VP, Strategic Partnerships & Alliances

ICP•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

The Partner Manager owns the commercial activation and day-to-day health of ICP's strategic technology partner ecosystem. The role exists to turn strong technology relationships into repeatable go-to-market motions, qualified pipeline and new enterprise opportunities for ICP. TIS will help identify and qualify the technologies and new partners that matter to ICP's solutions and clients. Once a partner is selected, the Partner Manager takes the lead in operationalising the relationship: building connections from executive leadership through field sales, creating joint business plans, aligning target accounts, activating co-sell motions and making it easy for both organisations to work together. This is a commercial, field-facing role rather than a partner-administration role. The Partner Manager is expected to be a helping hand to ICP's sales teams: opening doors, creating introductions, bringing partner intelligence into account strategy, coordinating joint pursuit activity and generating top-of-funnel momentum through co-marketing and ecosystem activity. The role also connects partnership ambition to delivery readiness. Working with TIS, Solution Specialists and Delivery, the Partner Manager ensures ICP maintains the knowledge, certifications, relationships and visibility into partner roadmaps required to credibly sell, implement and support partner technologies for global enterprise clients. The Partner Manager will also play a key role in developing the ecosystem around Ponseta, ICP's proprietary metadata automation technology. Ponseta helps enterprise organisations migrate, enrich, optimise and automate metadata — both during platform migrations and as an ongoing capability to maintain metadata quality and readiness for emerging use cases such as AI-powered discovery, AEO and GEO. Working closely with Technology & Innovation Services (TIS), the Partner Manager will help identify technology companies where integrations with Ponseta can create mutual client value, establish the relevant product and commercial relationships, and help turn those relationships into scalable integrations, marketplace presence and joint go-to-market opportunities.

Requirements

Proven experience in alliances, partner management, channel sales, business development or ecosystem roles within a consultancy, systems integrator, digital agency, professional services firm or enterprise technology company.
Demonstrable track record creating partner-sourced or partner-influenced pipeline - not only maintaining relationships or administering a partner program.
Experience building relationships across both executive leadership and field sales organisations and turning strategic alignment into account-level activity.
Strong understanding of complex enterprise sales cycles and how technology vendors, consultancies / SIs and enterprise clients work together across advisory, implementation and managed services.
Experience running joint business planning, account mapping, co-sell motions, pipeline cadences and partner QBRs.
Experience coordinating partner marketing / demand-generation programs and linking activity to measurable pipeline outcomes.
Strong CRM and forecasting discipline; HubSpot experience is advantageous.
Ability and willingness to travel within the US and periodically internationally for partner, customer and ICP meetings
Existing relationships within the enterprise marketing technology ecosystem and/or experience with DAM, PIM / PXM, digital shelf, creative operations, content supply chain, workflow, AI or adjacent platforms.
Experience with technology partner programs, partner portals, deal registration, certifications, co-sell frameworks and marketing development funds.
Experience helping build or scale a partner function where the operating model, tiers and playbooks are still evolving.
Experience selling or positioning blended advisory, implementation, managed services and content / creative services to global enterprise clients.
Experience developing technology/ISV partnerships involving APIs, integrations, app stores, marketplaces or joint technology solutions.
Comfortable working across Product, Engineering, Solutions, Sales and Marketing teams and translating between technical and commercial stakeholders.
Familiarity with enterprise SaaS ecosystems, partner programs, integration certification and marketplace/app-store models.
Sufficient technical fluency to understand integration architecture, APIs and platform capabilities and facilitate conversations between ICP TIS and partner technical teams.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Commercial ecosystem mindset - sees partnerships as a route to market and customer outcomes, not a logo or relationship-management exercise.
Relationship builder - credible from partner executives to field sellers; creates trust, reciprocity and momentum across organisational boundaries.
Field orientation - enjoys account mapping, introductions, pursuits and being close to sales activity.
Connector and orchestrator - can mobilise Sales, Marketing, TIS, pre-sales and Delivery without relying on formal authority.
Strategic and operational - can shape a joint business plan and then drive the weekly actions required to make it real.
Technology curiosity - able to understand partner propositions, roadmap changes and their implications for ICP's people, technology and process solutions without needing to be the deepest technical expert.
Executive communication - concise, credible and comfortable representing ICP with senior partner stakeholders.
Data and pipeline discipline - rigorous about attribution, forecasting, partner performance and ROI.
Entrepreneurial ownership - comfortable creating structure, playbooks and cadence rather than waiting for a mature partner program to be handed over.
Curiosity – keen to learn and understand how things work.
Inclusivity – works positively and respectfully with others.
Focus – organised and committed to delivering accurate work.
Creativity – looks for practical ways to solve day-to-day problems.
Trustworthiness – reliable, accountable and careful with client assets and information.

Responsibilities

Build and manage strategic partner relationships
Own the 360-degree commercial relationship with an assigned portfolio of strategic technology partners, building trusted relationships across partner executives, alliance teams, field sellers, solution consultants, customer success, professional services and marketing.
Translate ICP's value proposition into a clear reason for partners to engage: ICP as an enterprise services partner spanning advisory, operating model and process design, technology implementation, managed content services and studios across the content lifecycle.
Establish joint annual / quarterly business plans with priority partners, including target markets, joint propositions, pipeline objectives, enablement priorities, marketing activity and executive engagement.
Run a structured governance cadence including pipeline calls, account-mapping sessions, quarterly business reviews and executive sponsor meetings; identify underperforming relationships early and course-correct.
Act as the primary internal point of coordination for partner organisations and make ICP easy to navigate and do business with.
Create partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline
Carry clear partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline objectives and build sufficient coverage against agreed targets.
Work with partner field sales teams to identify shared accounts, whitespace and new-logo opportunities; facilitate account mapping, territory alignment and warm introductions between partner sellers and ICP's Client Growth / New Business teams.
Develop repeatable co-sell plays and practical partner playbooks so field teams understand when to bring ICP into an opportunity, which ICP solutions to position and how the joint proposition creates value for the client.
Support live pursuits by coordinating partner participation, deal registration where relevant, executive alignment, solution input and joint client activity - while keeping the ICP sales owner accountable for the opportunity and close.
Track partner attribution, influence, next steps and pipeline progression in HubSpot; prevent channel conflict through clear account ownership and transparent communication.
Activate joint go-to-market and demand generation
Partner with Marketing to build and execute joint demand-generation plans: webinars, email campaigns, thought leadership, customer stories, field events, roundtables, partner conferences and targeted account-based campaigns.
Build a rolling calendar of partner moments and ensure activity is tied to specific audiences, target accounts and pipeline outcomes rather than standalone marketing activity.
Identify opportunities for joint propositions, packaged services, accelerators and customer success stories that make ICP easier for partner field teams to position.
Coordinate ICP presence in relevant partner events, communities and marketplaces and make effective use of available co-marketing resources, MDF or partner program benefits where applicable.
Measure the commercial return of partner marketing activity and continuously focus investment on the motions that create qualified conversations and pipeline.
Drive enablement, certification and delivery readiness
Work with the Solution Specialists, Marketing, TIS and Delivery leadership to define the capability ICP needs for each strategic partner: sales knowledge, solution expertise, implementation skills, certifications and customer references.
Maintain a current view of certification requirements and coordinate training plans so ICP meets partner program requirements and has credible capacity to sell and deliver.
Ensure Client Growth, New Business, Solution Specialists and relevant Delivery teams understand partner positioning, differentiators, sales plays and when to engage each partner.
Create regular mechanisms for partner product, roadmap and solution updates; connect the right partner product and technical leaders with ICP practitioners and pre-sales teams.
Feed partner roadmap changes, program changes, market intelligence and emerging opportunities back into TIS, Solution Specialists, Marketing and Sales so ICP can adapt its propositions and investment priorities.
Develop and onboard new partners with TIS
Work with TIS as it identifies technologies and potential partners that strengthen ICP's end-to-end proposition; assess the commercial opportunity, ecosystem reach, client relevance and mutual go-to-market potential.
For approved new partners, define the engagement model and move the relationship from introduction to activation: executive sponsors, agreements, joint proposition, field alignment, enablement, certifications, marketing and initial target accounts.
Prioritise depth over logo collection. Recommend investment, incubation, acceleration or de-prioritisation based on strategic relevance, pipeline contribution, delivery fit and reciprocal commitment.
Maintain a clear partner portfolio view by solution area, geography, strategic tier and maturity.
Collaborate across ICP
Operate as the ecosystem connector across ICP - Growth, TIS, Solution Specialists, Delivery and Marketing - bringing the right people together around partner opportunities without becoming a bottleneck.
Be a proactive partner to Client Growth Directors and New Business: bring relevant partner intelligence, introductions, events and joint ideas into account and territory planning rather than waiting for requests.
Work with Solution Specialists and TIS to ensure joint propositions are commercially compelling, technically credible and deliverable at target margin.
Share wins, lessons, partner updates and field intelligence broadly so successful motions can be repeated across regions and accounts.
Pipeline, forecasting and HubSpot discipline
Maintain accurate partner records, contacts, partner-sourced / influenced opportunities, next steps and forecasts in HubSpot.
Provide a concise regular view of partner health: pipeline, bookings influence, introductions, active pursuits, marketing activity, enablement / certification status and risks.
Use data to distinguish active, productive partnerships from passive relationships and focus time and investment accordingly.
Maintain relevant partner portal, deal-registration and program information where required and ensure ICP receives the benefits and recognition it has earned.
Build the Ponseta technology ecosystem
Partner with TIS to identify and prioritise technology companies where a Ponseta integration creates meaningful client, product and commercial value — particularly across DAM, PIM/PXM, CMS, Digital Shelf, Creative Operations, AI/search and adjacent enterprise marketing technologies.
Help turn potential technology relationships into active partnerships: establish the right product, engineering alliances and commercial relationships and create the operating cadence needed to move from idea to integration to market.
Facilitate collaboration between ICP's TIS team and partner Product, Engineering and Solutions teams to scope integrations, clarify APIs and technical requirements, remove blockers and progress integrations through development, validation and launch.
Drive the commercialisation of integrations alongside TIS and Marketing, including partner app stores and marketplaces, technology directories, certified integrations, joint solution propositions, demos, reference architectures and other "better together" assets.
Ensure every meaningful integration has a go-to-market plan — connecting technical integration work to partner enablement, field activation, joint account opportunities, campaigns and measurable pipeline.
Maintain awareness of partner product roadmaps, APIs, marketplace strategies and emerging capabilities, bringing relevant intelligence back into TIS to help shape the Ponseta integration and product roadmap.
Track the performance of the Ponseta partner ecosystem, including integrations launched, marketplace presence, integration adoption, partner-generated opportunities and partner-sourced or influenced pipeline.

Benefits

Partner-sourced and partner-influenced qualified pipeline versus target, with healthy pipeline coverage and progression.
Bookings materially influenced or sourced by partners, with clear attribution in HubSpot.
Number and quality of field-to-field introductions, joint account plans and active co-sell pursuits - with evidence that partner sellers proactively bring ICP into opportunities.
Performance of joint GTM activity: target-account engagement, qualified conversations, opportunities created and pipeline ROI from webinars, campaigns and events.
Partner health and reciprocity: executive sponsorship, cadence, joint planning, partner investment and ICP's relevance within partner field teams.
Enablement and delivery readiness: agreed certifications achieved / maintained, trained sales and pre-sales teams, access to roadmap updates and sufficient delivery capability for priority platforms.
Partner portfolio quality: successful activation of new strategic partners and disciplined de-prioritisation of relationships that do not create mutual value.
HubSpot and partner-program data quality, including accurate sourcing / influence attribution.
Ponseta ecosystem development: number and strategic value of new technology relationships established and progressed.
Ponseta Integration activation: priority integrations successfully moved from partner identification through scoping, development, validation and market launch.
Marketplace presence: Ponseta integrations represented appropriately within partner marketplaces, app stores, solution directories and partner programs.
Integration adoption and commercial impact: evidence that integrations are being used to create client value and contribute to partner-sourced or partner-influenced opportunities and bookings.
Ecosystem intelligence: quality and consistency of partner roadmap, market and technology insights fed back into TIS and the Ponseta roadmap.