Industry Partner Sales Lead - US Defense Industrial Base

The Americas Enterprise Partner Solutions (EPS) team is a sales organization accountable for the commercial partner business at Microsoft, and the mission is to build and sell Microsoft Cloud applications, and services with partners, empowering people, and organizations to achieve more.

The Industry Partner Sales Lead - US Defense Industrial Base  (DIB) is the dedicated Operating Unit (OU) aligned voice of EPS and partners inside an Enterprise OU, and the voice of the OU back inside EPS. The primary focus of the role is to ensure that partner is embedded into the strategy, and execution plans of the OU to accelerate revenue with partners. The role ensures key EPS initiatives land effectively in the OU, that the OU can seamlessly navigate EPS to drive partner-led business outcomes, and that EPS programs and motions are shaped by real OU feedback.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world.

Scope & Key Responsibilities

Scope is organized around the three strategic pillars that define the Industry Partner Sales Lead role:

Pillar 1 — Pipeline & Co-Sell (60%)

• Drive high-value inbound pipeline (Stages 1–3) at the opportunity level, in partnership with Account Team Unit (ATU) and Specialist Team Unit (STU).
• Reinforce activation and action on inbound pipeline from partners across ATU, STU, and Customer Success Unit (CSU) teams and opportunity for partner acceleration, renewals, or sub-industry motions.
• Craft the right sub-industry partners and partner solutions to expand outbound pipeline sharing beyond association, while driving strategic Marketplace deals and enabling sellers to execute independently at scale.
• Identify business challenges or revenue shortfalls within the OU and work with EPS to surface the right partners or create partner motions to accelerate revenue.
• Land Americas Co-Selling Microsoft Engine (ACME) co-selling motions with the OU and ensure follow-through on opportunities discussed from both seller and partner sides (ACME is owned/run by the GTM team; the Sales Lead ensures the right partners and sellers are chosen and that follow-through happens).
• Serve as the OU’s point of contact for Co-Sell Days.

Pillar 2 — OU-Partner Strategy & Planning (30%)

• Revitalize partner as a first-class objective in OU planning and strategic account planning (not a bolt-on).
• Align partner inputs and mapping to OU customer and territory planning.
• Apply an OU relevance filter to EPS initiatives before they hit the field.
• Inform OU considerations into EPS planning cycles.
• Embed partner considerations into OU planning and execution as the “EPS conscience” inside the OU.

Pillar 3 — Rhythm of Business (RoB) & EPS Navigation (10%)

• Serve as the primary EPS presence in the OU’s Rhythms of Business — take part at the leader level in MBRs, forecast calls, and pipeline reviews to represent partner contribution and partner with the OU LT to increase partner engagement.
• Participate in 1–2 RevOps meetings per month for the OU to represent partner contribution and share relevant EPS programs and levers.
• Operate as a bidirectional translator (EPS ↔ OU): surface field feedback and blockers back to EPS leadership to inform strategy and program design.

Critical Indicators of Success

• Partner-shared Stage 2 → Stage 3 pipeline velocity in the assigned OU.
• Partner contribution % and trending within the OU.
• Marketplace Billed Sales and trending within the OU.
• Net new revenue opportunities generated with partners within the OU.
• Inbound co-sell pipeline coverage and conversion (Stages 1–3).
• Feedback from OU LT on the Sales Lead’s contribution to the OU business.

Required/minimum qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Engineering, Business Management, or related field AND 6+ years related experience, including coaching solution sales and account development strategies, exceeding quotas by leading sales teams along complex sales cycles through a partner ecosystem and centralized marketing engine, Global, Area-level Business Management as a leader of Sales, Customer, Partner teams selling technology solutions/practice development, cloud/Infrastructure technologies, and/or subscription services, senior sales leadership, or managing high performance sales and technical-sales teams OR equivalent experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Must be willing to obtain a US Security Clearance
• 8+ years in partner, sales, or business development roles in enterprise technology.
• Working experience in US Defense Industrial Base industry.
• Demonstrated success driving co-sell pipeline and partner-led opportunities at scale.
• Deep fluency in Microsoft’s commercial sales motion, ATU/STU/CSU structure, and the partner ecosystem, including but not limited to: ACME, Partner Accelerated Cloud Engineering (PACE), Partner Delivery Orchestration Center (PDOC) and Marketplace.
• Direct experience with Marketplace deal motion and complex deal orchestration.
• Orchestration and influence skills across matrixed organizations; able to operate without direct authority.
• Excellent communication skills — equally credible with OU sales leadership and partner executives.

Segment Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $133,000 - $222,700 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 $170,300 - $239,800 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

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.