Amazon - Area Lead - Sales Planning

Sales Planning - Area Lead

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading cloud company, offering virtualized infrastructure, storage, networking, messaging, analytics, and other web computing services to customers all over the world. AWS operates a globally distributed environment at massive levels of scale, offering over 200 fully featured services to millions of active customers around the world-including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies-to power their infrastructure. Within the AWS WW Commercial Sales (WWCS) organization, the Sales Strategy and Operations team is responsible for supporting Leadership, Sales, and Operational teams in achieving organizational objectives and driving continuous improvements in field productivity. We own and deliver "run the business" (RTB) operational cadences, build new mechanisms to support organizational growth and scale, and drive organizational initiatives.

- The AWS Worldwide Commercial Sales (WWCS) Sales Planning team is seeking a continuous improvement expert to play a critical role building and leading our process excellence function. They will be responsible for building this function and working with several world-wide organizations to achieve evolutionary improvement across our program. This will be an important role as we work to drive scalable and streamlined operational mechanisms, create strategic narratives, and drive process improvement for WWCS and Field Sales & Sales Operations.

- The ideal candidate learns quickly and easily adapts to change, is comfortable with ambiguity while working in a fast-paced environment, earns trust through performance and relationship building, and communicates with and is able to influence employees at all levels of the organization. Cross-team coordination, excellent communication skills, the ability to collaborate and bring people together, and drive to results are essential.

Key job responsibilities:

- Execute cross functional initiatives and partner with teams to baseline current state performance, identify and validate root cause(s), and prioritize and implement solutions

- Lead the development, implementation and execution of business process excellence and process improvement initiatives utilizing lean six sigma principles, including identification of business process gaps, impact assessment, and recommendation of action plans and timelines to address those issues.

- Ensure that best practices identified as a result of these exercises are shared across all operational, program, and product teams.

- Develop strong, productive relationships across peer organizations that further our business objectives.

- Lead workshops/Kaizens to bring together cross-functional teams to identify opportunities and achieve targeted performance improvement within the context of programs, projects, and standalone processes.

- Train, coach, and mentor peers in process improvement tools and methodologies to instill and sustain a culture of continuous improvement and transformation.

- Identify barriers to implementation of process optimization initiatives and develops solutions that remove the barriers and address business needs and performance goals.

About the team:

The Worldwide Commercial Sales (WWCS) Sales Strategy, Operations, & Enablement (SSOE) team is building the future of sales. We operate with a startup mentality, build mechanisms that scale, and innovate solutions on behalf of our global Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers. Our team is responsible for supporting the rapidly growing WWCS business, serving Sales Leaders to Solution Architects and everything in between. We are obsessed with delivering results for AWS customers and supporting our sales organization to shape the direction of the business and allow our sales organization to reach customers efficiently. We are a diverse, innovative team that loves translating data, insights, and anecdotes into action.

Basic qualifications:

- 5+ years of business process reengineering, process optimization and process improvement with lean six sigma methodologies. Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt or similar certification a plus

- Excellent analytical skills and the demonstrated ability to define, refine, and implement programs, complex processes & nuanced policies

- Demonstrated ability to work cross functionally with technology and project management teams, influencing peers to deliver a world-wide change agenda across multiple organization

Preferred qualifications:

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences

- Experience diagnosing, isolating and resolving complex issues and recommending and implementing solutions to resolve problems.

- Experience with project management, planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

- MBA or other relevant advanced degree

- Experience working within a high-growth, technology company (e.g., cloud, SaaS, PaaS)

- Able to operate in a lean, fast-paced organization-turning ideas into concrete action plans

- Ability to develop strong, productive relationships across peer organizations that foster collaboration and best practice sharing.