With Confluent, organizations can harness the full power of continuously flowing data to innovate and win in the modern digital world. We have a purpose that drives us to do better every day – we're creating an entirely new category within data infrastructure - data streaming. This technology will allow every organization to create experiences and use the power of data in ways that profoundly impact the way we all live. This impact is our purpose and drives us to do better every day.

One Confluent. One team. One Data Streaming Platform.

Data Connects Us.

About the Role:

As a Principal in our Strategic Customer Advisory (SCA) team, you'll be a key collaborator with Confluent's Field Sales team, including Sales leadership, Regional Sales Directors (RSDs), and Account Executives (AEs). You'll dive deep into Confluent's offerings and value propositions, ensuring you're well-versed to work effectively with Partners, the broader Confluent Customer Success Group (CSG), Operations, and other teams. Together, we'll ensure that our deal structures and proposals are perfectly tailored to meet our customers' needs.

Your role in the SCA team goes beyond just working on deals. You'll be our ears on the ground, providing valuable feedback from the field about trends, competitive insights, and customer feedback. This information is crucial for continuously refining our pricing, deal structures, and overall value proposition. Additionally, you'll play a pivotal role in facilitating training and education, helping to instill best practices across our Field teams. In short, your work will not only impact our direct sales efforts but also contribute to the ongoing evolution and success of our broader business strategy.

This position reports to our AMER Director, Strategic Customer Advisory.

What You Will Do:

• Drive customer engagements early in the sales cycle for strategic accounts, aiding in both new and expansion sales by identifying and communicating the business value of solutions

• Support account planning and perform deep-dive discoveries with prospects and customers to understand their needs

• Develop and present business value deliverables, including crafting winning proposals that highlight the unique benefits of our solutions

• Serve as a subject matter expert in deal structuring, complex pricing strategies, and value propositions, employing Confluent value selling methodologies

• Assist sales teams in structuring strategic, complex, and competitive deals, ensuring adherence to best practices and innovative deal-making

• Lead front-line negotiations of agreements and manage custom deals that require special attention or fall outside standard processes

• Engage with customer executives and partners, alongside account and ecosystem executives, to promote Confluent's vision and value proposition, including participation in events and roundtable discussions

• Continuously update your expertise in Confluent's portfolio, including on-premise, cloud, and hybrid deal constructs, to provide informed advice and support

What You Will Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree with over 10 years of experience in roles such as Business Value Consulting, Value Engineering, Strategic Consulting, Deal Strategy, Sales, Finance, or customer negotiation

• Proficient in financial analysis and modeling, including ROI and TCO concepts, to support and justify business cases

• Deep understanding of various software selling models (SaaS, perpetual, on-demand, consumption, etc.) and a strong interest in Data, Enterprise Architecture, and Infrastructure

• Knowledgeable about the Data and SaaS/Cloud industries, with a keen aptitude for learning about Data in Motion and Confluent’s portfolio

• Demonstrated ability to improve deal velocity while managing risk, with a passion for data-driven decision-making and a thorough understanding of revenue recognition requirements

• Exceptional contract negotiation skills and the ability to think abstractly, applying complex concepts in varied situations

• Proven project management skills, capable of leading and completing projects, and experience working with remote Sales and business partner teams

• Strong communication skills, both oral and written, able to effectively convey information across different teams, roles, and levels

• Experience working with companies offering public cloud, hybrid cloud, and on-premises deployment options

Come As You Are

At Confluent, equality is a core tenet of our culture. We are committed to building an inclusive global team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, beliefs, and experiences. The more diverse we are, the richer our community and the broader our impact. Employment decisions are made on the basis of job-related criteria without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

At Confluent, we are committed to providing competitive pay and benefits that are in line with industry standards. We analyze and carefully consider several factors when determining compensation, including work history, education, professional experience, and location. This position has an annual estimated salary of $172,800 - $207,360, a competitive equity package and is also eligible for additional commission and/or bonus pay. The actual pay may vary depending on your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Confluent offers a wide range of employee benefits. To learn more about our benefits click HERE (https://confluentbenefits.com/) .

Click HERE (https://www.confluent.io/legal/confluent-candidate-privacy-notice/) to review our Candidate Privacy Notice which describes how and when Confluent, Inc., and its group companies, collects, uses, and shares certain personal information of California job applicants and prospective employees.

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