Senior Security Specialist

Overview

Leads strategic security engagements with senior customer stakeholders, including CISOs, CIOs, security architects, risk leaders, and business decision makers, to identify, qualify, and accelerate high-value security opportunities. Acts as a trusted advisor to customers on cybersecurity, risk management, compliance, identity, data protection, cloud security, and AI security strategies, helping organizations strengthen their security posture while enabling secure business transformation.

Leads collaboration with account teams and cross-functional stakeholders to identify whitespace opportunities, assess customer security maturity, and develop security-led growth strategies. Utilizes AI-powered security intelligence, threat insights, and market analysis to uncover emerging risks, industry trends, regulatory requirements, and business opportunities within the assigned market.

Synthesizes knowledge of the Microsoft Security portfolio, including Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Security Copilot, and related security solutions, to align customer priorities with business outcomes. Leverages AI-driven insights and predictive analytics to anticipate evolving cyber threats and future customer security requirements.

Drives partnerships across Microsoft sales, customer success, technical specialists, solution architects, and partners to design and execute comprehensive security transformation strategies. Guides customers through cloud security modernization, Zero Trust implementation, cyber resilience programs, security operations transformation, and secure AI adoption initiatives.

Leads executive-level opportunity management, pipeline reviews, and forecasting activities with internal senior stakeholders to drive predictable revenue growth and forecasting accuracy. Utilizes data-driven insights and AI-powered sales analytics to assess pipeline health, prioritize investments, and accelerate deal execution.

Develops and executes customer-specific security sales strategies that address cybersecurity risks, regulatory obligations, compliance requirements, and business resilience objectives. Demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to delivering secure AI-powered transformation while building long-term trusted advisor relationships and achieving security solution area business goals.

Responsibilities

Customer Engagement

• Leads the sales strategy tailored to each customer's security priorities, showcasing Microsoft's dedication to secure, AI-powered transformation and addressing their specific needs within the customer success plan, fostering long-term partnerships through AI-driven insights. Leads partner teams and resources, and fosters lasting relationships that activate co-selling strategies and drive partner attach to each opportunity through every stage in the sales lifecycle. Leads partner organization connections (i.e. GPS) that lead to enduring relationships, shared gains, partner health and alignment with execution plans to accelerate customer value realization at scale.
• Assesses and qualifies sales opportunities following sales frameworks and guidelines, ensuring alignment with AI-enhanced sales methodologies and best practices. Leads strategy development for driving and closing complex, high-value opportunities. Partners across organizations (e.g., Account Team Unit [ATU], CSU, ISD, GPS) to drive deal orchestration and ensure seamless handoffs throughout the deal lifecycle. Advances best practices to gain customer trust, secure deals, and strategically mitigate risks to enhance sales activities across the market.

Sales & Pipeline Management

• Strategically analyzes business and emerging opportunities to enhance the customer portfolio and drive customer innovation. Integrates technology (e.g., AI sales agents, automation, Power Platforms) to accelerate growth across assigned domain. Employs comprehensive analysis of propensity, renewal, consumption, and usage data to refine and execute sales strategy. Manages optimization of partners assigned to each account and/or opportunity to ensure seamless handoffs with other teams (e.g., Global Partner Solutions [GPS], Customer Success Unit [CSU], Industry Solutions Delivery [ISD], Partner) throughout the deal lifecycle.
• Leads sales pipeline reviews with internal senior stakeholders to drive forecasting accuracy and meeting sales targets, ensuring the use of AI-powered analytics and forecasting tools to enhance precision. Coaches others on and maintains sales and/or consumption pipeline hygiene to enable tracking to achieve assigned sales metrics using all available tools, resources, and processes Coaches others on and leads to achieve usage and/or consumption pipeline hygiene targets to actively monitor adoption trends, identify opportunities for intervention, enabling customers to realize the value of solutions purchased, drive expansion, and ensure healthier, more predictable renewals.

Sales Strategy

• Leads discussions with senior stakeholders and decision makers for high-value customers to identify, qualify, and accelerate sales opportunities. Serves as a key point of contact for, and partners with internal senior stakeholders within and across organizations to strategically drive customer success. Proactively engages with account teams to align the customer's artificial intelligence (AI) transformation vision with their business priorities and success objectives. Ensures the integration of security principles in customer interactions, opportunity, and pursuits to maintain trust and compliance standards.
• Leads collaborations with others on whitespace analysis and leverages expertise to identify and capitalize on business opportunities and market gaps within the assigned market domain, utilizing AI-driven market intelligence tools to assess trends and insights. Integrates and translates market intelligence, trends, and insights to inform team strategy. Refines and evolves the established market analysis approach to ensure proactive alignment with strategic directives and emerging market trends.
• Synthesizes evaluation of the solution area(s) and market to strategically align sales plays with complex customer priorities and outcomes, incorporating AI-driven predictive analytics to forecast future market needs. Drives cross-functional collaboration to propose and prioritize solutions and strategies that drive customer business objectives. Proactively identifies and addresses gaps, setting the direction for market engagement and sales execution.
• Leads partnerships with others cross-organizationally and guides the development of solutions to enable AI- and cloud-driven transformations for existing and new customers within the region, emphasizing the integration of cutting-edge AI technologies and cloud services. Crafts and refines strategies and engages with customers to distinguish Microsoft’s offerings in the competitive landscape. Acts as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor for customers and drives the adoption of technologies and solutions that align and advance their strategic goals and drive digital transformation.

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field AND 8+ years experience in cybersecurity, technology sales, solution sales, account management, or related experience OR
• Equivalent practical experience.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA), Cybersecurity, Information Security, Information Technology, or related field AND 8+ years experience in cybersecurity, technology-related sales, or account management OR
• Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field AND 12+ years experience in cybersecurity, technology-related sales, or account management OR
• Equivalent experience.

Preferred Experience

• 8+ years of security solution sales, cybersecurity consulting, security services, or security transformation experience.
• Experience engaging with CISOs, security leadership teams, and executive decision makers.
• Knowledge of Zero Trust, identity security, SIEM/SOAR, XDR, data security, governance, risk, compliance, cloud security, and AI security.
• Experience selling enterprise security solutions and managing complex security transformation opportunities.
• Security certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CCSP, Security+, Microsoft Security certifications, or equivalent are preferred.

Additional information

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.