Overview
Microsoft believes that startups, scale-ups, and unicorns have the potential to change the world. These organizations are transforming industries including e-commerce, fintech, social media, gaming, and more, creating breakthrough applications and new business models that are changing the way we live and work.With the Microsoft Cloud, we aspire to empower high-growth companies to innovate and scale on our platform and grow through Microsoft’s ecosystem of customers, developers, partners, and investors. We are looking for a bold, customer-focused, and strategic sales leader to join us as a Pursuit Account Director. This is a unique opportunity to identify and develop relationships with some of the most promising emerging companies in the UK and lead strategic cloud and AI pursuits that drive customer impact, competitive share, and growth for the Microsoft Azure & AI platform.The Pursuit Account Director operates at the leading edge of Microsoft’s business, focusing on emerging high-growth startups, scale-ups, and unicorns in the UK that are transforming industries. The environment is entrepreneurial, fast-moving, and highly collaborative, providing an opportunity to work with some of the most innovative companies and leaders in the market.In this role, you will lead and orchestrate the One Microsoft team to drive ambitious growth and strategic wins with startups and unicorns in the UK. You will partner closely with teams across the Digital Natives organization, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Business Desk, and other groups across Microsoft to build long-term strategic partnerships and accelerate customers’ growth on the Microsoft Cloud. 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
Identify and develop high-potential customers- Identify and prioritize high-potential startups, scale-ups, and unicorns based on defined market and business criteria.
- Assess relevant external and internal insights to understand customer potential, growth trajectory, business opportunity, competitive position, and Microsoft relationship.
- Build and maintain a strong pipeline of emerging organizations with the potential to scale significantly on the Microsoft Cloud.
Lead strategic pursuits and partnerships- Engage senior customer stakeholders to understand their strategy, growth ambitions, technology priorities, and business challenges.
- Determine the right engagement model for each opportunity, from initial Azure projects through broader strategic partnerships and workload commitments.
- Develop strategic partnerships at the right stage of a customer’s growth to help accelerate innovation an
