Director of Solutions Partner Lead

Location: Seattle, US

Employment Type: Full-time

The Role

Join Litmus to support one of the biggest partner transitions in the past 20 years. In the 2000s, there was a huge emphasis on transitioning partners from delivering solutions on premise to developing and delivering solutions in the cloud. Now, the new transition before us is supporting partners to move from system integrators to AI enablers. At this point, there are more questions than answers. No one has done it. Can you?

If this proposition excites you more than scares you, you may be a good candidate. If you come up with more answers than questions, you may not be thinking big enough. If a mission of change is not top of mind for you, you may want to look at something else!

In this role, you will identify, recruit, onboard, and enable system integrators (local, regional and global) who want to accelerate their customers’ digital transformation journey. You will set the North Star for what an AI enabling partner looks like, how they behave, what metrics are important, etc. You are the change maker.

Some key questions you’ll need to answer, and re-answer, over the next few 3-5 years:

• How can I help SIs transition their technical, sales and support teams to deliver against the heightened expectations of customers when it comes to data, analytics, and AI?
• What enablement would be required for SIs across various roles?
• What certification would signal to customers that the partners are capable?
• How healthy is the partner ecosystem we are developing against the following criteria: capability, capacity, commitment, and cloud ready?
• Where and which partners do we need to help customers be successful?

 In this role, you will be making important decisions like the following:

• On the journey from systems integrator to AI enabler, what are key competencies that are important? How do we recognize key milestones and phases of maturity development to encourage investments? What enablement is needed for the partner individuals and the partner organizations to be successful?
• Where should we focus globally on partner development to align with where we see opportunity? Where does Litmus need additional capacity, capability, commitment and cloud-ready partners to deliver against customers’ AI aspirations?
• How do we align our benefits, incentives, and desired outcomes with partners? What investments are needed by both partners and Litmus?
• How do we build a real community of partners who can learn from each other and deliver successful outcomes to customers? This could be through an online community, published cases studies, podcasts, events (virtual and on site), etc.

 

Qualifications:

• Experience:
• 8+ years of experience in business development and/or partner ecosystem management
• Proven expertise in business plan development, GTM and co-selling with partners
• Experience with PRM and CRM systems to manage cross-functional operations, automation, and reporting.
• Skills:
• Strategic thinker with a passion for innovation and a deep understanding of manufacturing industry’s challenges and opportunities
• Strong understanding of manufacturing industry processes, Industry 4.0 concepts, IIoT, and AI
• Deep knowledge of joint solution development and messaging with partners
• Business Acumen:
• Strong understanding of Enterprise software sales cycles, customer lifecycle, and partner business models.
• Ability to think strategically and implement scalable processes that drive revenue growth.
• Ability to manage sometimes conflicting partner priorities across geographies and industries
• Communication Skills:
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to present complex data and concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive, solution-oriented mindset.
• Project Management:
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with a focus on delivering results within deadlines.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Education: Undergraduate degree in engineering, computer science, or related fields. MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Experience: Experience working with fast growing enterprise sales teams within a large or midsize enterprise; startup experience a plus

 

The role is a blend of strategic decision making and tactical execution. You will be responsible for the direction of the partner program but also the implementation. You get to make the decisions, implement them, and then live with the outcomes…both good and bad. For the good outcomes, you’ll scale them globally. For the bad outcomes, you’ll learn, adjust and iterate.

How do we define success in this role?

• Partner Health Index. This would be based upon feedback from partners across sales, technical and support. Typically, I have surveyed 2x per year but we may survey once in 2025 to set a baseline for the future.
• Certified partner people (engineers, sales, support) and partner organizations – absolute # and growth
• Influenced revenue – deals they work on with us, either through co-selling and/or delivery/support
• Community growth and participation – this could be via our online technical community, community calls, external events, etc.
• Customer Feedback: Gather end-customer perspectives on the value delivered by partners, if possible.

• Project Impact: Track outcomes tied to completed projects, such as efficiency gains, AI adoption, or business growth.

 

This role reports to the VP of Partnerships and will require lots of curiosity, internal cross team alignment (e.g., customer success, sales, marketing, product), extensive partner interaction, and regular customer engagement to validate outcomes. Estimated travel is 25% for partner visits, trade shows, and internal events.

 

***Remote workers may be considered, but local candidates preferred.