Senior Partner Technology Strategist

Job Description

Overview

The Senior Partner Technology Strategist (PTS) within the GPS UK Independent Software Vendor (ISV) team works with partner organisations to plan, engage, and build AI, Data and Marketplace solutions. PTS create and maintain a vision with business and technology solution scenarios and services that helps partners meet highly complex business goals, achieve their long-term corporate vision, and maximize commercial success, with Microsoft Technologies. They will synthesize and combine various business insights from their team, global best practices, proof points from experience with several countries and regions. They lead the orchestration of complex teams across the organization to gather information, collaborate on performance markers, and identify potential risks in partner accounts.

The PTS creates mid-term and long-term technical development plans for highly prominent, challenging, and/or strategic accounts based on a deep understanding of business and technology priorities and industry landscape in alignment with the Partner Business Plans and in collaboration with the Partner Development Manager. They orchestrates technical resources and internal teams to ensure sufficient technical resources for demands, when appropriate. They will partner with a line-of-business leader or senior executive to articulate how Microsoft technology/services or solutions/offers will meet future business needs better than the competition and will enable the achievement of long-term growth and success. The PTS uses existing and new readiness resources and demonstrates expertise in creating enablement plans for partners with complex solutions, and all-up Microsoft business.

The ISV team within the Global Partner Solutions (GPS) team works with UK software makers to plan and build innovative solutions that meet custom demands – focused on AI design wins, Copilot and Marketplace opportunities. The GPS team is a sales organization accountable for the commercial partner business at Microsoft, and the mission is to build and sell Microsoft Cloud applications, services and devices with partners, empowering people, and organizations to achieve more. Join our team as an ISV Partner Technology Strategist and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital transformation for our partners. By leveraging your strategic mindset, technical expertise, and persuasive communication skills, you will drive our partners' success and unlock new possibilities in the ever-evolving world of technology.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Education and Thought Leadership
  • Provides expertise and is sought out by the Microsoft community because of broad expertise across technologies or solution areas. Leads the direction that virtual team members (e.g., Account Team) take with Partners and their customers by providing them with strategic input using thorough knowledge of Microsoft technologies, partner accounts, and digital transformations and their context in the competitive landscape. Maintains a subject matter expertise internally and externally and shares expertise that influence change and transformation of solutions on public social media platforms. Coaches the partner on building resilience to technical issues and dealing with competition.

• Solution Development
  • Proactively influences the development of groundbreaking and highly impactful solutions using Microsoft technologies, and builds solutions into the partner ecosystem to enable partners to sell to end-customers.

• Strategy Formulation
  • Creates mid-term and long-term technical development plans (TDP) for highly prominent, challenging, and/or strategic accounts based on a deep understanding of business and technology priorities and industry landscape in alignment with the Partner Business Plans (PBPs) and in collaboration with the Partner Development Manager (PDM). Drives envisioning and technical and program changes in the roadmaps around new and groundbreaking technologies.

• Differentiated Value Proposition
  • Creates and maintains a vision with business and technology solution scenarios and services that helps partners meet highly complex business goals, achieve their long-term corporate vision, and maximize commercial success, with Microsoft Technologies.

• Ensuring Success
  • Helps assigned partners engage in technical pre-sales, deployment, and consumption for the practices or solutions they have built. Orchestrates a wide, complex range of activities in accordance with partner technical development plan, to develop solution offerings and value realization across a variety of solution areas. Sets timelines and milestones, and tracks progress toward objectives. Leverages industry expertise and establishes technical credibility with partners to drive Microsoft Technology adoption.

• Trusted Advisor
  • Acts as a thought leader and internal advocate by providing insights, feedback, and challenges from the partner 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.

• Partner and Industry Insights
  • Synthesizes and combines various business insights from their team, global best practices, proof points from experience with several countries and regions. Develops a perspective on market insights and uses broad expertise (e.g., level 100) related to customers/partners and their competitors to conduct forecasting and develop recommendations for managing accounts and subsidiary planning. Ensures that all levels of the organization challenge partners to consider alternatives and adapt strategies, plans, business models, and solutions to insights.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND technical consulting, technical consultative selling, product development, or related technical/sales experience
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND technical consulting, technical consultative selling, product development, or related technical/sales experience
  • OR equivalent experience.

• Related experience in technology IP solutions or services development, with a deep understanding of digital transformation business drivers, cloud platforms, and emerging cloud trends like generative AI and SaaS services. Strong background and in-depth knowledge of cloud technologies, with a focus on Microsoft's cloud offerings (Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365).

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of the Microsoft AI technologies and wider tech platform, project management, technical sales, and technical account management.
• Inclusive and collaborative approach to driving teamwork and cross-team alignment.
• Problem-solving mentality, leveraging internal and/or external resources, conflict resolution, and follow-through with partners.