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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
1. 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.
2. Commercial Model Guidance
Create clear guidance with respective stakeholders on when to use:
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.
3. Estimation Guardrails
Define the commercial assumptions that must be included in an estimate.
This includes:
Example:
If the estimate assumes GDC delivery, this role ensures the assumptions are realistic: right skills, timing, handoff model, and delivery readiness.
4. 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
5. 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
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
Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.
