Senior Industry Advisor - Defense and Intelligence Israel
Microsoft · Tel Aviv
OverviewDo you care deeply about working with governments to help constituents and advance the digital transformation of countries across the world? This is one of Microsoft's most critical and strategic areas of focus, and we are looking for a leader to lead our engagement with the Defense and Intelligence Industry in EMEA. In this position, you will be working with senior-level officials in government and industry on transformative projects driven by Microsoft technology.
Using extensive industry and sales knowledge, the Industry Advisor, EMEA (Defense & Intelligence) will help our sales teams and partners to provide relevant, high-quality solutions and services that enable our government customers to drive digital transformation in Israel. The Industry Advisor will collaborate closely with corporate teams, as well as sales teams in Israel, to build trusted relationships with our most important accounts and deliver thought leadership in the Defense sector to include the Defense Industrial Base.
We are looking for someone who has a relentless passion for industry, along with a significant sales leadership background and understanding of the segments within the Defense Industry.
Regionally based in Israel, you will be working as an integral member of the Microsoft Frontier Company team and will collaborate and partner with colleagues in other geographies. It will involve up to 50% travel, with some global travel required occasionally. Successful candidates will work closely cross-functionally with our customer account teams, the service delivery teams, public sector and industry teams to deliver key business priorities, goals, and objectives.
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
Role Summary
Serves as a thought leader on industry-focused sales within Microsoft and as the Industry subject matter expert in digital transformation account planning for Defense, Intelligence and the Defense Industrial Base. Acts as an industry advisor to executive-level business decision makers. Identifies business needs and customer readiness to land value propositions at the center of Microsoft’s Frontier Co. ambition, helping our most strategic customers turn industry disruption into measurable transformation through AI, data, security and Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE).
You will coach and develop industry experts who engage senior business and technology leaders, shape board-level transformation conversations, and identify customer scenarios where FDE can unlock faster time to value and differentiated business outcomes. Working across account teams, specialists, FDE teams, partners and executive stakeholders, you will help connect customer ambition to Microsoft’s most strategic growth motions.
You will be responsible for building a high-performing team culture, driving strategic customer impact, and creating repeatable industry-led growth opportunities across a portfolio of strategic accounts. Provides guidance from an industry perspective during early stages of opportunity engagements. Engages with senior decision makers to nurture new business opportunities.
Initiates conversations with strategic customers to bring innovative ideas that showcase the need for strategic change. Determines root cause of customer problems, removes blockers, and establishes recovery action plan. Generates demand through industry presentations and events.
Proactively seeks additional training, including information that adds to the understanding of customers' businesses, and shares it with team members. Serves as industry communicator to translate industry knowledge for the account management team. Collaborates with partners to identify future requirements and connect the partner ecosystems in efforts to scale business results.
Extends relationships with peers and senior team members across solution areas. Proactively builds knowledge of Microsoft and industry solutions and capabilities.
Responsibilities
Collaboration and Partner Management
Leverages their understanding of and relationships with Business Strategy Leads (BSLs), Business Development Managers (BDMs) and Partner Development Managers (PDMs) to plan, orchestrate and execute customer opportunities, and inform house of industry. Drives engagements with Industry Solutions Delivery (ISD), FDE and partners (e.g., solution architect, solutions-sales professionals, cloud-solution architects) and external stakeholders to design and illustrate envisioned solutions (e.g., pilots, proof of concept, rapid prototyping, minimum viable product).
Collaborates with the account team unit (ATU) and partners to drive GTM strategy and drive together customer opportunities. Collaborates with commercial and legal teams to establish formal partnership. Collaborates with partner teams (e.g., Global Partner Solutions [GPS]) to carry out competitive recruiting of new partners and helps current partners to understand the industry and develop/deliver truth for the solutions within that industry.
Drives team efforts to identify and engage partners for targeted solutions and articulates the case for developing solutions on top of the Microsoft cloud.
Industry Expertise
Completes the required training and seeks additional learning opportunities to obtain relevant industry expertise and certifications pertinent to the role and the industry itself. Proactively builds and maintains knowledge of Microsoft's and other industry-relevant solutions and other capabilities. Proactively builds strong knowledge of the industry, including trends, policy implications (e.g., privacy), and competitors to act as a subject matter expert and inform decisions on pursuit or withdrawal.
Leads communication to provide feedback across the ecosystem (i.e., cross-pollinating information across teams/industries) to other teams (e.g., sales, marketing, engineering) on future product trends or sales blockers and to guide industry solutions team members in a wide variety of specialties, leveraging deep industry knowledge to articulate nuances and anticipate gaps. Advises and presents at industry communities. Provides recommendations on accounts and establishes a learning baseline for less experienced colleagues.
Proactively seeks out additional training to build on career competencies, including information that adds to the understanding of customers' businesses, and shares it with team members.
Planning and Engagement
Leads multi-horizon planning to outline an approach for industry-oriented solution selling with the customer. Creates segment-focused three-horizon roadmaps for impactful accounts based on business and technology priorities, as well as deep understanding of their industry. Identifies appropriate resources to execute on digital transformation plan to support mid- to long-term customer plans. Drives internal and customer envisioning and articulates business and program changes in the roadmaps around new and groundbreaking capabilities.
Proactively continues to build and maintain mutually influential relationships with external senior- and executive-level decision makers and partners, leveraging targeted stakeholders at assigned customer. Builds an understanding of who the most influential decision makers are in potential and existing customer accounts to engage with them and develop a relationship, understand their motivations, and open up new opportunities.
Defines an engagement strategy for identifying customer stakeholders (e.g., executives) with the most influence. Ensures effective procurement relationship with stakeholders to understand buying habits of customer. Supports broad and specialist teams in determining who to contact and connect with (e.g., detailing that a logistics challenge in the retail space starts with merchandising).
Supports definition of holistic strategy for account and individual stakeholder. Engages in regular and continuous communication to act as an industry advisor to the executive-level business decision makers at the customer's business by applying deep understanding of their business strategy, market dynamics, relevant technology trends and Microsoft’s Industry point of view (POV). Orchestrates V-team in executing plays that support relationship building.
Navigates complex corporate and/or political environments specific to the customer's industry to drive business value-case creation.
Serves as the industry subject matter expert in digital transformation account planning. Engages with internal and external stakeholders on account planning and partner business planning (e.g., Key Business Leaders (KBLs), Global Systems Integrator [GSI], Independent Software Vendors [ISV]) and reviews industry plans, lending credibility from an industry perspective. Brings a multi-year strategic perspective to digital transformation account planning by identifying where the industry is, where the account is, and what Microsoft has to offer that is new.
Provides thought leadership via focus on broad global industry trends (e.g., emerging customer needs and competition) to activate and evangelize worldwide industry strategies and/or large ecosystem plays into local market and/or must-win accounts. Drives stakeholder mapping to identify the most influential stakeholders and decision makers in the customer business. Partners locally with ISVs to inform industry knowledge.
Participates in small-scale iterative planning rhythms with core account team and other team members to discuss operational elements (e.g., tactics, execution, roles, and orchestration) needed to deliver on the account plan. Ensures alignment with account roadmaps by determining how to drive growth/reduce cost and help direct the account team to what business decision makers (BDMs) pair. Increases the speed of adoption of Microsoft technologies by plotting the strategic, long-term vision of the customer's/partner's business strategy and driving appropriate actions to bring it to fruition.
Sales Execution
Identifies needs and industry readiness of customers and influences stakeholders. Leverages internal resources (e.g., account team unit [ATU], partners) to land value propositions for solutions with customers and solution plays in a repeatable manner. Leads work to open customer opportunities based on industry objectives, best practices, and new stakeholder relationships.
Identifies and advances high-impact, high potential repeatable use cases and scenarios for reuse across customers. Envisions product scenarios that do not currently exist to identify and open white spaces. Leverages industry expertise to help craft and modify prioritized services and solutions that align with customers' needs and innovation-centered initiatives with an industry narrative.
Makes and proposes solutions to customers and competitors in the industry. Identifies corporate priorities and map (in a chain) of enabling capabilities from KPIs to the lowest level.
Recognized as a trusted advisor by the customer to shape, lead, and challenge strategic decision makers to take action and implement the proposed solutions using a compelling storyline and a strong financial business case (e.g., return on investment [ROI], other applicable metrics) rooted in the customer's industry. Understands customer and industry challenges, helps define the problem statement, and envisions the digital transformation journey (e.g., through user research, storyboards, roadmaps) to drive change for large, complex, and/or strategic customers.
Incubates and develops early stage pipeline for large scale digital transformation opportunities based on market research and customer-specific needs to drive strategic partnerships. Initiates conversations and networks with customer and internal teams (e.g., industry team, digital technology specialists, sales teams) to determine the right stakeholder mix for transforming the customer's business. Drives the acceleration of new, multi-horizon customer transformational business models that reshape the customer business and advance their cloud maturity employing the Strategic Pursuits Team (SPT) when needed.
Leads complex transformational opportunities to turn them into commercial agreements that deliver on customer objectives. Ensures a strong connection into delivery and success, post-sales, to help customers realize desired business value. Organizes collaboration with the account team unit (ATU) to identify opportunities to drive growth with new and existing accounts.
Identifies high-impact customer requirements for internal ideation with team. Drives the team to accelerate new customer transformational business models that reshape the customer business and advance their cloud maturity. Gathers competitive insight and proactively shares insight and impacts.
Creates and maintains an industry-focused vision with business and technology solution scenarios and services that helps large-scale, high-stakes customers achieve industry-relevant business outcomes, achieve their long-term corporate vision, and maximize commercial success. From an industry perspective, leads and facilitates strategic discussions with board-level/senior executive stakeholders (e.g., CxO, senior Business Development Managers [BDMs]) both with the customer and internally to design the end state and show how it achieves and aligns to the goals of the customer's business, as well as how it compares with competitors' solutions. Identifies and connects with customer executives who own the area being influenced (e.g., business process) to align with the customer's business strategies and goals, and to design and model how the business will execute strategy with the integration of Microsoft technology.
Collaborates with the account team units (ATUs) and internal and external stakeholders/partners to build a pipeline within the industry and territory. Supports the orchestration of appropriate resources to converge, support, and convert industry-specific opportunities into deals. Conducts research with customer on their markets and opportunities for implementation of digital technologies.
Represents industry perspective in and drives conversations and ideation with customers to create a shared vision and future direction for the integration of Microsoft technology in their business. Originates, develops, and drives opportunities based on industry best practices and own expertise, presents transformative opportunities to customer, and creates demand in highly strategic, complex business and IT scenarios.
Influences execution of the worldwide play into the field to drive for scale and leverage customer pain points and industry depth to identify and open new business opportunities that meet customer business objectives and drive growth across customer's business. Contributes to market making business partnerships in their industry of expertise with multi-year potential, in collaboration with ATUs. Provides guidance to account teams to help ensure representation of industry to internal senior leadership.
Advises account executives and technical leaders of accounts on how to best align sales opportunities to customer business objectives to help customers achieve business results.
Collaborates internally to articulate strategic business value from an industry perspective and long-term implications of using Microsoft's products, services, solutions, and existing features of customer's digital portfolio to create mutually beneficial business value propositions as they digitally transform their business (e.g., program or solution development). Engages senior decision makers within customers to identify, generate, and nurture new business opportunities through qualitative industry solutions.
Provides the industry point of view to support the group assessing account maturation using innovative and creative insight to include the employment of FDE. Executes on the proposal or development of solutions that align with customer and Microsoft industry-focused priorities and showcase clear benefits of choosing Microsoft over competitors. Creates value opportunities and value case by identifying value drivers, representing the industry cloud vision, top line revenue opportunities, and cost drivers.
Leverages customer successes to demonstrate value and expand solutions throughout other areas of the customer's business. Applies knowledge of the current state, projected future state, and improved capabilities of the customer via Microsoft solutions to create a compelling business-value case with consideration of customer and business scenarios. Provides customer references as industry exemplars in specific, novel customer scenarios.
Leads work to build proposals/develop potential industry-specific solutions that align with the customer's priorities.
Collaboration and Partner Management
Leverages their understanding of and relationships with Business Strategy Leads (BSLs), Business Development Managers (BDMs) and Partner Development Managers (PDMs) to plan, orchestrate and execute customer opportunities. Drives engagements with ISD, FDE, SPT, partners (e.g., solution architect, solutions-sales professionals, cloud-solution architects) and external stakeholders to design and illustrate envisioned solutions (e.g., pilots, proof of concept, rapid prototyping, minimum viable product).
Collaborates with the account team unit (ATU) and partners to drive GTM strategy and drive together customer opportunities. Collaborates with commercial and legal teams to establish formal partnership. Collaborates with partner teams (e.g., Global Partner Solutions [GPS]) to carry out competitive recruiting of new partners and helps current partners to understand the industry and develop/deliver truth for the solutions within that industry.
Drives team efforts to identify and engage partners for targeted solutions and articulates the case for developing solutions on top of the Microsoft cloud.
Industry Expertise
Completes the required training and seeks additional learning opportunities to obtain relevant industry expertise and certifications pertinent to the role and the industry itself. Proactively builds and maintains knowledge of Microsoft's and other industry-relevant solutions and other capabilities. Proactively builds knowledge of the industry, including trends, policy implications (e.g., privacy), and competitors to act as a subject matter expert and inform decisions on pursuit or withdrawal.
Leads communication to provide feedback across the ecosystem (i.e., cross-pollinating information across teams/industries) to other teams (e.g., sales, marketing, engineering) on future product trends or sales blockers and to guide industry solutions team members in a wide variety of specialties, leveraging deep industry knowledge to articulate nuances and anticipate gaps. Advises and presents at industry communities. Provides recommendations on accounts and establishes a learning baseline for less experienced colleagues.
Proactively seeks out additional training to build on career competencies, including information that adds to the understanding of customers' businesses, and shares it with team members.
Other
Embody Microsoft culture and values
Qualifications
Required / Minimum Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience within military, national security, or DIB organizations, including deep understanding of defense procurement, operations, and mission environments.
- 10+ years of proven solution/services sales, strategic account management, industry advisory, or consulting experience
- Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior/executive (CxO-level) defense and government stakeholders with strong industry credibility.
- Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field (e.g., Engineering, Computer Science, Business, National Security or Defense studies) OR equivalent experience.
- Currently hold, or are willing and able to undergo, the security clearance process required for this role.
Additional / Preferred Qualifications
- Experience driving AI, cybersecurity, or cloud adoption within defense or national security environments, including exposure to hyperscale cloud platforms.
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.