Director of Channels & Alliances

Scanner•San Francisco, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Scanner is seeking a Director of Channels & Alliances to establish its partner ecosystem from the ground up. This role involves owning the strategy and execution across various partner types including VARs, MSSPs, MDR providers, technology partners, cloud partners, and other strategic alliances. The responsibilities include recruiting partners, designing commercial models, enablement, joint go-to-market (GTM) strategies, agreements, and pipeline generation. This is a hands-on builder role requiring deep cybersecurity expertise, strong industry relationships, and the ability to translate partnerships into customer introductions, strategic opportunities, and revenue. The Director will collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, Product, Sales Engineering, Operations, and the founders to integrate partnerships into Scanner's GTM motion.

Requirements

8–12+ years of channels, alliances, business development, or partner GTM experience within cybersecurity.
Deep experience in SIEM or the security operations ecosystem, including strong knowledge of the market, buying process, and competitive landscape.
Proven experience building a channel or partner program from the ground up, not simply managing an established ecosystem.
Significant experience with VARs, MSSPs, MDR providers, systems integrators, and strategic technology partners.
Strong existing relationships across the cybersecurity channel ecosystem as well as CISOs, security executives, and enterprise security buyers.
Track record recruiting and activating strategic partners that generated measurable enterprise pipeline and revenue.
Experience building partner commercial models, negotiating agreements, and managing referral, resale, incentive, and deal-registration structures.
Strong experience with partner enablement, joint GTM, co-selling, marketing programs, and executive events.
Executive presence and a hands-on builder mentality: comfortable developing strategy, opening relationships, negotiating agreements, enabling sellers, and joining live deals.

Nice To Haves

Experience scaling a cybersecurity partner ecosystem through significant company growth.
Direct experience working for or closely with a leading VAR, MSSP, MDR provider, or systems integrator.
Experience building strategic alliances with cloud, data, observability, or security platform companies, including AWS or cloud marketplace ecosystems.
Experience with security data lakes, SIEM, detection engineering, SOC tooling, observability, or adjacent infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Build the Partner Strategy: Define Scanner's channel and alliance strategy, identify impactful partner types and firms for enterprise growth, and build the partner program from scratch (segmentation, incentives, referral/resale models, deal registration, rules of engagement, operating processes).
Personally recruit and develop high-value VARs, MSSPs, MDRs, systems integrators, technology vendors, and other strategic partners.
Build Strategic Alliances: Develop technology and ecosystem partnerships to enhance Scanner's position in the security stack and create customer or GTM leverage.
Collaborate with Product and Engineering on integrations and with partner leadership on joint positioning, co-selling, and GTM plans.
Build executive relationships across complementary security vendors, cloud providers, data platforms, and infrastructure companies.
Drive Partner Pipeline: Establish partnerships as a measurable source of sourced and influenced enterprise pipeline.
Work directly with Sales on account mapping, co-selling, partner introductions, active opportunities, and joint outbound or field programs.
Build clear processes for partner-sourced leads, attribution, opportunity management, forecasting, and partner performance.
Enable & Activate Partners: Develop onboarding, training, messaging, sales tools, and technical enablement for partners.
Develop joint marketing programs, executive dinners, events, campaigns, and account-based initiatives with strategic partners.
Create compelling reasons for priority partners to invest in Scanner and focus resources on relationships producing commercial value.
Commercial Operations: Own partner commercial models and work with Legal and Operations on referral, reseller, MSSP, technology, and other partnership agreements.
Define KPIs and operating rhythms to evaluate partner activation, pipeline, revenue, deal velocity, and productivity.