Senior Sales Director, Media & Communications

Job Description

Overview

The Media & Communications ATU Lead is a senior sales leadership role responsible for Microsoft’s business across communications and media accounts—including telecommunications providers, broadcasters, publishers, advertising firms, and other media/entertainment/sports companies. This position represents a significant market growth opportunity to elevate a strong-performing business unit and requires a leader who can drive strategic engagement, inspire teams, and deliver business outcomes in a dynamic sector.

In this role, you will own Microsoft’s sales strategy for the Media & Communications (Telco) industry, oversee a team including people managers, account executives and account technology strategists (account CTO’s), and ensure that the very best of Microsoft’s technology solutions are being delivered to help our customers in achieving their business objectives. You will act as the executive sponsor for key client relationships, with regular engagement at the CxO level to co-develop innovative digital transformation opportunities. Equally important, you will lead as a “people-first” manager, fostering an inclusive and supportive team culture where your sales teams are inspired to excel and feel valued, especially as they navigate recent changes in structure and leadership.

Responsibilities

1. Customer & Partner Obsession

• Coach account teams to develop C-level and Line of Business relationships across all relevant stakeholders.
• Drive year-over-year improvement in customer experience, satisfaction, and relationship momentum across industry, customer, and partner landscapes.
• Lead and empower account teams to deliver customer business outcomes, engaging as One Microsoft through quality Account Plans and Customer Secure AI Assessments.
• Co-sell with partners through joint customer planning and execution.

2. Sales Leadership & Business Excellence

• Own the sales strategy and execution for the Media & Communications sector, setting vision and priorities for Microsoft’s engagement.
• Drive new business growth, ensuring sufficient qualified pipeline coverage to meet quarterly and annual targets.
• Execute timely renewals and drive upsell and new business through rigorous mid-term selling motions.
• Foster a culture of always-on selling for consumption and usage across all solution areas.
• Ensure robust business management, including accurate forecasting, pipeline management, and compliance with Microsoft’s ethical sales standards.

3. People & Change Leadership

• Model a learn-it-all culture by developing skills in AI, security, industry, executive engagement, coaching, and change management.
• Lead the team through organisational evolution & change, ensuring successful transitions to new go-to-market and engagement models.
• Coach and develop talent, focusing on hiring, retaining, and growing key team members to meet industry and customer needs.
• Foster a collaborative, high-morale team culture, investing in employee growth through coaching and mentorship.

4. Compliance

• Personally commit to generating and protecting Microsoft trust by living Microsoft’s values, culture, and Trust Code in every decision.
• Ensure team adherence to policies and processes, with 100% completion of required compliance training.
• Proactively identify and escalate risks, supporting controls, review processes, and investigations as needed.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the industry thought leader for media and communications within Microsoft, monitoring industry evolution and proactively identifying how Microsoft’s offerings address emerging trends.
• Engage deeply with C-suite and senior executives at client organisations, building trust and co-creating new business opportunities aligned with Microsoft technology.
• Lead the Media & Comms ATU sales team as a second-line leader, instilling a shared sense of mission and clarity of roles to sales managers, account directors and account technology strategists (CTO’s)
• Orchestrate a One Microsoft approach, coordinating across specialist sales, customer success, engineering, support, consulting, and partner teams to deliver comprehensive solutions that meet client needs.
• Liaise with product groups and leadership to advocate for customer needs and engage Microsoft’s partner ecosystem to extend reach and value proposition.
• Conduct regular business reviews, analyse performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions to keep the business on track.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Experience in enterprise technology sales leadership, including roles as a sales manager or director overseeing account teams in a complex organisation.
• Significant experience in the Communications and/or Media industry, with credibility and insight into industry-specific challenges.
• Proven history of engaging and influencing C-level executives and senior business decision-makers.
• Experience in people management experience, with demonstrated ability to lead managers and teams to high performance.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (Business, Communications, Computer Science, Engineering) or equivalent professional experience. Advanced degree (MBA or similar) is a plus.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience driving innovative solutions in the media/telecom space and a track record of solution selling.
• Familiarity with Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise offerings or experience with large enterprise software platforms in a media or communications context.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organisations through change, unite teams around new strategies, and drive culture change.
• Established network in the media and/or telecom industry.
• Passion for technology and its transformative impact on media and communications.

Measures of Success

• Completion rates and quality of Account/Customer plans and Secure AI assessments.
• Expansion of C-suite engagement and improved customer satisfaction scores.
• Achievement of pipeline coverage, renewal and consumption targets measured by the revenue based incentive scheme.
• Team development, retention, and completion of required skilling.
• Being recognised as an elevated industry growing ahead of the industry and sub average growth rate.
• Adherence to compliance standards and proactive risk management.

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.