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Job Category

Sales

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn't a buzzword — it's a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era You're in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

The Commercial Architecture Lead ensures Professional Services deals are shaped correctly before we commit to the customer.

This role owns the practical commercial logic behind scoping, estimation, SOW structure, risk, pricing assumptions, and delivery economics.

The Focus Is Simple:

Help the field shape deals that are clear, executable, profitable, and easier to approve.

What This Role Owns

Deal Qualification Rules

Define when a ProServe opportunity is ready to be scoped and estimated.

This Includes:

What information must be known before estimation starts
When CoE review is required
Which deals are too vague to estimate responsibly
Which deals need Legal, RevRec, PS Ops, GDC, Practice, or Governance input

Example:

If a customer asks for fixed fee but scope, data sources, integrations, or acceptance criteria are unclear, this role defines the required checks before the team proceeds.

Commercial Model Guidance

Create clear guidance with respective stakeholders on when to use:

T&M
Fixed capacity
Fixed fee
Hybrid models
Investment / discount structures

This role helps teams avoid choosing a commercial model that creates delivery or margin risk later.

Example:

Fixed fee may be acceptable for repeatable work with clear scope. It should not be the default for unclear, multi-cloud, dependency-heavy work.

Estimation Guardrails

Define the commercial assumptions that must be included in an estimate.

This Includes:

Bid metrics
Role mix
Skill level
Onshore / GDC mix
Contingency logic
Risk buffer
Customer dependencies
Assumptions and exclusions
Margin thresholds

Example:

If the estimate assumes GDC delivery, this role ensures the assumptions are realistic: right skills, timing, handoff model, and delivery readiness.

SOW Commercial Quality

Ensure SOWs are commercially clean before they move forward.

Focus Areas:

Scope is clear
Out-of-scope items are explicit
Customer responsibilities are documented
Acceptance criteria are defined where needed
Payment milestones make sense
Change control language is clear
Commercial Risk Detection

Build a system to identify common issues before the deal is signed.

Risks To Catch:

Scope too broad
Estimate too optimistic
Fixed-fee exposure
Missing customer dependencies
Underestimated data / integration work
Non-standard terms introduced late
Delivery leader brought in too late
Staffing model not executable
Approval path unclear

Practical Deliverables

This Role Should Create And Maintain:

Deal qualification checklist
Commercial model decision tree
Fixed-fee readiness checklist
Estimation assumptions checklist
Margin / risk review checklist
SOW commercial quality checklist
Approval trigger guide
Assumptions and exclusions library
Commercial risk heatmap
Standard guidance for T&M, fixed capacity, fixed fee, and hybrid deals

Key Partners

Sales Excellence

Align on when ProServe should engage
Improve deal qualification
Reduce late-stage sales escalations caused by unclear scope

PS Operations

Ensure deal structure can be booked, approved, staffed, and tracked correctly
Avoid mismatches between SOW, approvals, and system setup

Growth & Offering

Turn repeatable offerings into clear commercial models
Define standard scope, pricing assumptions, and delivery boundaries

GDC

Validate offshore / onshore delivery assumptions
Confirm skill availability and delivery feasibility

Practices

Confirm product-specific effort drivers
Validate assumptions for Data Cloud, Agentforce, MuleSoft, Industry Clouds, and multi-cloud work

Delivery Innovation & Governance

Align commercial guardrails with delivery risk controls
Ensure governance focuses on real risk, not unnecessary process

Legal / RevRec / Finance

Define early triggers for legal terms, fixed fee, fixed capacity, milestone billing, and revenue recognition review

What Success Looks Like

Fewer poorly shaped deals reach approval stage
Fewer SOW rework cycles
Fewer pricing / system mismatches
Better estimate quality
Better margin predictability
Cleaner handoff to delivery
Faster approvals because required inputs are clear upfront
Field teams know which commercial path to take and when to escalate

Minimum Qualifications

10+ years in professional services, services sales, deal shaping, solutioning, delivery, or services operations
Strong understanding of scoping, estimation, SOWs, pricing assumptions, approvals, and delivery handoff
Experience with T&M, fixed capacity, fixed fee, and hybrid commercial models
Ability to identify commercial risk before signature
Experience working with Sales, Delivery, Operations, Legal, Finance, RevRec, GDC, and Practice teams
Strong ability to turn messy deal experience into simple checklists, guardrails, and decision trees

A Day in the Life

A typical day involves analyzing commercial patterns in recent deals, refining guardrails to prevent recurring issues, and guiding field teams on selecting the optimal commercial model for live opportunities. Responsibilities include validating assumptions, identifying risks, and coordinating with PS Operations, Legal, RevRec, GDC, Practices, and Governance to ensure every deal is clear, executable, and commercially sound before signature.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you'll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we'll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what's possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.

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Posting Statement

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Commercial Architecture Director