AVP, Strategic Deals & Contracting – SLED (Manager)
Overview
Oracle is seeking a highly experienced and strategic AVP, Strategic Deals & Contracting Manager to lead and develop a team of professionals supporting complex, high-value Oracle Cloud opportunities across the State and Local Government, Higher Education, and Growth (SLED) markets. This leadership role serves as a trusted advisor to sales leadership, customers, procurement organizations, legal teams, and executive stakeholders while driving successful commercial outcomes for transformational Oracle Cloud engagements.
The successful candidate will combine deep SLED industry expertise, executive presence, advanced negotiation capabilities, and strong commercial acumen to lead teams responsible for structuring and executing complex transactions that align customer objectives with Oracle's strategic growth initiatives.
This leader will play a critical role in accelerating cloud adoption by developing talent, executing strategic deal initiatives, navigating public sector procurement environments, and facilitating executive-level discussions that result in mutually beneficial business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Development
- Manage, coach, and develop a team of professionals supporting SLED cloud opportunities.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members on Oracle sales processes, deal strategy, negotiation methodologies, and contracting best practices.
- Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching to drive professional growth and organizational success.
- Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, team reviews, and weekly progress meetings to ensure alignment with business objectives and revenue goals.
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on collaboration, accountability, customer success, and operational excellence.
- Manage escalations involving complex negotiations, contracting issues, customer concerns, and internal stakeholder alignment.
Strategic Deal Leadership
- Lead and oversee the commercial strategy, deal structuring, and negotiation of complex Oracle Cloud opportunities within State and Local Government and Higher Education accounts.
- Partner with Sales, Consulting, Finance, Legal, Pricing, and Executive Leadership to develop winning deal strategies that maximize customer value and Oracle profitability.
- Guide teams in identifying risks, dependencies, and opportunities while driving consensus among internal and external stakeholders.
- Participate in strategic and tactical planning activities that support Oracle's SLED growth objectives.
- Develop and execute territory and business plans designed to maximize revenue growth, customer success, and cloud adoption.
Contracting & Negotiations
- Provide leadership and oversight for sophisticated contract negotiations involving procurement officials, legal counsel, CIOs, CFOs, presidents, chancellors, agency directors, and other executive stakeholders.
- Ensure the development of creative and compliant commercial approaches that address customer objectives while protecting Oracle's interests.
- Guide teams through complex public sector procurement vehicles, cooperative purchasing agreements, competitive solicitations, and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate closely with Oracle Legal, Deal Management, and Sales Leadership to facilitate timely execution of agreements and resolution of commercial issues.
Executive Customer Engagement
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with customer leadership and key stakeholders across SLED organizations.
- Support and participate in executive discussions regarding business value, digital transformation initiatives, investment strategies, and long-term partnerships.
- Deliver compelling presentations that articulate Oracle's value proposition and desired business outcomes.
- Manage sensitive customer inquiries, concerns, objections, and escalations with professionalism, diplomacy, and sound business judgment.
Business Planning & Forecasting
- Generate and achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual business forecasts while maintaining a high degree of forecasting accuracy.
- Accurately predict revenue performance and support pipeline development activities across the assigned organization.
- Build working relationships with license, consulting, customer success, and education field leaders to develop joint account and territory plans.
- Monitor key performance indicators and provide leadership visibility into strategic opportunities, risks, and revenue attainment.
Industry Strategy & Market Expertise
Required Qualifications
Experience
- 12+ years of experience in enterprise technology sales, strategic deal management, business development, contract negotiations, consulting, or related disciplines.
- 5+ years of leadership experience managing high-performing teams in sales, deal management, contracting, or related functions.
- Significant experience supporting State and Local Government and/or Higher Education customers.
- Demonstrated success leading large, complex, multi-million-dollar technology or cloud transactions.
- Experience working with executive-level stakeholders, procurement organizations, legal teams, and cross-functional leadership groups.
Core Competencies
Leadership & Talent Development
- Proven ability to recruit, develop, mentor, and retain top-performing professionals.
- Strong coaching and performance management capabilities.
- Demonstrated success building collaborative, results-oriented teams.
Executive Presence & Presentation Skills
- Ability to engage effectively with C-level executives, elected officials, agency leaders, university leadership, and senior decision makers.
- Strong executive communication skills with the ability to simplify complex business and technology concepts.
Professionalism & Business Ethics
- Exhibits the highest degree of integrity, confidentiality, maturity, discretion, tact, and sound business judgment.
- Maintains credibility and trust in highly sensitive customer and internal situations.
Facilitation & Negotiation
- Advanced facilitation, influence, and negotiation skills.
- Ability to develop creative, action-oriented solutions that solve complex business challenges through Oracle Cloud technologies.
- Skilled at balancing customer objectives with Oracle business requirements to achieve successful outcomes.
Organization & Communication
- Strong planning, organizational, critical-thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
- Ability to manage multiple strategic opportunities and competing priorities simultaneously.
Flexibility & Adaptability
- Thrives in dynamic, evolving, and ambiguous environments.
- Demonstrates resilience, adaptability, and a positive attitude under pressure.
Preferred SLED Industry Knowledge
Candidates should possess demonstrated knowledge of:
- State Government, Local Government, and Higher Education organizational structures
- Public sector procurement practices and contracting vehicles
- Industry-specific issues, regulations, and emerging trends
- Budgeting, funding, grants, appropriations, and fiscal planning cycles
- Digital transformation initiatives impacting SLED organizations
- Enterprise applications, cloud technologies, data platforms, and information systems
- Competitive landscape and market dynamics within the public sector technology industry
Desired Leadership Characteristics
The successful candidate will be recognized as:
- A strategic leader who develops people while driving business results.
- A trusted advisor who builds confidence with customers, executives, and internal stakeholders.
- A collaborative manager who influences across organizations and functions.
- A creative problem solver who thrives in complex environments.
- A disciplined operator who consistently drives execution, forecasting accuracy, and revenue attainment.
- A customer advocate who balances customer outcomes with Oracle's business objectives.
- A talent developer who creates a culture of accountability, engagement, and continuous improvement.
Internal Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Development
- Manage, coach, and develop a team of professionals supporting SLED cloud opportunities.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members on Oracle sales processes, deal strategy, negotiation methodologies, and contracting best practices.
- Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching to drive professional growth and organizational success.
- Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, team reviews, and weekly progress meetings to ensure alignment with business objectives and revenue goals.
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on collaboration, accountability, customer success, and operational excellence.
- Manage escalations involving complex negotiations, contracting issues, customer concerns, and internal stakeholder alignment.
Strategic Deal Leadership
- Lead and oversee the commercial strategy, deal structuring, and negotiation of complex Oracle Cloud opportunities within State and Local Government and Higher Education accounts.
- Partner with Sales, Consulting, Finance, Legal, Pricing, and Executive Leadership to develop winning deal strategies that maximize customer value and Oracle profitability.
- Guide teams in identifying risks, dependencies, and opportunities while driving consensus among internal and external stakeholders.
- Participate in strategic and tactical planning activities that support Oracle's SLED growth objectives.
- Develop and execute territory and business plans designed to maximize revenue growth, customer success, and cloud adoption.
Contracting & Negotiations
- Provide leadership and oversight for sophisticated contract negotiations involving procurement officials, legal counsel, CIOs, CFOs, presidents, chancellors, agency directors, and other executive stakeholders.
- Ensure the development of creative and compliant commercial approaches that address customer objectives while protecting Oracle's interests.
- Guide teams through complex public sector procurement vehicles, cooperative purchasing agreements, competitive solicitations, and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate closely with Oracle Legal, Deal Management, and Sales Leadership to facilitate timely execution of agreements and resolution of commercial issues.
Executive Customer Engagement
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with customer leadership and key stakeholders across SLED organizations.
- Support and participate in executive discussions regarding business value, digital transformation initiatives, investment strategies, and long-term partnerships.
- Deliver compelling presentations that articulate Oracle's value proposition and desired business outcomes.
- Manage sensitive customer inquiries, concerns, objections, and escalations with professionalism, diplomacy, and sound business judgment.
Business Planning & Forecasting
- Generate and achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual business forecasts while maintaining a high degree of forecasting accuracy.
- Accurately predict revenue performance and support pipeline development activities across the assigned organization.
- Build working relationships with license, consulting, customer success, and education field leaders to develop joint account and territory plans.
- Monitor key performance indicators and provide leadership visibility into strategic opportunities, risks, and revenue attainment.
Industry Strategy & Market Expertise
- Maintain deep understanding of SLED market trends, funding models, legislative initiatives, procurement practices, and technology priorities.
- Advise Oracle leadership and account teams on emerging market opportunities, competitive dynamics, and industry-specific challenges.
- Support development of industry-focused go-to-market strategies and executive engagement plans.
- Translate customer business challenges into Oracle Cloud solutions that address strategic objectives and deliver measurable outcomes.
External Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Development
- Manage, coach, and develop a team of professionals supporting SLED cloud opportunities.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members on Oracle sales processes, deal strategy, negotiation methodologies, and contracting best practices.
- Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching to drive professional growth and organizational success.
- Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, team reviews, and weekly progress meetings to ensure alignment with business objectives and revenue goals.
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on collaboration, accountability, customer success, and operational excellence.
- Manage escalations involving complex negotiations, contracting issues, customer concerns, and internal stakeholder alignment.
Strategic Deal Leadership
- Lead and oversee the commercial strategy, deal structuring, and negotiation of complex Oracle Cloud opportunities within State and Local Government and Higher Education accounts.
- Partner with Sales, Consulting, Finance, Legal, Pricing, and Executive Leadership to develop winning deal strategies that maximize customer value and Oracle profitability.
- Guide teams in identifying risks, dependencies, and opportunities while driving consensus among internal and external stakeholders.
- Participate in strategic and tactical planning activities that support Oracle's SLED growth objectives.
- Develop and execute territory and business plans designed to maximize revenue growth, customer success, and cloud adoption.
Contracting & Negotiations
- Provide leadership and oversight for sophisticated contract negotiations involving procurement officials, legal counsel, CIOs, CFOs, presidents, chancellors, agency directors, and other executive stakeholders.
- Ensure the development of creative and compliant commercial approaches that address customer objectives while protecting Oracle's interests.
- Guide teams through complex public sector procurement vehicles, cooperative purchasing agreements, competitive solicitations, and regulatory requirements.
- Collaborate closely with Oracle Legal, Deal Management, and Sales Leadership to facilitate timely execution of agreements and resolution of commercial issues.
Executive Customer Engagement
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with customer leadership and key stakeholders across SLED organizations.
- Support and participate in executive discussions regarding business value, digital transformation initiatives, investment strategies, and long-term partnerships.
- Deliver compelling presentations that articulate Oracle's value proposition and desired business outcomes.
- Manage sensitive customer inquiries, concerns, objections, and escalations with professionalism, diplomacy, and sound business judgment.
Business Planning & Forecasting
- Generate and achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual business forecasts while maintaining a high degree of forecasting accuracy.
- Accurately predict revenue performance and support pipeline development activities across the assigned organization.
- Build working relationships with license, consulting, customer success, and education field leaders to develop joint account and territory plans.
- Monitor key performance indicators and provide leadership visibility into strategic opportunities, risks, and revenue attainment.
Industry Strategy & Market Expertise
- Maintain deep understanding of SLED market trends, funding models, legislative initiatives, procurement practices, and technology priorities.
- Advise Oracle leadership and account teams on emerging market opportunities, competitive dynamics, and industry-specific challenges.
- Support development of industry-focused go-to-market strategies and executive engagement plans.
- Translate customer business challenges into Oracle Cloud solutions that address strategic objectives and deliver measurable outcomes.
