Account Technology Strategist (ATS)

Overview

Customers expect technology to be the main enabler of innovation and outcomes - to deliver on their business priorities and goals. At Microsoft Japan, we are committed to helping our International Account Technology Unit (ATU) clients by working side-by-side with them to co-innovate and co-develop next-generation solutions that address their most pressing business opportunities.

The Account Technology Strategist (ATS) on our Japan International ATU team plays a key role in inspiring and ideating with customers the possibilities technology provides them, drives thought leadership in digital transformation, and builds strategic partnerships with C-level technology and innovation executives across some of Japan's most strategic global accounts. As part of the global account team reporting into Japan, the ATS supports customers across the Retail & Consumer Goods (RCG), Trading Companies, and Industry & Manufacturing segments - engaging with multinational organizations that operate across geographies and depend on Microsoft and our partner ecosystem to drive their global digital transformation agendas.

The ATS is the leader responsible for designing the strategy and technology solution roadmap to drive the digital transformation and innovation agenda of our enterprise customers and acts as an innovation and thought leader. With deep industry knowledge, broad technology skills, and unparalleled business acumen, the ATS connects industry/business priorities to technology strategy and develops value propositions that align with our customers' business strategies, leveraging the rich portfolio of Microsoft and its partner ecosystem.

Responsibilities

Customer Engagement

• Proven ability to build and sustain trusted, senior-level relationships with C-level and department leadership (CIO, CTO, Head of IT/Digital) across large, complex, multinational accounts.
• Strong consultative engagement skills — able to translate customer business priorities into technology strategy and actionable roadmaps.
• Comfortable engaging across all levels of a customer organization, from global HQ executives to in-country/regional technical stakeholders.
• Experience facilitating executive briefings, workshops, and strategic planning sessions that drive alignment on digital transformation priorities.

Opportunity Management

• Demonstrated experience identifying, qualifying, and progressing technical opportunities from early engagement through to consumption and realized business value.
• Ability to connect technical engagement to measurable commercial outcomes (ACR, consumption, renewal) and clearly articulate opportunity health and risk.
• Skilled at managing multiple concurrent opportunities across solution areas (Azure, Data & AI, Security, Modern Work) without losing velocity or quality.

Self-Uplifting / Continuous Learning

• Demonstrated commitment to continuous self-development across AI, cloud, and security technologies, staying current with rapidly evolving Microsoft and industry capabilities.
• Active, visible use of AI tools in day-to-day work, modeling adoption behavior rather than just advocating for it.
• Track record of pursuing certifications, technical readiness, and industry trend awareness relevant to assigned customer segments.

Teamwork and Collaboration

• Strong track record of orchestrating and motivating cross-functional virtual teams (engineering, specialists, partners) without direct authority.
• Effective collaborator across account teams, regional/in-country stakeholders, and global account leadership to ensure consistent customer engagement.
• Experience partnering with system integrators and partner ecosystem to extend delivery capacity and drive joint go-to-market motions.

Business Acumen

• Strong understanding of customer industry dynamics (RCG, Trading Companies, Industry & Manufacturing) and how technology investment maps to business outcomes and competitive positioning.
• Ability to build and defend a business case that connects technical recommendations to cost savings, growth, or risk mitigation for the customer.
• Comfortable operating in competitive, multi-vendor environments (e.g., displacing competitor cloud/infrastructure providers) with a commercially-minded approach.

Pipeline Ownership

• Accountable for building, qualifying, and maintaining a healthy, forecastable technical pipeline aligned to account team targets.
• Experience translating line-of-sight pipeline into committed, trackable opportunities with clear conversion milestones.
• Proactive in identifying and closing pipeline gaps, including named account and whitespace opportunity development.

Complex Team Orchestration

• Experience leading and coordinating large, cross-functional virtual deal teams on complex, multi-workstream engagements (e.g., large-scale cloud migration, engineering-led transformation deals).
• Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple accounts, regions, and solution areas while maintaining deal quality and momentum.
• Skilled at escalation management — identifying blockers early and engaging the right internal stakeholders to resolve them quickly.

Qualifications

Required/minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND 7+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, practice building, or related technical/sales/industry experience OR equivalent experience.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or related field AND 14+ years technical consulting, technical consultative selling, practice building, or related technical/sales/industry experience OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years experience in digital transformation or using technology to drive customer business outcomes.
• 4+ years experience in business consulting, consultative selling, or change management.
• 5+ years experience leading technical, support, and/or partner teams.

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.