Sr. Director, VAR & Channel Partnerships

vCluster Labs

9d • $225,000 - $280,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Sr. Director, VAR & Channel Partnerships will build and lead vCluster Labs’ global reseller and channel partner program, starting as an individual contributor with responsibility for the first partners and partner-sourced revenue. The role focuses initially on VARs such as WWT and Computacenter, followed by SHI, CDW, and other national and regional firms that sell AI infrastructure. The position owns channel strategy, executive partner relationships, commercial outcomes, and decisions about where the company invests. As the channel grows, the director will design and hire the team needed to scale it globally.

The role covers the full partner lifecycle, from recruitment and program admission through enablement, deal registration, first transaction, and ongoing performance management. It includes designing partner economics and transaction rules; managing deal registration, Partner of Record, renewals, distribution, and channel conflicts; and aligning the partner motion with the direct sales field. The director will connect VAR opportunities with relevant NVIDIA, OEM, and ISV ecosystem initiatives, and manage partner certification, joint marketing, and MDF based on measurable pipeline outcomes.

The director will establish rigorous channel operations, including weekly pipeline inspection, MEDDPICC qualification, queryable partner attribution, recurring QBRs, and KPI reporting. Success is measured by partner-sourced bookings, transacting partners, and registered deals that close—not simply by signed partner agreements. The position is a founding, zero-to-one role in a first-year partner program.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of experience in channel, reseller, or partner sales in infrastructure software, AI infrastructure, or cloud.
• A track record of building an early-stage partner channel into a revenue-producing channel, ideally across multiple regions, with identifiable activated partners and resulting bookings.
• Direct, current executive relationships at national and regional VARs, including firms such as WWT, Computacenter, SHI, CDW, Insight, Presidio, AHEAD, ePlus, Connection, Softcat, Mark III, and Pacific Teck.
• Knowledge of which partners sell AI infrastructure, how VARs and their salespeople make money, and what motivates partner representatives to lead with a product.
• Working command of partner tiers and discounts, deal registration, Partner of Record, renewal rights, distribution, and MDF governance.
• Ability to defend partner discount structures, resolve channel conflicts, and decline partner requests when appropriate.
• Working understanding of Kubernetes, cloud-native architecture, and GPU and AI infrastructure sufficient to build credibility with partner sales engineers and explain business opportunities to partner leaders.
• Comfort starting as an individual contributor without an inherited team or channel.
• Experience hiring and leading partner managers or channel teams, or clear readiness to do so.
• Ability to mobilize sales, marketing, legal, and enablement teams across organizations without direct authority and to create program terms.
• Disciplined qualification (MEDDPICC or equivalent), forecast hygiene, and reporting.
• Comfort building in an ambiguous, high-velocity environment with no inherited partner program.

Nice To Haves

• NVIDIA partner ecosystem experience, including NCP and reseller-facing programs.
• Distribution experience with Arrow, TD SYNNEX, Ingram Micro, or regional equivalents.
• Channel experience across EMEA and APJ as well as North America.
• Public sector, sovereign, or regulated-industry channel experience.
• Open-source commercial model experience, including how a channel sells against a free tier.

Responsibilities

• Own global VAR and channel partnership strategy, executive relationships, investment decisions, and commercial results across North America, EMEA, and APJ.
• Recruit and activate selected VARs, managing the path from initial engagement through agreement, program admission, enablement, first registered deal, and first close.
• Manage partner performance and retire non-performing partners; track time from signature to first revenue.
• Design and manage the partner commercial model, including tier discounts, deal-registration uplift, renewal margin, volume incentives, and named-account bonuses.
• Run deal registration and Partner of Record processes, including regional Partner of Record, active-engagement standards, renewal rights, and conflict resolution.
• Develop distribution where it accelerates the channel motion and maintain a clean quoting and ordering process.
• Align partner co-selling with the direct sales organization so sellers receive full quota credit and channel conflict is avoided.
• Build named-account plans between vCluster and partner sellers, and provide partners with compelling margin, services-attach, and technical-selling opportunities.
• Connect VAR opportunities with NVIDIA alliance initiatives and relevant OEM and ISV design wins; involve distributors when they accelerate deals.
• Own partner sales and technical certification, tier requirements, joint marketing programs, and MDF decisions tied to pipeline outcomes and proof of performance.
• Design the channel organization, hiring sequence, and regional and partner-tier coverage model; hire and lead partner managers and partner engineers as revenue grows.
• Own channel pipeline and bookings, qualify partner-attached opportunities using MEDDPICC, and inspect pipeline weekly.
• Establish queryable partner attribution and run recurring QBRs covering bookings, named accounts, certification, marketing execution, renewals, and forward-quarter plans.
• Report channel KPIs, including transacting partners, sourced and attached pipeline and bookings, registration volume and win rate, certified resources, and MDF return.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance for employees and eligible dependents; benefits vary by country.
• Flexible working schedule, with emphasis on results rather than fixed daily clock-in and clock-out times.
• Flexible work location and willingness to adjust the work environment as circumstances change.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed