The Head of Partnerships & Alliances is a senior, dual-mandate leadership role that owns the full end-to-end relationship with the company’s ~10 most strategic partners — driving the best total commercial outcome for the company from each account across both sell-side and buy-side. This role bridges Partnerships and Procurement, concentrating spend and attention on a defined strategic tier and establishing the company’s first scientific, framework-driven model for managing strategic partners.
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Responsibilities
Strategic Partner Ownership (End-to-End)
- Own the full end-to-end relationship with the company’s ~10 selected strategic partners, accountable for the best total outcome for the company from each — spanning both sales and purchase optimisation.
- Define and own the partner-vs-vendor distinction and the top-10 strategic tiering model, deciding which relationships are managed as strategic partners versus transactional vendors.
- Drive deliberate concentration of spend and attention onto the strategic tier, reducing the active vendor base and eliminating uncoordinated, margin-leaking activity.
- Act as the internal single point of accountability for the assigned strategic partner portfolio.
Revenue, Pipeline & Co-Sell Growth (Sell-Side)
- Drive partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, working directly with Sector Leads and Account Managers.
- Support opportunity shaping, joint account planning, and co-sell execution across key accounts.
- Ensure partner opportunities are qualified, governed, and progressed in line with the company sales discipline.
- Execute joint go-to-market initiatives (campaigns, events, account-based plays) with priority partners.
Cost, Pricing & Margin Optimisation (Buy-Side)
- Negotiate and own master framework agreements with strategic partners — including rebates, discounts, volume incentives, and pricing structures — that structurally improve the company’s gross margin.
- Drive tier-status upgrades with the company’s material partners and vendors (e.g. Splunk, Dell, Cisco) to unlock better economics, support, and go-to-market benefits.
- Maximise rebate and incentive capture, ensuring entitlements are tracked, claimed, and realised — not left on the table.
- Partner with Finance / FP&A to model, monitor, and protect the margin and rebate economics of each strategic relationship.
- Apply enterprise procurement / category-management discipline to consolidate spend, rationalise the vendor base, and lift blended margin across the strategic tier.
Sales & Account Team Enablement
- Actively support sales teams in positioning partner solutions and value propositions.
- Enable sellers through partner briefings, solution narratives, and playbooks.
- Ensure clarity on who engages when — avoiding overlap, confusion, or unproductive partner activity.
- Work closely with Solution Sales Specialists and Pre-Sales to align partner capabilities to client needs.
Governance, Cadence & Stakeholder Management
- Establish a clear operating rhythm with partners (QBRs, pipeline reviews, commercial / framework reviews, planning sessions).
- Prepare structured partner performance updates — covering both revenue and margin/rebate economics — for Commercial and Finance leadership.
- Manage escalations and misalignment decisively, protecting the company’s commercial interests on both the sell and buy side.
- Maintain strong working relationships across Sales, Delivery, Procurement, Finance, Legal, and Operations.
Qualifications
Skills/Certifications (Technical & Non-Technical)
- Dual commercial acumen — equally fluent in revenue growth and margin/cost optimisation.
- Strong negotiation skills across both sell-side and buy-side commercial arrangements.
- Ability to influence without authority across Sales, Procurement, Finance, and Delivery.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
- Structured, data-driven approach to pipeline, margin, and performance tracking.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity and fast-paced growth/transformation environments.
- Collaborative, decisive, and execution-focused senior leadership style.
- Vendor, alliance, or procurement/category-management certifications are a plus.
Minimum Work Experience
- 12+ years spanning partnerships/alliance and commercial or procurement leadership, within technology or cybersecurity.
- Cybersecurity or technology background required (non-negotiable).
- Demonstrated success driving revenue and pipeline through partners (sell-side).
- Proven enterprise procurement/category-management capability — having built or run a structured, data-driven model for managing strategic suppliers (buy-side).
- Track record of delivering tier-status improvements with material technology vendors (e.g. Splunk, Dell, Cisco, or equivalent).
- Demonstrated success negotiating master framework agreements — rebates, discounts, volume incentives, and pricing structures.
- Strong experience operating in matrixed, sales-led organisations, partnering closely with Finance / FP&A on margin and rebate economics.
- Proven ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels, and to lead at Director / Executive Director level.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
- Vendor, alliance, or procurement/category-management certifications are a plus.
