Job description

Overview The Digital Native Senior Specialist - Cloud & AI is responsible for accelerating growth across high-potential Digital Native, AI-first, SaaS, and technology companies by driving adoption of Microsoft's Cloud and AI platform. This role partners with executive and technical decision makers to identify, qualify, prioritize, and close strategic opportunities that enable customer innovation, business growth, and AI transformation. The role leverages market intelligence, whitespace analysis, ecosystem insights, and customer signals to uncover new opportunities and align Microsoft solutions with customer priorities. As a trusted advisor, the specialist helps customers build, modernize, and scale AI-powered applications and cloud-native platforms using Microsoft technologies. Success requires deep collaboration across account teams, customer success, Global Partner Solutions, engineering, and industry organizations to accelerate customer outcomes, increase Azure consumption, and position Microsoft as the cloud platform of choice for the next generation of technology innovators. 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 Customer Engagement & AI Transformation • Lead strategic conversations with founders, executives, CTOs, engineering leaders, and technical stakeholders to identify growth opportunities and accelerate cloud and AI adoption. • Align customer business objectives, product roadmaps, and innovation priorities with Microsoft's Cloud and AI solutions. • Serve as a trusted advisor guiding customers through AI transformation, application modernization, data platform evolution, and cloud-native development. • Develop executive relationships that establish Microsoft as a strategic growth partner. • Identify customer needs, remove adoption barriers, and drive successful deployment of Microsoft technologies. • Incorporate security, compliance, and responsible AI principles into customer engagements to maintain trust and accelerate business outcomes. Sales & Pipeline Management • Drive qualified Cloud and AI opportunity creation, progression, and closure across Digital Native accounts. • Maintain forecasting rigor and pipeline discipline to ensure predictable business performance and sales execution. • Leverage customer usage, consumption, and adoption signals to identify expansion opportunities and growth risks. • Partner with Customer Success and delivery organizations to accelerate workload deployment and value realization. • Drive Azure consumption growth, workload expansion, customer retention, and long-term platform adoption. • Utilize data-driven insights and sales analytics to prioritize opportunities and improve forecasting accuracy. Cloud & AI Growth Strategy • Conduct whitespace analysis and market assessments to identify emerging business opportunities and expansion strategies. • Analyze industry trends, startup ecosystem dynamics, competitive activity, and customer growth signals to shape account strategies. • Develop Cloud and AI growth plans aligned to customer business models, innovation priorities, and technical roadmaps. • Help customers modernize applications, scale AI capabilities, optimize infrastructure, and accelerate product innovation using Microsoft technologies. • Identify opportunities across Azure AI, Data & Analytics, Developer Tools, Infrastructure, Security, and Application Platform solutions. • Differentiate Microsoft's end-to-end Cloud and AI platform through business value conversations and technical leadership. Partner & Ecosystem Leadership • Build and activate strategic partner relationships that accelerate customer success and platform adoption. • Drive co-sell motions with partners, system integrators, investors, startup ecosystems, and industry influencers. • Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, engineering, customer success, and partner teams to deliver scalable customer outcomes. • Represent Microsoft as a Cloud and AI thought leader within the Digital Native ecosystem. Preferred Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Engineering, or related field. • 6+ years of technology sales, account management, business development, or solution sales experience. • Experience selling cloud, AI, data, developer, infrastructure, or application platform solutions. • Understanding of cloud-native architectures, modern software development, AI application development, Kubernetes, data platforms, and hyperscale cloud services. • Proven ability to influence executive and technical stakeholders across complex customer organizations. • Strong collaboration, communication, and strategic account planning skills. • Demonstrated success driving cloud consumption, platform adoption, and customer growth outcomes. What Success Looks Like • Expands Azure consumption and strategic workload adoption across Digital Native customers. • Accelerates AI and cloud transformation initiatives that drive measurable customer business outcomes. • Influences platform decisions with founders, CTOs, and engineering leaders. • Builds long-term strategic relationships with high-growth technology companies. • Positions Microsoft as the preferred Cloud and AI partner for Digital Native and AI-first organizations. Qualifications Required/minimum qualifications • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Information Security, Information Security, or related field AND 4+ years experience in technology-related sales or account management OR equivalent experience. Other Requirements • This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship. Additional or preferred qualifications • Master's Degree in Business Administration (i.e., MBA), Information Technology, Information Security, or related field AND 6+ years experience in technology-related sales or account management OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Information Security, or related field AND 8+ years experience in technology-related sales or account management OR equivalent experience. • 4+ years solution or services sales experience. Solution Area Specialists IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $107,600 - $187,500 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $145,600 - $205,600 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: careers.microsoft.com 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.

Requirements

Must-haves

Customer Engagement & AI Transformation
Lead strategic conversations with founders, executives, CTOs, engineering leaders, and technical stakeholders to identify growth opportunities and accelerate cloud and AI adoption.
Align customer business objectives, product roadmaps, and innovation priorities with Microsoft's Cloud and AI solutions.
Serve as a trusted advisor guiding customers through AI transformation, application modernization, data platform evolution, and cloud-native development.
Develop executive relationships that establish Microsoft as a strategic growth partner.
Identify customer needs, remove adoption barriers, and drive successful deployment of Microsoft technologies.
Incorporate security, compliance, and responsible AI principles into customer engagements to maintain trust and accelerate business outcomes.
Sales & Pipeline Management
Drive qualified Cloud and AI opportunity creation, progression, and closure across Digital Native accounts.
Maintain forecasting rigor and pipeline discipline to ensure predictable business performance and sales execution.
Leverage customer usage, consumption, and adoption signals to identify expansion opportunities and growth risks.
Partner with Customer Success and delivery organizations to accelerate workload deployment and value realization.

Nice-to-haves

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Engineering, or related field.
Experience selling cloud, AI, data, developer, infrastructure, or application platform solutions.
Understanding of cloud-native architectures, modern software development, AI application development, Kubernetes, data platforms, and hyperscale cloud services.
Proven ability to influence executive and technical stakeholders across complex customer organizations.
Strong collaboration, communication, and strategic account planning skills.
Demonstrated success driving cloud consumption, platform adoption, and customer growth outcomes.
What Success Looks Like
Expands Azure consumption and strategic workload adoption across Digital Native customers.
Accelerates AI and cloud transformation initiatives that drive measurable customer business outcomes.
Influences platform decisions with founders, CTOs, and engineering leaders.
Builds long-term strategic relationships with high-growth technology companies.
Positions Microsoft as the preferred Cloud and AI partner for Digital Native and AI-first organizations.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

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