Director, Solution Consulting, Airline IT (Finance)

Job Title

Director, Solution Consulting, Airline IT
Powering great journeys through technology is the heart of what we do at Amadeus. We are the leading provider of mission critical enterprise solutions for airlines worldwide. As thepremier travel technology company in commercial aviation, through our Altea suite of airline solution, we power the day-to-day operations of airlines around the world with our reservation, inventory, departure control solutions along with many critical upstream and downstream systems. And with our Nevio portfolio, Amadeus is at the forefront of delivering a new retailing experience centered on Offer, Order, Settlement and Delivery transformation with innovations that will unlock new revenue opportunities and deliver travelers a differentiated and more personalized travel experience.

Summary of the Role:

We are looking for a talented leader to inspire our Solution Consulting team to new heights. This role will lead a team responsible for providing functional and technical Pre-Sales support to airlines across the Americas, working in close collaboration with the extended account team and key organizational stakeholders. This leader will provide direction to staff and through other Managers and will be required to navigate organizational complexity, developing plans and delivering results in fast-changing businesses and complex environments. The role will be responsible for the implementation of the unit strategy, in line with Amadeus corporate strategy, across Pre-Sales subgroup and to contribute to the growth and diversification of Pre-Sales.

This leader will have a deep understanding of the airline industry and business and will provide input to functional or departmental strategy and assists the head of the unit in the definition of the budget and priorities for the subgroup. The role will be accountable to cultivate direct C-Level customer relationships with top customers and prospects while applying proven team and customer development methodologies, frameworks and best practices towards securing industry-leading results in customer success.

In This Role You'll:

Request For Proposal:

• Lead the activity and group responsible for RFI/RFP responses
  
• Set up high-level project timelines for the RFP answer.
  
• Identify & secure resource requirements from relevant groups (PMs/Dev/ADP) and coordinate all components/inputs to the answer.
  
• Produce solution-related documentation for IT customer proposals.
  

Engagement planning, monitoring and reporting:

• Plan and manage all solution-oriented activities of IT bid projects including additional services.
  
• Ensure effective handover of IT sales projects to project implementation teams.
  

Discovery:

• Lead the activity and group responsible for customer discovery
  
• Conduct discovery workshops with customers or prospects.
  
• Develop relationship across customer's organization necessary to understand business strategy, requirements, challenges and decision processes to propose adapted IT solutions.
  
• Develop existing relationships with both IT and business executives at the appropriate functional level including VP/C-level to reinforce and sustain strategic partnership with customers.
  
• Attend steering committee and regular meetings with customer.
  
• Deliver product-related presentations including product demonstrations, supported by sales engineer, product management when needed.
  
• Broadly understand the market segment in which customer operates.
  
• Research potential customers' business case, initiative and engagement.
  
• Understand the Amadeus strategy and vision and apply it to solution management.
  
• Analyze customer products and service requirements, propose improvements, and develop and monitor plans.
  
• Assist the customer in formalizing any functional requirements, initiate the change proposal process and ensure the customer requirements are understood, obtain sizing in due time, and build commercial proposal.
  
• Develop deep competitive insights.
  

Scoping:

• Lead the activity and group responsible for scope definition and approval process:
  
• Lead functional and technical scoping workshops in identifying and referencing all gaps and interfaces to be developed.
  
• Interact between internal Amadeus stakeholders and customer senior management as required.
  
• Proactively scope the technical solution, leveraging Amadeus' products, services and third-party partners required to address customer requirements.
  
• Coordinate different functional streams on the customer side with sales engineers, Amadeus product management, product definition or R&D teams in order to ensure end-to-end solution consistency and viability.
  
• Minimize functional and technical gaps throughout the sales engagement.
  
• Recommend solutions that optimize value for both the customer and Amadeus.
  
• Coordinate the approval process ensuring sign-off of customer and Amadeus internal stakeholder groups.
  

Demo delivery:

• Lead the activity and group responsible for demo delivery
  
• Produce and deliver solution-related presentations including product demonstrations, translating software features into benefits for solving customer business problems in order to maximize the customer's perception of solution value.
  
• Present unique selling points and value proposition.
  
• Collaborate with implementation and delivery teams to produce high level plans on migration and implementation activity.
  
• Create and validate proof of concepts with customer and prospects.
  

Proposal preparation & positioning:

• Work alongside account manager, IT sales and customer to develop use cases, value proposition and commercial proposals.
  
• Sales support during commercial and contractual discussions
  
• Ensure alignment between the proposed solution with the commercials.
  
• Support sales in contract negotiations for solution-related issues and review solution-related contract schedules.
  

Internal communication & alignment

• Present and align solution design addressing customer needs with key stakeholders which could include account management, sales engineers, customer success, delivery, implementation, product management and R&D.
  
• Collaborate with account management team to ensure additional business development opportunities are documented and prioritized.
  
• Alert account manager of potential risks to deal closure.
  

Talent Management and Engagement:

Manage a team of engaged, high performing Solution Consultants. Provide coaching and mentoring on their roles and motivate the team to achieve the business success. Guide team members in best practices and ensure the pre-sales model is being applied as designed. Ensure available tools, metrics, accesses and permissions are available to the team so they can perform to the best of their capacity. Support the people's growth and plan career development in the context of the role.

About The Ideal Candidate:

• Bachelor's degree and or equivalent work experience
  
• Minimum 6-10 years of previous experience in either Pre-Sales, Sales Engineering, Product Management, R&D, Technical Consulting or IT Sales with preference in the Travel Industry.
  
• Team leadership experience required
  
• Able to design clearly solution map with benefits/ROI to customer's unique pain points
  
• Can effectively present ideas and communicate to variety of internal and external audiences
  
• Leverages data and case studies to provide forward-looking insights for customer
  
• Able to understand customer key needs and overall business context
  Can interact with customer and is able to capture customer feedback to refine solution proposal
  
• Able to deliver solution demonstrations for most products
  Can train new employees on the product
  
• Has comprehensive understanding of the solution portfolio that is being marketed
  Demonstrate expertise in using analytical, reporting, planning, and marketing tools
  Possesses deep knowledge of technologies and industry trends
  
• Able to develop strong relationships with airline customers
  
• Able to influence decisions and provide support as needed
  
• Can effectively present ideas and communicate to variety of internal and external audiences
  
• Can act as a liaison across teams
  
• Able to clearly communicate to Customer Success team during handoff
  
• English mandatory
  
• Ability to travel as needed
  

Working at Amadeus, you will find:

A critical mission and purpose - At Amadeus, you will be powering the future of travel and pursuing a critical mission and extraordinary purpose.

A truly global DNA - Everything at Amadeus is global, from our people to our business, which translates into our footprint, processes, and culture.

Great opportunities to learn - Learning happens all the time and in many ways at Amadeus, through on-the-job training, formal learning activities, and day-to-day interactions with colleagues.

A caring environment - Amadeus fosters a caring environment, nurturing both a fulfilling career and personal and family life. We care about our employees and strive to provide a supportive work environment.

A complete rewards offer - Amadeus provides attractive remuneration packages, covering all essential components of a competitive reward offer, including salary, bonus, equity, and benefits.

A flexible working model - We want our employees to do their best work, wherever and however it works best for them.

A diverse and inclusive community - We are committed to leveraging our uniquely diverse population to drive innovation, creativity, and collaboration across our organization.

A Reliable Company - Trust and reliability are fundamental values that drive our actions and shape long-lasting relationships with our customers, partners, and employees.

Application process:

The application process takes no longer than 10 minutes!
Create your candidate profile, upload your Resume/CV and apply today!

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Diversity & Inclusion

Amadeus is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition), ancestry, national origin, age, genetic information, military or veterans status, sexual orientation, gender expression, perception, or identity, marital status, mental or physical disability status, or any other protected federal, state, or local status unrelated to performance of work involved.

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