Overview

Microsoft Advertising (MSA) empowers advertisers around the world to reach their maximum potential through online marketing opportunities on the Microsoft Advertising platform.

We are seeking an experienced Sales Manager to drive Microsoft Advertising revenue growth in Japan, develop exceptional client & agency relationships and deliver client obsession through direct management of a team of Account Executives and Account Managers. The individual in this role will bring deep understanding of the Japanese advertising landscape, extentive media sales experience, strategic thinking, client obsession, a passion for innovation and best-practice sharing, while showing they can deliver client value & exceptional results over time. As a Sales Manager, you should also have a proven track record of building, managing and growing high-performing sales teams who thrive under pressure.

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

As a Microsoft Advertising Sales Manager you will be responsible for the following:

People Management

• Managers deliver success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching, and caring. Model
• Live our culture; Embody our values; Practice our leadership principles. Coach
• Define team objectives and outcomes; Enable success across boundaries; Help the team adapt and learn. Care
• Attract and retain great people; Know each individual’s capabilities and aspirations; Invest in the growth of others.

Sales Leader

• Drives business growth by leading sales planning and strategies to achieve consumption and sales targets. Sets direction, creates vision, inspires others & demonstrates presence. Applies Microsoft Leadership Principles to Create Clarity, Generate Energy, Deliver Success.

Market Maker

• Shapes new market opportunities by aligning client and technology trends, connects insights and data about the business of clients with Search and Digital technology trends to identify and shape sales opportunities.

Sales Excellence

• Holds team accountable for forecasting expected sales revenue within the portfolio/customer segment(s) within their markets. Defines expectations and goals to guide the development strategies to manage pipeline and meet sales goals by reviewing forecasts, assessing and mitigating risks, and ensuring strategy alignment with business priorities. Shares best practices across teams for assessing and adjusting priorities, and reducing complexity for customers in concert with sales teams, all while maintaining a high level of commitment and accountability.

Industry Knowledge

• Expert understanding of digital media platforms and technologies including competitor potential impact. Understands industry trends, and how they shape market making opportunities. Understands industry and business SWOT, digital transformation, disruptive business models, impact of new entrants, government policy and regulation. Expert knowledge of Microsoft and MSA Strategies, Core Priorities, Critical Indicators of Success, Role Excellence Profiles. Expert in Microsoft's Model, Coach, Care method for Coaching and Development.

Customer Satisfaction

• Directs long-term customer satisfaction growth and maintenance strategies. Drives business portfolio management to contribute to overall business growth. Manages relationships with customer stakeholders and the collection of feedback (both formal and informal) within the portfolio to identify and understand the drivers of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction. Holds team(s) accountable for customer (dis)satisfaction issues and coaches them to resolve those issues.

Strategic Leader

• Directs the development and implementation of strategies for maximizing selling and customer add opportunities. Ensures plans highlight solutions to solving additional business and technology issues. Provides guidance on storytelling strategies to lead account conversations, evaluating account performance, developing short- and long-term strategies, and acting upon optimization opportunities. Shares best practices and leverages expertise cross-functionally to identify and act on opportunities to drive growth, revenue, and adoption outside of the portfolio. Encourages and coaches team on how to exhaust all opportunities to develop relationships with new and existing customers.

Business Excellence

• Directs and holds virtual teams accountable to lead execution and customer escalations at the portfolio level, providing guidance and sharing best practices for executing prompt and swift corrective actions, understanding trends, and working with partners to mitigate recurrences. Ensures team(s) provide support for account management and internal partners to facilitate efforts to proactively address customer escalations and revenue, delivery and consumption blockers, and/or sellers blockers. Holds customers/partners accountable as part of the escalation cycle. Understands and develops contract elements (e.g., terms and conditions), contract negotiation, and risk management strategies.

People and Cultural Transformational Leader:

• Positions oneself as a thought leader and trusted advisor to executive-level business decision makers across their business areas. Leverages and socializes best-in-class sales and communication techniques to direct efforts to lead teams and key internal and/or external stakeholders with deep industry expertise (e.g., industry solutions executives), and to enable their team(s) to build stronger relationships with decision makers across business areas.

Talent Acquisition

• Directs and executes talent acquisition, recruiting, succession planning, and change management. Provides guidance to team on how to have hard conversations, navigate employment law, support diversity and inclusion initiatives, and how to motivate/coach someone's behavioral changes. Acts on "talents of the future," what will be needed in the role as time goes on/as the role evolves and how to build their workforce around that.

Qualifications

• Ability to communicate in English and Japanese: both written and verbal

• Minimum 12-15 years of relevant media sales, digital advertising/ marketing

• Ability to bring existing or build new trusted relationships with senior client and agency stakeholders

• 5-10 years people management experience

• Bachelor’s degree or Advanced degree (MA, MBA, PhD) preferred, or equivalent experience

• Deep knowledge of the Japanese digital advertising market, including agency relationships and market dynamics

• Proven track record of exceptional performance, measured against revenue, client satisfaction, and organizational health metrics

• Demonstrated capability to manage and coach high performing sales and/or service teams

• Enthusiasm for all forms of digital media including, search, Gen AI, video, native, display, gaming, programmatic and technology and its use in driving client value, revenue, efficiency, and employee satisfaction

• Passion for AI with a deep understanding of the role Gen AI specifically plays in driving marketing impact for advertisers & operational efficiency for our partners.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication and presentation skills, ability to scale across all levels of an organization

#MicrosoftAI #Microsoft Advertising

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.