Group Product Manager (703936 - External)

Are you interested in being part of the fastest growing and most strategic businesses in Microsoft’s largest subsidiary ? Is understanding the partner eco-system that drives 96% of Microsoft revenue, something you need to build out your current skill-set ? Is building & executing a set of high impact, long-term strategies a must for your next career move?

This product marketing position will be a senior member of the US Server Platform Team, leading the partner strategy & execution of plans for the Windows Security (Forefront) Marketing Team. Responsible for driving growth and revenue by scaling the partner eco-system while securing the platform and simplifying our customer experience.

Team Mission: The charter of the team is to establish Microsoft as the provider of IT security controls that complement and extend our platform technologies.

Role-responsibilities:
The role would require 3 Core Areas
A. Product Expertise (20%)

Build & promote a technical understanding of the Forefront Protection product set (FPE, FPS, FEP, FOPE)
Evaluate & Extract the differentiating product value prop that best resonates with the US Market
Evangelize the portfolio through Product demo’s and show and tell sessions.

B. Business Insights & Execution Strategy (20%)

As a senior member of the team, you will responsible for translating the WW business strategy for the US market.
Deliver key customer/partner feedback to the WW team and guide subsequent changes to the strategy if required
Research and determine the right competitive levers to Capture market share in the US.
Strategic insights would need to be backed by evidence generated through pilots and ongoing segment execution


C. Partner eco-system growth & development (60%)

Build and own a partner marketing strategy that translates World-wide guidance to the US market & operating models.
Plan & execute strategy for the Mid-Market partner eco-system. Demonstrating impact on sales pipeline & revenue. Goal: Increase number of partners selling & deploying our security products.
Plan & execute strategy for the Enterprise partner eco-system. Demonstrating impact on sales pipeline & revenue. Goal: Revenue goals against each product category highlighting flagship account wins through partners.
Engage & leverage partner marketing & readiness assets within the company. Demonstrating impact through integrated metrics for activities such as telesales, training, services engagement campaigns to-through partners. Goal: Programmatic engagement of partners to build their practice.
Integrate product messaging into mature product lines and partner campaigns to drive "Attach" to these platforms. Demonstrate impact through attach metrics in sales pipeline as well as sold licenses. Goal: Cross/Up sell

Who are we looking for:
From hardware vendors, to service providers, to developers, Microsoft touts one of the largest and most diverse partner ecosystems in the technology industry. We are looking for a high energy, results driven individual to help us take our leadership position to develop and implement marketing strategies designed to identify, attract and recruit partners to sell and support products that are in the early stages of their lifecycle.

If you are intensely passionate about the channel and have a keen ability to manage highly scalable programs and frameworks, we want to talk to you! We are looking for someone who can create innovative programs to identify, attract, recruit and enable the right partners to meet and exceed the US subsidiary’s growth targets for the upcoming years.

Interface: This role will work in the US Business Marketing Office (BMO) interfacing with :
a) The WW Corporate Business Group: Consuming strategic guidance while adapting it to the needs of the US market. Proving feedback on the strategy as it pertains to execution while recommending changes to further optimize business results
b) US Partner Group: Primary stakeholders that will need to consume, execute & drive the partner plans through various engines offered by this group. Working closely with this group to develop target partner profiles (competencies/specializations/competitors/verticals, etc.) and optimize business investments & returns.
c) US Mid Market & Enterprise Group: Key stakeholders to consume the products and programs and that will require new channel capacity to achieve the US subsidiary’s revenue goals for those products.

The ideal candidate will likely have previous marketing experience around :
1. Scaling the business by building the partner-ecosystem
2. Strong cross-group collaboration skills, exemplary written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to lead cross-group teams, manage vendors, and collaborate with internal partner support teams. Presentation skills are a must.
3. Ability to negotiate and gain buy-in from stakeholders (field, WW teams) on plans, budgets, and goals is required.
4. MBA preferred with at least 7 years experience in a marketing role, preferably in the partner channel and field sales.
5. 25% travel required (Within USA).