Description
Role Description
The Portfolio Delivery Leader (PDL) is an executive level individual contributor role within the Delivery Account Management (DAM) function of Salesforce Professional Services. A PDL owns the health and performance of a defined book of business symmetrically aligned to sales portfolio(s) within an operating unit across a range of customer engagements including paid and investment commitments.
The PDL operates at a portfolio level, not a project execution level, spending roughly half their time in direct customer engagement and half governing portfolio health, financials, and resource strategy while carrying a 25% utilization. They act as the delivery organization's primary point of accountability for deal acceptance, escalation management, and margin protection. They are the connective tissue between pre-sales solutioning and delivery execution — validating that what is sold can actually be staffed and delivered at the proposed margin, identifying risk early enough to course-correct, and building the executive relationships that turn one-time engagements into long-term partnerships. Their success is defined by what they prevent, protect, and grow.
Your Impact
- Portfolio Health End-to-End: you are the named owner of red/yellow/green status across all engagements in your book; you catch signals before they become escalations.
- Drive pre-sales & delivery alignment: you own level 3 signoffs on opportunities before contract execution; you validate that resource strategy, staffing mix, and deal risk are viable before they enter your portfolio.
- Own the Services Delivery Strategy: you own the content in Services Delivery Strategy (SDS) reviews; you arrive prepared to speak to every red and yellow account in your portfolio.
- Protect margin at the deal level: you manage contingency deliberately, monitor fixed-fee burn rates, track delivered vs. bid margin, and escalate before overruns compound
- Be the executive face of delivery: you engage C-suite stakeholders (CIO, CFO, CTO) on a regular cadence, ensuring customers feel supported, informed, and confident in Salesforce's delivery motion
- Lead cross-functional recovery when things go wrong: you are the first escalation point of contact for delivery issues; you own the path to resolution and ensure High Watch engagements are actively governed, not passively tracked
- Drive resource strategy across your book: you own fulfillment of the scoped staffing mix within your portfolio and partner with the Delivery Engagement Lead on prioritization when demand exceeds supply
- Surface expansion signals from within accounts: you identify white space, flag renewal risk, and feed delivery-originated pipeline back into the sales motion
Minimum Requirements
- Currently Director-level or above
- Demonstrated experience managing a complex, multi-engagement book of business with direct accountability for revenue and margin outcomes
- Strong financial acumen — able to read and interpret portfolio financials (contingency usage, burn rate, delivered vs. bid margin, revenue forecast) on a weekly cadence
- Proven executive-level customer relationship management, including navigating difficult conversations and stabilizing at-risk accounts
- Experience governing delivery risk — ability to assess deal viability, identify scope or staffing gaps, and provide sign-off before contract execution
- Demonstrated ability to drive outcomes in a matrixed environment without direct people management authority
- Comfortable operating at a portfolio scanning altitude across multiple strategic engagements simultaneously, rather than deep execution on a single account
- Strong escalation and conflict resolution skills; a calm, credible center of gravity when things go sideways
- Prior experience with fixed-fee delivery models and the financial governance disciplines they require — burn rate management, milestone attainment, scope control
Preferred Qualifications
- PMP, PgMP, SCRUM, SAFe or equivalent certification(s)
- Expert in Salesforce delivery methodology (SPSM), Guided Scoping, and portfolio health monitoring tools
- Working knowledge of GDC, subcontractor governance, and onshore/offshore staffing tradeoffs
- Tenured experience in TMT industry vertical
Additional Information
Possible travel of about 25%, but exact travel requirements will vary based on customer.
BENEFITS & PERKS
Comprehensive benefits package including well-being reimbursement, generous parental leave, adoption assistance, fertility benefits, and more!
World-class enablement and on-demand training with Trailhead.com
Exposure to executive thought leaders and regular 1:1 coaching with leadership
Volunteer opportunities and participation in our 1:1:1 model for giving back to the community
For more details, visit https://www.salesforcebenefits.com/
In school, or graduated within the past 12 months? Please visit FutureForce for opportunities.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.