Deal Strategist

Job Description
Drive and support deal structuring of Gracenote's Commercial customer-base, partnering with sales to close the businesses highest valued and/or most strategic opportunities. Own delivery of Commercial proposals and executables through deal structuring, commercial solutioning, and internal approval management. Support objection handling throughout the deal lifecycle, acting as sales primary escalation point while managing customers expectations. Act as liaison between sales, finance, product, operations, and legal to effectively identify and resolve internal and external blockers to getting deals done. Identify gaps in Nielsen’s commercial approach, supporting possible conflict resolution and program escalations across channels.

Detailed Key Activities:

Own the successful closure of opportunities across Gracenote's Commercial sold-portfolio, driving deal structuring, custom commercial solutioning, approval management, escalation management, and executive communication.

Partner with sales through negotiations, enabling sales against deal playbook tactics, supporting the delivery of proposals, owning objection handling of key opportunities, as well as supporting counter/close strategies.

Influence the commercialization roadmap, delivering insights to the Commercial Finance team on commercial construct performance (commitment models, discount structures, incentive mechanisms).

Deliverables:

Management of the Gracenote Commercial portfolio, including deal closure, direct negotiation support, commercial solutioning, and operational management of opportunities

Delivery of intelligence assets to influence commercial approach and delivery of commercial constructs at scale

Lead and support the development of process improvements and enhancements to streamline deal support

Ad hoc reporting, when requested

Qualifications
6+ years of work experience with relevant experience in deal structuring/strategy, commercial solutioning, and negotiation management (objection handling, counter/close strategies)
Understanding of deal structure frameworks, commercial strategies, and sales plays (across subscription and consumption-based products)
5+ years of direct experience working and supporting Sales on deals
Ability to work in fast-paced environment, where first-of-kind work led and delivered, without a playbook
Proven ability to effectively close deals against aggressive timelines while resolving external and internal objections
Excellent communication (written/oral) and objection handling skills with experience in senior stakeholder and customer management.
Experience with Salesforce, contract management tools, and data analytics software
Preferred Skills: Prior experience and knowledge of pricing strategies, discounting practices, and revenue optimization techniques
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or a related field