Security Compete Program Lead

Overview

Security represents one of the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all—reshaping security and empowering every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them through end-to-end, simplified solutions. We accelerate Microsoft's mission to secure digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds across our customers' heterogeneous environments, while safeguarding our own.  

We're looking for a Security Compete Program Lead who thrives at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, competitive strategy, and business execution strategy and execution. As Security Compete Program Lead, you'll own the Security Compete Program end-to-end—the strategy, framework, and execution that drive sales acceleration through competitive differentiation. You'll provide subject-matter expertise, deal coaching, and scalable offerings that help sellers position against competitors, and win competitive deals. You'll turn win and loss analysis into insights that sharpen our go-to-market motions, proactively clear complex competitive roadblocks, and partner with business, platform, and product experts to report the metrics that move the business forward. Strong analytical thinking, competitive storytelling, and cross-organizational relationship-building are essential from day one.  

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

Business Program Strategy, Planning 

• Design and execute the end-to-end AI Security Compete strategy, aligning priorities across  GTM organizations, Product and Marketing
• Demonstrates thought leadership against overall business goals, objectives, and short- and long-term priorities, and identifies program risks, emerging competitive threats, impact, and mitigation plans. 
• Gathers requirements, identifies resource needs, and builds the project plan, targets, and plan of record across teams. Improves existing programs by defining complex issues, weighing scenarios, and selecting optimal solutions—driving clarity and simplification. 
• Partners with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to design complex programs from initiation to delivery, and influence collateral—compete frameworks, battlecards, competitive positioning and objection-handling guides, — and lead win/loss analyses—that meets stakeholder and business needs. 
• Establish strategic points of view on Microsoft's positioning against key AI and security competitors and influence evolving go-to-market strategies.

Business Program Excellence and Execution 

• Defines and tracks success criteria and performance metrics (KPIs) such as competitive win rate, competitor displacements, deal-coaching engagements, influenced pipeline, win revenue. 
• Works with regions and cross-functional teams to land and execute the program. 
• Provides deal coaching on strategic, competitive opportunities—partnering with sellers to build compete strategies, counter competitor claims, and advance deals to close. 
• Drive competitive deal acceleration through strategic coaching on high-priority AI security opportunities.
• Tracks value drivers (competitive win rate, close rate, and displacement) and leads program insights to identify what is and isn't working and drive improvements. 
• Provide guidance on positioning Microsoft Security against competitors in AI-powered security, AI governance, AI workload protection, and security platform consolidation scenarios.

• Analyze competitive win/loss patterns, competitor claims, customer objections, and market trends to identify opportunities for seller effectiveness and program optimization.
• Develop scalable mechanisms to collect competitive intelligence from the field and transform insights into actionable recommendations.
• Create executive-level reporting that measures competitive impact across influenced pipeline, competitive win rates, displacement motions, AI security adoption, and revenue outcomes.
• Influence product strategy and field readiness by communicating competitive gaps, customer feedback, and market opportunities.

Key Accountabilities 

• Design, execute, and continuously improve the Security Compete program to strengthen competitive positioning, accelerate deals, and scale compete selling across our global sales organization. 
• Deliver deal coaching on high-priority competitive opportunities—partnering with sellers and sales leaders to develop winning compete strategies, sharpen objection handling, and advance deals through close. 
• Own win and loss insights—capture why deals are won and lost against key competitors, and turn findings into go-to-market (GTM), product, and enablement improvements recommendations. 
• Build cross-company partnerships across sales, marketing, engineering, sales teams, and partners to deliver impact through the compete program. 
• Distill competitive themes, trends, and risks from field engagement, deal reviews, and market research to drive GTM improvements and sales impact. 
• Communicate progress, impact, and learnings across audiences—executive leadership, sales leaders and managers, sellers, and partners. 
• Raise the bar on what a compete program can deliver through program-management innovation and excellence. 

Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years experience in business consulting, sales, sales operations, information technology (IT), account management, business development, marketing, IT field sales, or a related field OR equivalent experience.
• 6+ years experience in in Near Term Strategy (2 years out), Management Consulting, Sales, or Finance.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Administration or related field AND 5+ years of marketing, strategy, sales, sales leadership, program management, project management, business planning, consulting, banking, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience OR Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years of marketing, strategy, sales, sales leadership, program management, project management, business planning, consulting, finance, economics, and/or partner organization experience OR equivalent experience.

• Experienced in Program Management functions, project delivery roles, and written communications to stakeholders at operational and executive levels.  

• 5+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external).  

• Analytical and competitive acumen to build and defend compete strategies—competitive analysis, battlecard and objection-handling development, and win/loss analysis.  

• 5+ years of experience in cybersecurity, cloud security, or security-related technology solutions, with an understanding of security business drivers, customer challenges, and go-to-market motions 

• Knowledge of AI technologies, Generative AI, AI governance, AI security, cybersecurity platforms, and the competitive landscape shaping enterprise AI adoption. 

Sales Strategy Enablement IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $251,900 per year. 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 $165,600 - $272,300 per year.

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.