Solution Sales Specialist - Cloud & AI (Azure)

Job description

**Overview** As a Solution Area Specialist focused on the **retail & consumer goods industry,** you will be responsible for driving digital transformation and business value for retail customers by aligning Microsoft’s cloud and AI solutions with their strategic priorities. You will engage directly with customers and partners to understand their business challenges, identify opportunities, and deliver tailored solutions that improve operational efficiency, customer experience, and competitive positioning. This role requires deep industry insight, consultative sales acumen, and the ability to orchestrate cross-functional teams to deliver impactful outcomes. *In line with our Flexible Work approach, for roles at Microsoft Germany, we recommend spending at least two days per week in the office or at the customer site.* **Responsibilities** Customer Engagement Assesses and qualifies sales opportunities following sales frameworks and guidelines, ensuring alignment with AI-enhanced sales methodologies and best practices. Participates in strategy development for driving and closing moderately complex, significant value opportunities. Collaborates across organizations (e.g., Account Team Unit [ATU], Global Partner Solutions [GPS], Customer Success Unit [CSU], Industry Solutions Delivery [ISD], Partner) to contribute to deal orchestration and handoffs throughout the deal lifecycle. Utilizes best practices to earn customer buy-in, secure deals, and mitigate risks to facilitate sales activities across the solution area. Drives sales strategies tailored to each customer's security priorities, showcasing Microsoft's dedication to secure, AI-powered transformation and addressing their specific needs within the customer success plan. Reviews and translates customer and partner feedback to establish recovery action plans. Develops relationships with key customer and partner stakeholders to understand sentiment and satisfaction goals Drives partner teams, resources and relationships are activated, driving co-selling strategies and partner attach to each opportunity through every stage in the sales lifecycle. Drives partner organization connections (i.e. GPS) to drive share, partner health, that aligns with execution plans to accelerate customer value realization at scale. Sales & Pipeline Management Analyzes business and emerging opportunities to improve the customer portfolio and encourage customer innovation. Leverages technology (e.g., AI sales agents, automation, Power Platforms) to drive growth within assigned domain. Utilizes propensity, renewal, consumption, and usage data to prioritize sales strategy. Optimizes partners assigned to each account and/or opportunity to facilitate handoffs with other teams (e.g., Global Partner Solutions [GPS], Customer Success Unit [CSU], Industry Solutions Delivery [ISD], Partner) throughout the deal lifecycle. Engages in sales pipeline reviews with internal stakeholders to drive forecasting accuracy and meeting sales targets, ensuring the use of AI-powered analytics and forecasting tools to enhance precision. Maintains sales and/or consumption pipeline hygiene to enable tracking to achieve assigned sales metrics using all available tools, resources, and processes Leads usage and/or consumption pipeline hygiene to actively monitor adoption trends, identify opportunities for intervention, enabling customers to realize the value of solutions purchased, drive expansion, and ensure healthier, more predictable renewals Sales Strategy Evaluates solution area(s) and market and develops insights to align sales plays with customer business priorities and outcomes, incorporating AI-driven predictive analytics to forecast future market needs. Partners across teams to propose solutions and strategies that align with customer business objectives. Identifies and addresses gaps, driving market engagement and sales execution. Partners with others cross-organizationally and supports the development of solutions to enable AI- and cloud-driven transformations for existing and new customers within the region, emphasizing the integration of cutting-edge AI technologies and cloud services. Leverages established strategies and participates in conversations with customers to distinguish Microsoft’s offerings in the competitive landscape. Serves as an trusted advisor for customers and guides the adoption of technologies and solutions that align with their goals and drive digital transformation. Leverages whitespace analysis and partners with others to identify business opportunities and market gaps within the assigned market domain, utilizing AI-driven market intelligence tools to assess trends and insights. Evaluates and disseminates market intelligence, trends, and insights across the team. Leverages established market analysis approach to ensure alignment with strategic directives and market trends. Leads discussions with customer stakeholders and decision makers to identify, qualify, prioritize and accelerate sales opportunities. Acts as a point of contact and collaborates with internal stakeholders within and across organizations to drive to customer success. Engages with account teams to align the customer's artificial intelligence (AI) transformation vision with their business priorities and success objectives. Incorporates and reinforces security principles in customer interactions, opportunity, and pursuits to maintain trust and compliance standards. **Qualifications** **Required/minimum qualifications** - Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Admistration, Information Security or related field and strong experience in technology-related sales or account management or equivalent experience. - Proficieny in both spoken and written communication in English and German (C1 or above). **Additional or preferred qualifications** - Several years of solution or services sales experience. - Familiarity with retail technologies such as POS systems, ERP, CRM, and e-commerce platforms. - Experience in delivering solutions for customer personalization, inventory optimization, and workforce enablement. - Understanding of compliance and data privacy regulations relevant to retail (e.g., GDPR, PCI LkSG, GPSR,etc.). - Certifications such as AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals), AI-900 (AI Fundamentals), or DP-900 (Data Fundamentals) are highly recommended Solution Area Specialists IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across Germany is € 87,600.00 - € 130,000.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. --- Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about [**requesting accommodations.**](https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)