AVP, Strategic Deals and Contracting - SLED

About the role

The Oracle AVP, Strategic Deals & Contracting Manager leads and develops a team of professionals supporting complex, high-value Oracle Cloud opportunities across the State and Local Government, Higher Education, and Growth (SLED) markets. This 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.

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.
• Maintain 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.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Facilitates and negotiates creatively, balancing customer objectives with Oracle business requirements to achieve successful outcomes.
• 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.