Group Manager, Technology Advisory - Cloud Practice Leader

Better experience for air travellers? Data to help a non-profit better serve kids with needs? An Advisory role at Avanade offers you a purposeful career. Know your clients’ needs inside out, work with them beginning to end, enjoy achievements together – and repeat.  

Come join us 

More and more organizations are changing to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. We are looking or an enthusiastic and committed Cloud Advisor to help our customers determine their Cloud strategy on the way to optimal productivity. You will map out the needs and design customized Cloud environments, developing, and delivering their Journey to Cloud experience.

About the role

As the lead of our Technology Advisory practice, you will expand our Advisory capabilities and build our pipeline. You will support engagements advising clients at the highest strategic level with big-picture and tactical guidance on how technology enables a range of business outcomes. You must possess exception analytical, interpersonal and creative thinking capabilities. You will need to be collaborative, ambitious, and personable, possessing outstanding leadership qualities that allows you to assume a meaningful role with an ability to scale over time.

Our mission is to support our clients in understanding the advantages technology can bring their businesses, their people and clients and support the definition of their digital journey. We work with our clients to advise on enterprise architecture, leverage of the the Microsoft ecosystem, journey to Azure, IT operating models and security to harnessing technology and innovation.

You will focus on developing the technology strategies our clients need in order to support their business objectives. You will be structured in your approach, you will have a strong set of people management and influencing skills and bring a dynamic and hands-on approach. You will play a key role in driving this practice forward through client acquisition, practice development and interfacing with the wider advisory capability to address our client challenges.

In this role, you will (Key Responsibilities and activities):

In this role you will be a key instrument and accelerator to the growth of our advisory business, contributing to practice development, sales pipeline development and sales growth, and contributing to overall practice maturity. You will also act as a senior advisor and assist clients to define technology strategy, investments, & operating models to support business priorities.

Practice Development & Growth

You will lead and contribute to the growth and development of the Cloud Advisory and Tech Advisory Practice. This will include:

• Leading, coaching, and developing the skills and talent within the Advisory competency
• Identifying key skills required to deliver in line with market and client demands, maintaining an active talent pipeline which will enable the rapid scaling and growth of the practice.
• Collaborate & lead on GTM offering and service creation, ideation through to development and sales enablement
• Proactively manage and grow sales pipeline through collaborating with industry aligned sales teams, understanding typical industry challenges and positioning relevant Advisory services and capabilities
• Mentoring and coaching: mentor and coach colleagues within and outside of the practice to lift and grow the overall maturity of the Advisory business
• Operational management of key metrics & KPI’s as part of the broader advisory business
• Lead and support the delivery of a broad range of Technology Advisory engagements.
• Advise clients on the challenges and opportunities arising from digital disruption among customers and employees.
• Play a leading role in business development / sales activities by working closely with account and sales teams to ensure proposition and solution alignment.
• Be able to understand the full range of implications and considerations for clients and their Cloud strategies.
• Help our clients navigate the Operating model considerations of new ways of developing and managing the technology provided to their business.
• Advise our clients on the security and risk implications of their digital strategies supported by pragmatic and real-world experience.

Advisory Client Work:

As a successful leader within the Advisory team, you will have the chance to:

• Work with senior client executives to identify business problems and develop approaches and analytical solutions.
• Plan and lead business diagnosis around IT and Cloud Strategy; Guide advisory teams through problem definition, issue identification and work plan development using problem solving principles and previous experience.
• Write complete project proposals including shaping the proposed solution and collaborating with other Avanade individuals to secure new client work.
• Be the overall client liaison, often leading teams, on large-scale, complex and important projects.
• Monitor technology trends and raise awareness of capabilities and innovations in selected domains of expertise.
• Assist clients with the development of IT digital and operating model strategies including initial vision, strategic requirements, and structured linkage to the business strategy
• Translate ambiguous IT challenges into results by analyzing data & engaging with a range of client stakeholders
• Support our clients through large and complex IT transformation resulting from strategic business changes, mergers and acquisitions and other business disruption; Assist clients with the realization of Business and IT strategies given resource and financial constraints
• Provide thought leadership and specialized insights to our clients around disruptive technologies (intelligent automation, cloud), digital, mobile, agile delivery, architecture, etc.

Your skills

You've got demonstrable skills in growing client intimacy directly and with business development teams to become a trusted advisor to a client at a senior level. You have experience in sales; pre-sales and consulting and have a good understanding of Application and Infrastructure technologies and trends, along with associated operating model concepts and facets such as ITSM principles / ITIL processes, with a knowledge of cloud technologies and adoption:

• Experience in a leadership or practice management role within a technical context
• Expertise with strategic consulting frameworks and principles and experience in leading cloud strategy engagements, and contributing to sales pursuits and proposal writing required.
• Previous experience working on multiple workstreams /engagements in a highly matrixed external client facing environment, with Talent & Project & Budget Management responsibilities.
• Experience of advising and delivering Applications & Infrastructure projects e.g. Cloud strategy & IT strategy, IT operating model, emerging technology transformation or cloud transformation assessments.
• Demonstrated experience interfacing with executive level clients, assessing their goals and objectives and the ability to translate ideas into strategic and practical solution recommendations.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with clients to establish requirements in non-technical language.
• Develop strong and positive relationships with client executives, and effectively sell follow on engagements.
• You will have knowledge and experience in delivering Cloud Technology Strategy engagements with knowledge of common public and private cloud platforms, application architectures, DevOps, IT operating model design & governance, and cybersecurity

Learn more

To learn more about the types of projects our Advisory team works on check out this case studies: 

• Avanade Advisory | Avanade
• Bain & Company KM Platform Case Study | Avanade US
• Junior Achievement – Digital Strategy Client Story | Avanade US
• RWE AG Client Story | Avanade US
• Rathbones WX Case Study | Avanade US

Interested in knowing what’s going on inside Avanade? Check out our blogs:

• Avanade
• Insights Blog | Avanade
• Inside Avanade Blog | Avanade