Account Director – Strategic (Auckland based role)

Job title: Account Director – Strategic (Auckland based role)

Company: SAP


Job description: We help the world run betterAt SAP, we enable you to bring out your best. Our company culture is focused on collaboration and a shared passion to help the world run better. How? We focus every day on building the foundation for tomorrow and creating a workplace that embraces differences, values flexibility, and is aligned to our purpose-driven and future-focused work. We offer a highly collaborative, caring team environment with a strong focus on learning and development, recognition for your individual contributions, and a variety of benefit options for you to choose from.Are you ready to take on one of the most strategic sales roles in New Zealand? As a Senior Account Director at SAP, you will be entrusted with managing and growing some of SAP’s most important customers in the market. These accounts are pivotal to SAP’s success in New Zealand and offer a unique opportunity to engage directly with C-level executives and board members, shaping the digital transformation agenda at the highest level.This role demands an exceptional strategic mindset, a proven ability to develop trusted advisory relationships with senior stakeholders, and the drive to deliver tangible business outcomes. You will orchestrate SAP’s full ecosystem of solutions, partners, and resources to help these customers innovate and succeed, while continuously expanding SAP’s footprint within each organisation through rigorous pipeline management and account planning.You will play a critical leadership role both within SAP and with our customers, bringing insight, foresight, and a clear strategic vision.Key ResponsibilitiesAccount and Customer Relationship Management, Sales and Cloud Subscription Revenue

• Achieve and exceed annual revenue and consumption targets across both accounts.
• Act as a strategic advisor to C-level executives and key decision-makers, positioning SAP as a trusted long-term partner.
• Develop and execute tailored account strategies and dynamic account plans aligned to each customer’s strategic priorities.
• Leverage SAP’s full portfolio (SaaS, Cloud, Industry Solutions) to create and deliver a long-term value roadmap for each customer.
• Incorporate Value Engineering, ROI frameworks, and AI-driven insights to help customers stay ahead of key technology trends.
• Build a foundation for long-term business growth by deeply understanding each customer’s business model, industry dynamics, and technology landscape.
• Proactively identify and shape new opportunities, leading cross-functional teams to expand SAP’s engagement across multiple business units and stakeholders.

Territory (Account) Leadership

• Lead and coordinate all SAP activities across the accounts, orchestrating internal teams, partners, and executive sponsors to deliver a “One SAP” experience.
• Maintain a disciplined and forward-looking pipeline within each account to ensure predictable and sustainable growth.
• Promote customer success stories and drive strategic references within the market.
• Continuously refine and evolve the account strategy based on changing customer priorities, market dynamics, and SAP’s innovation roadmap.

Demand Generation, Pipeline and Opportunity Management

• Build and maintain a robust, high-quality pipeline inside each account across all SAP solutions and lines of business.
• Identify and drive upsell, cross-sell, and expansion opportunities.
• Leverage internal resources (Marketing, Industry teams, Pre-Sales, Services) and partners to generate new demand and accelerate opportunity progression.
• Advance and close strategic opportunities through disciplined deal governance, value-based selling, and collaborative engagement with the customer.
• Ensure rigorous pipeline hygiene and forecasting accuracy in SAP’s CRM system.

Sales Excellence

• Sell business outcomes, not just products – champion SAP’s value proposition at every level of the customer organisation.
• Maintain a strong understanding of SAP’s competition and articulate SAP’s differentiated value.
• Drive executive-level engagement strategies, orchestrate account-based campaigns and initiatives, and represent SAP at key customer events.
• Share and apply best practice sales and negotiation skills to maximise deal success and customer value.
• Uphold excellence in account hygiene, opportunity management, and sales discipline to ensure consistent execution.

Leading a (Virtual) Account Team

• Lead a high-performing virtual account team, including presales, delivery, marketing, partner management, and executive sponsors.
• Ensure all team members are aligned to the account strategy and customer touchpoints.
• Cultivate a collaborative, high-accountability environment to deliver a seamless customer experience.
• Drive executive governance with the customer, including joint steering committees, executive business reviews, and innovation workshops.

Experience Required

• 15+ years of experience in sales of complex business software or IT solutions.
• Proven success managing large, complex accounts with deep, multi-stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to drive and close multi-year, multi-solution strategic deals.
• Strong experience selling cloud-based and SaaS solutions.
• Exceptional ability to engage at C-level and board level.
• Outstanding contractual and negotiation skills.
• Experience leading virtual account teams and orchestrating across multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Fluent business English.

Other Information

• Applicants must have New Zealand Permanent Residency or Citizenship.
• This role is based in Auckland, New Zealand

​Bring out your bestSAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.We win with inclusionSAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better and more equitable world.
SAP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provide accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com
For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the . Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability:Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.
Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.Requisition ID: 424952 | Work Area: Sales | Expected Travel: 0 – 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid.Requisition ID: 424952Posted Date: May 2, 2025Work Area: SalesCareer Status: ProfessionalEmployment Type: Regular Full TimeExpected Travel: 0 – 10%Location:Auckland, NZ, 1010Job alert

Expected salary:

Location: Auckland

Job date: Sun, 04 May 2025 02:11:23 GMT

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