About the role

Aplyr's Quick Take

This role is about leading a global team focused on AI business solutions, security, and business processes. You'll engage with top enterprise customers, coach your team, and drive strategy and execution to meet revenue goals. It's a management position that requires strong leadership and business acumen in a fast-paced environment.

Good fit

Ideal candidates have significant experience in technology sales or solutions management, particularly in AI and security. Strong leadership skills and the ability to navigate complex customer relationships are essential.

Worth noting

The role involves direct engagement with Japanese enterprise customers, which may require cultural sensitivity and language skills. The salary range is quite broad, indicating potential flexibility based on experience.

Overview

As the Director, Solution Specialist Manager, AI Business Solutions, you will lead a globally distributed team of solution specialists spanning the Americas, EMEA, and Asia, focused on driving growth across AI Business Solutions, Security, and Business Process.

This role includes engagement with Japanese top enterprise customers as part of the Microsoft Japan subsidiary, while blending expert-level AI, business process, and security solutioning with exceptional people leadership and business management capabilities. A key expectation is to accelerate Frontier GTM/cross-solution area best practices, scale cross-geography learnings, and advance Microsoft’s Intelligence + Trust value proposition across regions and customer segments. You will coach and develop specialist teams, engage directly with strategic customers and partners, own forecast and execution discipline, and remove blockers to accelerate measurable business impact.

Operating at a highly visible global level, you will help shape strategy, represent the business to senior stakeholders across regions, and ensure the team delivers against revenue, customer transformation, and operational excellence goals in a complex, fast-moving AI and Security landscape.

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

Customer Engagement and Partnership

Serves as a customer and partner advocate across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia, including Japanese top enterprise customers as part of the Microsoft Japan subsidiary, offering feedback to business and solution area leaders to refine strategy, encourage continuous improvement, seize market opportunities, and build trust.

Encourages early engagement of strategic partners in the sales process to enhance customer adoption and accelerate value realization.

Delivers insights and feedback to internal teams to improve go-to-market (GTM) strategies and execution. Guides the team in identifying and aligning sales plays with market, industry, and customer needs across AI Business Solutions, Security, and Business Process.

Actively seeks to match solution scenarios with customer and partner organizations, focusing on how Microsoft’s offerings can complement and add value to business operations across complex regional, industry, and stakeholder environments.

Acts as a trusted advisor to customers and partners, using expert-level solutioning and business insight to foster marketplace success.

Advocates for customer support resources through Unified Support that help accelerate business value realization, transformation, and measurable impact.

People Management

Delivering success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching, and caring.

Model: Live our culture. Embody our values. Practice our leadership principles. Demonstrate inclusive, cross-cultural leadership across a globally distributed team.

Coach: Define team objectives and measurable outcomes. Enable success across boundaries, regions, and solution areas. Help the team adapt, learn, and thrive in ambiguity.

Care: Attract and retain great people. Know each individual’s capabilities and aspirations. Invest in the growth of others and build diverse leadership capacity across AI Business Solutions, Security, and Business Process.

Sales Operations and Pipeline Management

Drives a clear operating rhythm to scale cross-solution area best practices and cross-geography learnings across AI Business Solutions, Security, and Business Process.

Guides the team in using automation, AI-powered analytics, forecasting tools, and sales methodologies to strengthen pipeline quality and execution.

Partners with area and organization leaders to manage pipeline health, identify stalled opportunities, remove blockers, and improve forecast accuracy.

Aligns resources, capability development, and opportunity management to support revenue growth, customer commitments, and measurable business impact.

Sales Strategy and Execution

Guides the team in identifying market trends, customer priorities, competitive threats, and industry opportunities across core solution areas.

Develops and executes sales strategies that align AI, cloud, security, and business process solutions to customer transformation needs and total addressable market opportunities.

Coaches the team to differentiate Microsoft’s offerings through expert solutioning, customer-specific value propositions, and the Intelligence + Trust narrative.

Builds team resilience, innovation, and leadership depth to deliver measurable market impact across regions, industries, and complex stakeholder environments.

Qualifications

Proven track record of delivering measurable business impact through strategic leadership, operational excellence, disciplined pipeline management, and customer-obsessed execution across complex solution portfolios.

solutioning experience across AI Business Solutions, Security, and Business Process, with the ability to translate industry priorities into transformation opportunities

Demonstrable experience in solution or services sales.

Experience managing teams either through direct line management or matrix/project management.

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Business Administration, Analytics, Data Science OR Master's Degree in Business Administration (i.e., MBA), Information Technology, Information Security OR equivalent experience.

While specific locations are highlighted, we are open to considering candidates from other locations across Europe based on business needs.

Solution Area Specialists M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across United Kingdom is £ 120,100.00 - £ 202,000.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/united-kingdom-corporate-pay.html

Solution Area Specialists M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across Switzerland is CHF 231,600.00 - CHF 470,000.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/switzerland-corporate-pay.html

Solution Area Specialists M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across Luxembourg is € 151,700.00 - € 275,000.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/luxembourg-corporate-pay.html

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.

Skills & Tags

Aplyr's read

Microsoft is a technology giant shaping global computing, attracting talent interested in innovation and impact across software, cloud, and AI sectors.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Strong commitment to innovation in AI and cloud computing.
•Diverse range of roles from technical to managerial, offering career growth.
•Financially stable with a robust global presence and market influence.

What to watch

•Complex organizational structure can slow decision-making processes.
•High competition for roles may limit entry-level opportunities.
•Potential for work-life balance challenges in high-demand positions.

Why Microsoft

•Pioneer in personal and business computing with a legacy of innovation.
•Extensive global reach with a diverse workforce and inclusive culture.
•Leader in integrating AI into mainstream software and cloud services.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

About Microsoft

Microsoft

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Microsoft is a global technology company that develops, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products, services, and devices. Known for its Windows operating system and Office productivity suite, Microsoft has a significant impact on personal and business computing worldwide.