Job Title: Private Cloud Associate Presales Project Manager, (Offshore)
Function: Private Cloud, Presales
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Rackspace is seeking a Private Cloud Associate Presales Project Manager to join our rapidly growing Private Cloud team. The successful candidate will be experienced in all aspects of services sales & presales, and will be responsible for delivering successful, efficient pre-sales engagements, writing clear and detailed proposals and statements of work, to serve our potential and existing customers requiring assistance in the transformation of IT Services within their business including technology strategy & roadmap development, cloud landing zone design & deployment, Proof of Concept / Proof of Value deployment and pilot migration, infrastructure and application consolidation, full scale cloud migration, transformation, optimization, and lifecycle services.
The successful candidate will be adept at proposal and SOW writing, able to work with sellers, project managers, engagement managers, and customers to rapidly understand engagement requirements and outcomes and translate these into proposals and executable Statement of Work (SOW) documents which suitably detail technical scope, assumptions, dependencies, timelines, fees, and pre-requisites. The successful candidate will be dynamic, energetic, adaptable, and able to successfully collaborate and manage a diverse group of stakeholders across the business.
The role will be responsible for supporting presales engagements. The typical activities involved with this role are:
· Engage with Rackspace sales teams and Solution Architects to lead on presales engagements from pitching, requirements gathering, and scoping through to proposal development, pricing, SOW authoring, and contract closing.
· Support presales efforts and deliver proposals and Statements of Work (SOW) documents inclusive of overview, scope, duration, activities, assumptions deliverables, resources, mitigation of shared risk, terms and conditions, assumptions, pricing, and executive summaries.
· Act as a source of expertise in SOW generation and negotiation, including the commercialization of risk.
· Maintain and keep accurate management information in systems of record such as Salesforce and Financial Force PSA tools.
The Presales resource is expected to engage both directly with Customers and indirectly in support of Solution Architects and Sales executives to support, facilitate, and drive the development and closure of Private Cloud sales opportunities. Rackspace Private Cloud assist customers with all aspects of their technology transformation lifecycle, offering services from initial technology roadmap development through to initial cloud landing zone deployments and proof of concept projects, through to full scale cloud transition and transformations. Rackspace Private Cloud also offer services around data and application management and development. The Presales resource will act as a central SME for the broader Delivery team, solution architecture teams, and sales teams across the Rackspace Technology.
You will support sales cycles as an owner of Private Cloud opportunities, leading on SOW and pricing development, negotiation, and deal closure. You will continuously assist in sales enablement efforts to keep our sales teams informed and updated on capabilities and competencies, as well as coaching and guiding team members on best ways to present, pitch, and close Private Cloud business in support of continued sales and revenue growth.
With significant experience in cloud and / or managed services, you will have a deep understanding of the role of embedded services organisations (ideally in a technology or managed services context). You will need to be an excellent written and verbal communicator. A team player and true collaborator, you will liaise and coordinate with other Rackspace teams globally, as well as central functions and individual business units across Rackspace to improve operational excellence.
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
Key Accountabilities
General:
· Engage with Rackspace sales teams and Solution Architects to lead on Private Cloud presales engagements from pitching, requirements gathering, and scoping through to proposal development, pricing, SOW authoring, and contract closing.
· Support presales efforts and deliver proposals, RFP/RFI responses, business case development, Statements of Work (SoW) inclusive of overview, scope, duration, activities, assumptions deliverables, resources, mitigation of shared risk, terms and conditions, assumptions, pricing, and executive summaries.
· Excellent spoken & written English skills for proposal and SOW development and pitching.
· Contribute to the central development of the Private Cloud presales capability through development of reusable IP and collateral to standardise and accelerate the pitching and closing of Professional Services sales opportunities.
· Advocate and actively promote the inclusion and positioning of professional services into wider sales engagements across enterprise and mid-market segments. Identify, address, or create countermeasures to increase the adoption of private cloud services as a sales technique to gain customer trust.
· Maintain and keep accurate management information in systems of record such as Salesforce and Financial Force PSA tools.
· Collaborate with supporting functions such as Commercial & Business Operations, Legal, Product Development to drive standards and repeatability.
· Collaborate with Sales pursuit teams, Delivery teams & Project Managers, Technical Consultants, Solutions Architects, Partners, and extended cross-functional teams during presales and project delivery to ensure timely delivery and awareness of potential problems or risk requiring resolution or mitigation.
· Utilise and improve commercial modelling tools in the effort of delivering a sound commercial and technical proposal inclusive of managed services and professional services as the means to help customers realize the value of Rackspace.
· Build and maintain a network of cross-functional operational resources within Rackspace and across any relative partnerships to allow for higher productivity, increased business, and rapid resolution of problems and escalations.
· Review client contracts, prepare appropriate and pragmatic commentary/mark-up in support of Regional PS Business leaders where needed.
· Support the commercialization of packaged services including contribution to SOW templates and financial models.
Internal Partner Relationships:
· Act as a point of contact and liaison with other internal business units, alliance, and sales teams for points of knowledge on presales process and Services, in support of Private Cloud leaders.
· Support ongoing Private Cloud enablement of the wider business units such as Sales, Marketing, Support and the wider Global Solutions and Services team regarding capabilities and solutions.
Personal Specification
Skills / Knowledge
· Background in services sales and understanding of current IT & digital transformation market and client requirements.
· Background in understanding project & programme delivery, including various commercial models and delivery modes including Fixed Fee / Outcome driven projects vs Time & Materials / Time & Expenses engagements, Waterfall & Prince2 delivery vs Scrum & Agile delivery.
· Background in understanding commercial & pricing principles, including revenue, margin, the commercialisation of risk and associated levers pertinent to Services sales & negotiation.
· Working knowledge of Cloud platforms and providers and offerings including VMware, OpenStack and other private Cloud Solutions.
· Deep working knowledge of commercial constructs, contract, and SOW creation.
· Deep understanding of managed services and professional services sales cycles
· Deep understanding of Programme and Project Management methodologies, deep understanding of Project Management, IT Service Management, and Service Delivery.
· Customer centric skills with ability to evaluate and enhance customer experience flows/journeys.
· Strong commercial awareness and background in measuring and driving ROI.
· The skills to act as voice of the customer, understanding customer needs, motivations, and behaviours.
· Proven problem-solving capability and analytical acumen.
· Ideally you will have working knowledge of PSA, CRM and / or ERP systems.
· Strong communication skills, including presentation skills.
· Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously, prioritizing workloads to meet competing deadlines, and make appropriate decisions considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions.
Key Performance Indicators and Objectives:
· Attainment of Private cloud sales targets
· Private Cloud Sales Targets pipeline coverage
· Increase in maturity, efficacy, and efficiency of the presales function.
· High NPS scores on customer engagements for your team from Customers and other Rackers.
· High levels of Racker engagement from your team (Rackerpulse)
· 360-degree feedback from peers & sales
· Interaction and contribution to extended peers and cross-functional teams.
About Rackspace Technology
We are the multicloud solutions experts. We combine our expertise with the world’s leading technologies — across applications, data and security — to deliver end-to-end solutions. We have a proven record of advising customers based on their business challenges, designing solutions that scale, building and managing those solutions, and optimizing returns into the future. Named a best place to work, year after year according to Fortune, Forbes and Glassdoor, we attract and develop world-class talent. Join us on our mission to embrace technology, empower customers and deliver the future.
More on Rackspace Technology
Though we’re all different, Rackers thrive through our connection to a central goal: to be a valued member of a winning team on an inspiring mission. We bring our whole selves to work every day. And we embrace the notion that unique perspectives fuel innovation and enable us to best serve our customers and communities around the globe. We welcome you to apply today and want you to know that we are committed to offering equal employment opportunity without regard to age, color, disability, gender reassignment or identity or expression, genetic information, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, military or veteran status, nationality, ethnic or national origin, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any legally protected characteristic. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
