology Strategist / Technology Officer generates innovative business insights, provides technical guidance to teams, and develops digital transformation roadmaps to align with customer goals within the retail industry.

What qualifications are required for this position?

A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or a related field, along with 8+ years of technical consulting, consultative selling, or relevant technical/sales experience is required.

Is experience in digital transformation required?

Yes, 8+ years of experience in digital transformation or using technology to drive customer business outcomes is preferred.

What responsibilities does this role entail?

This role entails generating customer and industry insights, mapping and account planning, formulating technology strategy, serving as a trusted advisor, providing education and thought leadership, and driving demand generation and orchestration of technology sales.

What industries should candidates have experience in?

Candidates should have 8+ years of experience in relevant customer industries, specifically within retail or technology sectors.

Is this position customer-facing?

Yes, the Account Technology Strategist / Technology Officer engages with customers to understand their technology landscape and business strategies, acting as a trusted advisor.

Does the role require collaboration with internal teams?

Yes, the role involves orchestrating internal teams and collaborating with local partners to ensure sufficient technical resources and support for customer solutions.

What skills are essential for success in this position?

Essential skills include technical consulting, strong communication abilities, strategic thinking, business acumen, and a deep understanding of technology platforms and industry trends.

How important is industry knowledge for this role?

Industry knowledge is crucial as the role requires building and maintaining strong insights into the retail technology landscape to deliver tailored solutions and strategies for customers.

Will the Office provide training and resources for this role?

Yes, the position involves using existing and new readiness resources to support customer technology adoption and contribute to skilling initiatives.

Microsoft

Technology

Industry

10,001+

Employees

1975

Founded Year

Mission & Purpose

Every company has a mission. What's ours? To empower every person and every organization to achieve more. We believe technology can and should be a force for good and that meaningful innovation contributes to a brighter world in the future and today. Our culture doesn’t just encourage curiosity; it embraces it. Each day we make progress together by showing up as our authentic selves. We show up with a learn-it-all mentality. We show up cheering on others, knowing their success doesn't diminish our own. We show up every day open to learning our own biases, changing our behavior, and inviting in differences. When we show up, we achieve more together. Microsoft operates in 190 countries and is made up of more than 220,000 passionate employees worldwide.