Deal Manager

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As the scope of our business expands, there is an increasing reliance on the Deal Desk to design, approve, facilitate, and test innovative deals & commercial models in addition to maintaining its core strength of securing company revenue and profitability.

Deal Desk encompasses more than 300 employees worldwide. The success and reputation of the Deal Desk is well established across all parts of Microsoft for driving billions of dollars of “good business”.

Deal Desk is part of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Finance organization sitting in Finance and reporting to Microsoft’s CFO Amy Hood.

Deal Managers make empowered decisions on commercial solutions (product and services) using business judgment, financial analysis, technical knowledge, licensing and monetization principles, balancing customer’s, and Microsoft’s interests. Strong engagement and partnership with Field Sales, Product Groups, Engineering, CELA and other Corp functions. Deal Desk work closely with field sellers and customers to negotiate deal construct, pricing, and terms & conditions to close complex deals.

As a Deal Manager, you will be responsible for creating licensing solutions for our Commercial Enterprise accounts in EMEA, with a primary focus on Austria, France, Germany, Ireland and UK. Your responsibility also includes providing feedback on Online Services, Consulting Services and licensing strategies and business opportunities/challenges along with piloting alternative licensing offerings. Most of your customers will have unique commercial and contractual needs that you will address in collaboration with the account teams and the Area senior leadership team. You will operate as the subject matter expect and provide leadership and coaching to the local sales and licensing community and be a trusted advisor for regional management with respect to complex Online Services, Consulting Services and licensing related topics. You will regularly be involved in direct customer facing high stakes negotiations.

The responsibility that comes with this role requires a background in large enterprise sales. Background in Cloud technologies and a strong perspective of Digital Transformation are highly welcome, as Microsoft continues to assist customers in their journey to the cloud and helps them digitally transform their businesses. The role owner is expected to negotiate at GM and CxO level, both internally and externally.

Required/minimum qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Management, Information Technology, Marketing, or related field AND extensive experience in direct sales and negotiation or related work OR Bachelor's Degree in Business Management, Information Technology, Marketing, or related field AND significant experience in direct sales and negotiation or related work or internship experience.
• This role requires proficiency in written, reading, and conversational English as all business operations as well as customer communications are conducted in English.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Experience in direct sales with commercial enterprise customers.
• Strong understanding of the marketplace, competitive landscape, and industry-specific challenges influencing negotiation strategies.
• Ability to support negotiations for large, complex deals at senior customer levels (including CxO).
• Demonstrated capability to navigate dynamic environments, manage ambiguity, and work effectively within complex stakeholder structures.
• Proficiency in analytical and mathematical skills, including advanced use of tools such as Excel (pivot tables, data manipulation, and transformation).
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, both internally and in customer-facing scenarios.
• Commitment to continuous learning and maintaining up-to-date knowledge of Microsoft products, Volume Licensing offerings, and Online Services to effectively position Microsoft’s solutions against competitors.
• Demonstrated intellectual curiosity, strong analytical skills, confidence, and effective project management abilities.
• Speaking fluent French and /or German is considered an advantage.

• Customer satisfaction and licensing simplification. Work directly and indirectly with the largest customers to assist in determining and approving optimal licensing solutions that meets the customers’ needs while also simplifying the licensing experience and maximizing the revenue opportunity to Microsoft. Communicate customer requirements and licensing information to all levels of Microsoft.
• Empowerment and decision making, broad legal and financial authority, with extensive understanding of concession risks and cost of sales implications. Accountable for making decisions regarding concessions to drive deals to closure but minimizing risk to Microsoft and landing good profitable business.
• Subsidiary engagement. Pro-actively work with various levels of stakeholders to assist them in closing sales, driving consumption of Online Services, develop commercial offerings and analyze customer licensing requirements. Take a leadership role in working directly with sales teams to help determine how to drive the business forward while ensuring that customer satisfaction remains a top priority.
• Interface with the Microsoft headquarters (Seattle) based Product Groups, Legal and Operations to highlight licensing trends and challenges and ensure that the solutions developed meet the short and long term needs of both the customer and Microsoft while minimizing internal costs and any associated liabilities.
• Strategic commercial direction. Contribute to the overall strategic direction of Worldwide Commercial Finance by ensuring effective implementation and landing of strategy and offerings, testing pilots and providing feedback on new licensing strategies for regional and worldwide use.
• Provide support to sales team in customer facing discussions as required.