Overview
Are you a cybersecurity expert with deep knowledge of Microsoft Security including Entra, Defender, Purview, Sentinel, and Agent365, along with a broader foundation of industry technologies? Do you thrive on collaboration, tackling the most complex challenges, and earning the trust of customers? Are you endlessly curious — embracing uncertainty, taking smart risks, and learning quickly from every experience? If this sounds like you, we want you on our team!
We are leading a high-growth, AI-powered global sales team—one that is deeply connected to our partners and driven by customer success to unlock the largest opportunity, backed by the industry’s most significant investments. Leveraging our extensive partner ecosystem, we are redefining how businesses of all sizes adopt technology to drive growth and innovation.
SME&C is more than a sales organization; it’s a culture of innovation, opportunity, and inclusivity. Here, you’ll be part of a diverse, high-performing, and customer-obsessed team where collaboration, connection, and continuous learning fuel everything we do.
As a Principal Security Specialist, you will lead Security strategy for the Sales Unit’s most strategic, complex, and high-risk customers. You will shape cybersecurity thought leadership, build resilient security foundations for AI and digital transformation, and drive executive engagement that delivers measurable business and risk outcomes. We are seeking a senior, high-impact sales and technical individual with strong executive presence—equally adept at deep cybersecurity architecture and controls, translating technology into business risk and outcomes, leading C-level “CISO room” conversations, and winning complex pursuits while building credibility with even the most skeptical stakeholders.
As the best of the best in our Digital Solution Specialist team, you must thrive in dynamic, sometimes ambiguous environments — learning fast, collaborating across teams, rebuilding trust with customers, and leading decisive defensive positioning when competitors threaten established Microsoft relationships. As a field multiplier and coach, you transfer sales plays, talk tracks, and judgment that elevate peers’ capability and confidence, accelerating deals and strengthening customer trust across the SU.
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
Sales & Technical Leadership
- Demonstrate executive presence and deep cybersecurity expertise, connecting technology to business outcomes and risk. S
- Serve as a trusted CISO/CIO advisor for strategic growth accounts, leading conversations on business risk, cyber resilience, regulation, and industry change.
- Align Microsoft Security and partner solutions to customer priorities such as Defend with AI, Security for AI, Secure Data, Unified SecOps, and Zero Trust.
- Lead Level 200+ technical and architectural conversations with confidence understanding AI and infrastructure.
Sales Execution & Compete
- Own compete execution by deeply understanding competitors and leveraging customer compete concessions and programs to win.
- Assist with top-deal pursuits to grow SU market share and influence business and technical decisions; defend the SU base with proactive, competitive positioning to prevent at-risk churn.
- Lead virtual, cross-organizational teams on strategic projects and high-impact solution deployments that enable digital transformation.
- Document and share key competitive insights with the field to improve sales motions.
- Help the SU attain its security growth and revenue metrics.
Field Multiplier & Coaching
- Create and share compete playbooks, executive talk tracks, and discovery guides; co-sell with Digital Solution Specialists (DSS) and partners to strengthen overall team capability.
- Provide real-time coaching during high-value engagements and deliver actionable post-engagement feedback to raise execution quality.
- Scale field capability through enablement on competitive scenarios and emerging security trends.
- Build mindshare through thought leadership and industry presence.
Disciplined Operator & Orchestrator
- Orchestrate account teams, engineering, partners, customer success, and leadership to accelerate outcomes.
- Maintain operational rigor that accelerates secure deployment and measurable customer value.
Scale Through Partners
- Scale Microsoft Security reach and impact through the partner ecosystem.
Growth Mindset
- Bring impactful industry insights, market perspective, and threat intelligence into customer engagements.
- Demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning in cybersecurity and foster innovation within the team.
Qualifications
Required/minimum qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or related field AND 7+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience OR 9+ years of technology-related sales or account management experience.
Digital Solution Area Specialists IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $62.16 - $105.96 per hour. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $80.67 - $115.29 per hour.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
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.**