Sales Strategy Enablement - Higher Education

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Are you naturally curious, a self-starter, and someone who thrives in a complex, highly-matrixed work environment? Do you excel working as part of a geographically diverse team and are passionate about technology that supports higher learning institutions around the world? We are looking for a Sales Strategy Leader for Higher Education who will be the driving force behind Microsoft’s global sales planning, readiness, and execution for the Higher Education sector. This dynamic role transforms market insights and customer feedback into actionable, field-ready strategies, cutting-edge tools, and measurable plans that propel teams to success. With a relentless focus on results, the Sales Strategy Leader for Higher Education conducts rigorous market research, distills complex analyses into clear, executive-level guidance, and champions the sales platforms and metrics that unlock account and territory excellence across every region and segment.

Operating at the heart of the Worldwide Public Sector Industry Solutions Team, this leader energizes cross-functional collaboration—mobilizing internal and external resources, forging multi-year go-to-market strategies, and partnering with Engineering, Marketing, and corporate teams. Their mission: to accelerate cloud and AI-driven transformation, fuel rapid revenue growth, and empower universities and research institutions to thrive in a digital-first world.

The desired candidate will:

• Understand Higher Education’s mission and business objectives across the student lifecycle, academic services, and grant funded research; engage academic and administrative leaders to articulate how technology improves student experiences and academic outcomes.
• Act as a senior advisor to leadership (GM/CVP/EVP/CEO), leveraging deep sales/product knowledge and market awareness to inform strategic sales planning; build durable relationships with Finance, Marketing, Engineering, and Field Sales.
• Synthesize broad findings into actionable insights that guide go to market decisions, highlight competitive implications and solution area gaps, and set the frameworks/methodologies for structured problem solving.
• Own sales insights, readiness, and activation by directing platform/tool usage, stewarding key metrics, and influencing current/future planning initiatives and operations across all geographic regions and territories.
• Lead field landing by shaping account and territory planning strategies, refining landing plans and plays based on results, and closing the loop with product teams for continuous improvement.
• Guide innovative market research and analysis using product reports, revenue/geographic data, stakeholder feedback, and expert calls; challenge assumptions and own executive ratified framing for major research workstreams.
• Be fluent in cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and data estate concepts and understand the provider ecosystem, funding landscape, and support organizations unique to Higher Education.
• Mentor and amplify others, creating opportunities for less experienced team members to develop business partner relationships and expand their impact.

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.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years experience in business consulting, sales, sales operations, information technology (IT), account management, business development, marketing, IT field sales, or a related field
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years experience in in Near Term Strategy (2 years out), Management Consulting, Sales, or Finance.
• 5+ years of experience working in or with Higher Education institutions, with demonstrated success leading technology adoption and digital transformation.
• 5+ years of demonstrated executive presence and ability to influence senior leaders in a complex, matrixed environment.

• Cross functional joint planning: Manage and cultivate senior relationships; act as a domain expert informing strategic sales planning; influence through partners across divisions; expand team capacity via mentorship.
• Problem solving & insights: Convert cross division findings into guidance for complex go to market issues in Higher Education; scope expansive strategy ideas; gain senior buy in for new initiatives; establish reusable problem solving frameworks.
• Sales insights, readiness, and activation: Direct platform/tool roles, communicate key metrics to senior stakeholders, and shape planning initiatives and operational processes; ensure the field has clear updates and plans globally.
• Sales landing: Set and adjust landing priorities; manage account/territory planning; monitor and refine landing plans and plays; feed learnings back to product groups for continuous improvement.
• Sales market research & analysis: Lead innovative market research using internal and external signals; synthesize and challenge analyses; own executive framing for broad research projects.
• Program and project leadership: Define, drive, and execute multiple strategy programs across organizational boundaries; proactively remove complex roadblocks; propose new initiatives based on unmet needs; lead high impact virtual teams.
• Higher Education GTM orchestration: Formalize multi-year strategic GTM plans and annual operational objectives; collaborate with Worldwide Public Sector, Engineering, Marketing, and CELA to scale impact and revenue in the Higher Education vertical.

• Embody our culture and values.