Pre-Sales - Data, Analytics & AI

As Pre-Sales (Data, Analytics & AI), you will drive measurable impact by leading and scaling our proposal, pursuit, and partner engagement capabilities for Data, Analytics, and AI across strategic, complex client opportunities. You will be an integral member of the AI & Analytics (AIA) practice team, working closely with sales, solution, delivery, and practice leadership.

In this role, you will

• Take ownership of opportunity qualification, account intelligence, and client research, and lead the end-to-end creation of proposals, presentations, response documents, and sales collateral for strategic and complex pursuits.
• Ensure effective pursuit governance by managing reviews and submission timelines, maintaining compliance with bid requirements, and tracking progress, risks, dependencies, and action items—escalating proactively to leadership.
• Collaborate with sales, solution, delivery, and practice leadership to shape, refine, and defend persuasive AI and Data narratives for both client stakeholders and internal leadership audiences.
• Develop and maintain reusable assets, case studies, and proposal repositories across the practice, while mentoring junior pre-sales team members and strengthening structure and rigour throughout the pursuit lifecycle.
• Stay aligned with partner alliance points of contact (including AWS, Azure, and Databricks) to connect proposals with joint solutions and co-sell motions, and ensure partner-aligned RFPs are correctly tagged for partner funding and co-sell credit.

Work model

At Cognizant, we aim to offer flexibility wherever possible. Based on the business requirements for this position, it is a hybrid role that requires 3 days per week at a client site or Cognizant office in India. No matter how you work, we are committed to supporting a healthy work-life balance through our wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements described for this role are accurate as of the posting date. These may change depending on the project you are assigned to, as well as business and client needs. Be assured—we will always communicate clearly about expectations for the role.

What you need to have to be considered

• Experience in Pre-Sales, Business Development, Bid Management, or Proposal Management, along with a proven record of leading large, complex RFP responses.
• Experience managing stakeholders up to senior leadership and client CXO levels, and owning solutioning narratives for Data, Analytics, AI, and Generative AI opportunities.
• Strong analytical capabilities, storytelling, and executive-level communication skills, with confidence presenting to leadership.
• Experience working within partner ecosystems (such as AWS, Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, and GCP) and supporting funding or co-sell motions, as well as the ability to manage and grow a small team of pre-sales professionals.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel, and collaboration tools, with exposure to CRM or pursuit-tracking platforms, and the ability to thrive and lead in a fast-paced, global environment.

These will help you stand out

• Practical experience designing or deploying GenAI and Agentic AI solutions to enhance pursuit management, proposal development, research, knowledge management, and sales productivity.

We look forward to meeting individuals who share our mission and can make a difference in a range of ways. Please apply even if you meet only the minimum requirements. Consider your transferable experience and the unique skills you bring that will help you stand out and contribute new and exciting value to this role.