Deal Design Manager (Commercial Architect)

Cognite • Phoenix, AZ

5d

About The Position

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI and data solutions that solve the world’s hardest, highest-impact problems. With unmatched industrial heritage and a comprehensive suite of AI capabilities, including low-code AI agents, Cognite accelerates the digital transformation to drive operational improvements. Cognite is a global leader in industrial software, driving the generative AI era across manufacturing, energy, and continuous process industries. Our flagship Industrial DataOps platform, Cognite Data Fusion®, breaks down complex IT/OT/ET data silos to build a unified, contextualized data foundation. Through our strategic partnerships with global hyperscalers and system integrators, we help the world's industrial supermajors transition from localized "lighthouse" pilots to repeatable, high-ROI autonomous workflows scaled across the entire enterprise. As we create Cognite 3.0, to fuel our high-velocity go-to-market engine, we are introducing a strategic, elite commercial profile: the Deal Design Manager. This is a high-influence, non-customer-facing position within our Global Revenue Operations organization. Operating under the leadership of the VP of Deal Desk, you will serve as a strategic advisor, and commercial architect for our high-value enterprise software transactions across our global markets. In this role, you do not own the sales quota or the customer relationship. The Sales Representative is the ultimate account owner and is fully accountable for closing the deal. Instead, you operate as their Trusted Commercial Advisor. You partner closely with Sales Reps and Regional Revenue Presidents, translating complex industrial data integration requirements into highly optimized, creative commercial packages; Your objective is to provide the expert guidance, structuring options, and trade-off analyses necessary to find the optimal commercial package. One that successfully secures the customer's commitment while prioritizing and safeguarding Cognite's core commercial drivers (ARR growth, Service margin, and product scalability). Your mandate is to Lead, Shape, and Multiply: leading the commercial design workstream, shaping robust and creative deal frameworks, and actively multiplying the capabilities of the wider GTM team by establishing repeatable playbooks and mentoring the team.

Requirements

• Translating complex industrial data integration requirements into highly optimized, creative commercial packages
• Providing expert guidance, structuring options, and trade-off analyses
• Prioritizing and safeguarding Cognite's core commercial drivers (ARR growth, Service margin, and product scalability)
• Leading the commercial design workstream
• Shaping robust and creative deal frameworks
• Establishing repeatable playbooks and mentoring the team
• Revenue compliance
• Pricing model deviations
• Unbundle service-heavy agreements
• Optimize high-margin software components
• Commercial subject matter expert
• Explain pricing models, structured contract clauses
• Customer understanding of deal value
• Alignment of deal terms across Legal, Finance, Product Management, and the Executive Team
• Streamline internal approval bottlenecks
• Optimizing commercial elements of every transaction
• Suggesting structured software-led alternatives or partner-driven delivery models
• Protecting Cognite’s long-term gross margins
• Matching customer budget constraints
• Optimization of commercial governance process
• Deploying, calibrating, and leveraging advanced GenAI tools
• Automated proposal engines
• LLM-based contract/SLA scanners
• Comprehensive "first-pass" reviews of draft proposals
• Identifying non-standard liabilities
• Revenue recognition risks (ASC 606)
• Pricing leaks
• Converting complex pricing frameworks, margin calculators, and negotiation playbooks into self-service, reusable assets
• Designing automated GenAI prompts, CPQ templates, and structured discounting guardrails
• Creating leverage
• Making the immediate GTM team significantly more autonomous and effective
• Maintaining pristine data hygiene within Salesforce (SFDC)
• Auditing deal terms
• Tracking contract exceptions
• Building predictable executive margin-impact models before signing
• Supporting Sales Enablement team to establish training modules on CPQ best practices, Salesforce database hygiene, and AI-driven deal auditing
• Raising the collective operational bar across the global revenue operations team

Nice To Haves

• Non-customer-facing position
• Operating under the leadership of the VP of Deal Desk
• Trusted Commercial Advisor
• Partnering closely with Sales Reps and Regional Revenue Presidents

Responsibilities

• Partner as a strategic advisor to sales leaders on complex, multi-year enterprise SaaS transactions.
• Design creative commercial options, trade-offs, and alternative structures where no clear precedent exists, ensuring Sales is equipped with multiple paths to yes.
• Act as the primary enabler for revenue compliance.
• Appropriately challenge pricing model deviations and unbundle service-heavy agreements to optimize high-margin software components that bring value to the customer.
• Act as the commercial subject matter expert. When requested, participate directly in customer-facing commercial discussions to explain pricing models, structured contract clauses, or helping the customer understand the value of our deal.
• Lead the alignment of deal terms across Legal, Finance, Product Management, and the Executive Team to streamline internal approval bottlenecks.
• Guide Sales Reps in optimizing the commercial elements of every transaction.
• Help unbundle service-heavy agreements, suggesting structured software-led alternatives or partner-driven delivery models that protect Cognite’s long-term gross margins while matching the customer's budget constraints.
• Champion the optimization of our commercial governance process.
• Deploy, calibrate, and leverage advanced GenAI tools (e.g., automated proposal engines, LLM-based contract/SLA scanners) to conduct comprehensive "first-pass" reviews of draft proposals, identifying non-standard liabilities, revenue recognition risks (ASC 606), and pricing leaks instantly.
• Convert complex pricing frameworks, margin calculators, and negotiation playbooks into self-service, reusable assets.
• Design automated GenAI prompts, CPQ templates, and structured discounting guardrails that create leverage, making the immediate GTM team significantly more autonomous and effective.
• Maintain pristine data hygiene within Salesforce (SFDC), auditing deal terms, tracking contract exceptions, and building predictable executive margin-impact models before signing.
• Actively support, Sales Enablement team to establish training modules on CPQ best practices, Salesforce database hygiene, and AI-driven deal auditing, raising the collective operational bar across the global revenue operations team.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• 401(k) with employer matching
• Competitive health, dental, vision & disability coverages for employees and all dependents
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid Parental Leave Program
• Employee Referral Program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed