Alliances Director
Hybrid
Full Time
#Sales
#Technology
#Partnerships
#Business Development
#Strategic Alliances
#Partner Management
#Contract Negotiation
#Sales Forecasting
#CRM Systems
#PRM
#Communication
#Presentation
#Interpersonal Skills
Aker Systems was founded in 2017 by a team of experienced technology professionals who recognised an opportunity to provide highly secure enterprise data platforms to large organisations. We build and operate ground-breaking, ultra-secure, high performance, cloud-based data infrastructure for the enterprise. Our proprietary technology solutions drive performance and reduce costs while helping our clients to improve the management and sharing of data across their organisations.
In 2024, Aker Systems won the Breakthrough Culture Awards highlighting growth companies putting culture first. In 2020 Aker Systems was recognised as a ‘One to Watch’ on the Sunday Times Tech Track. The Company was also recognised at the Thames Valley Tech Awards 2020; winning the Thames Valley Tech Company of the year, the Emerging Tech Company and High Growth Tech Business categories. We encourage people of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. We are committed to maintaining an inclusive, and supportive place for you to do your very best work.
A UK Government Security Check (SC) clearance is required for this role. If you don’t hold SC clearance, we will support you to apply assuming you have lived and worked in the UK for a minimum of 5 years.
We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Alliances Director to join our growing company. This role reports directly to the Chief Commercial Officer. This critical role will be responsible for identifying, developing, and managing strategic partnerships that drive significant revenue growth, market expansion, and product adoption among Aker Systems’ customers and prospects. You will be a key player in shaping our sales strategy and building a robust network of complementary technology, hyperscaler and other partners.
Candidates are likely to be based in London or Home Counties, and are expected to be on site with partners 2-3 days a week.
Key Responsibilities:
- Strategic Alliance Development:
- Identify, research, and evaluate potential strategic partners among the hyperscaler (e.g. AWS, Azure, GCP, Orcale) and ISV communities (e.g. Quantexa, Databricks) within the UK tech sector that align with our product roadmap, sales goals, and market expansion objectives.
- Develop compelling value propositions and joint business plans for new partnerships, outlining clear objectives, go-to-market strategies, and revenue targets.
- Lead the full partnership lifecycle from initial outreach to onboarding, certification as required and ongoing relationship management.
- Accessing and leveraging funding and resources from these partners
- Partner Relationship Management:
- Serve as the primary point of contact for a portfolio of key strategic alliances, fostering deep, trusted relationships at all levels (executive, sales, technical).
- Proactively manage partner performance, conducting regular business reviews to track progress against KPIs, identify areas for improvement, and explore new growth opportunities.
- Facilitate joint sales activities, including lead sharing, joint pipeline management, co-selling, and joint marketing initiatives.
- Go-to-Market Execution:
- Collaborate closely with internal sales, marketing, product, and technical teams to develop and execute integrated go-to-market strategies with partners.
- Ensure partner and Aker teams are well-enabled through training, resources, and sales tools as required effectively to position and sell our joint solutions & propositions.
- Drive awareness and demand for our joint solutions through co-marketing campaigns, webinars, events, and thought leadership activity.
- Performance & Reporting:
- Monitor, analyse, and report on partner performance, pipeline contribution, and revenue generation.
- Provide accurate forecasting and contribute to strategic planning regarding alliance contributions.
- Identify and mitigate risks associated with partnerships.
- Market Insight:
- Stay abreast of industry trends, competitor activities, and the evolving partner landscape within the UK tech sector to identify new opportunities and challenges.
- Provide feedback to product and engineering teams based on partner and market insights.
Skills & Experience:
- 15+ years of experience in business development, strategic alliances, partner management, or sales roles within the B2B technology sector, with at least 5+ years in a senior/lead alliances management capacity.
- Demonstrable track record of successfully identifying, negotiating, launching, and growing strategic partnerships that have delivered significant revenue impact.
- Deep understanding of the UK tech ecosystem, including key players, market dynamics, and common partner models (e.g., VARs, SIs, ISVs, Cloud Marketplaces).
- Proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships at all levels, from technical teams to C-suite executives.
- Strong commercial acumen with experience in contract negotiation, joint business planning, and sales forecasting.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
- Highly organised, self-motivated, and able to work independently as well as part of a cross-functional team.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic, and target-driven environment.
- Proficiency with CRM systems (e.g., Monday.com) and partner relationship management (PRM) tools.
Aker Systems Attributes
At Aker we work as a team; we are collaborative, hardworking, open, and delivery obsessed. There is no blame culture here: try things, and take responsibility for the outcomes. You are always part of the wider Aker. We help our colleagues and take pride in successfully achieving difficult tasks. We run towards problems and help to solve them. Communicate always, do so accurately and in a timely fashion.
In return, we offer a competitive salary, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, company paid medical insurance and life assurance, pension scheme, annual training allowance, wellbeing allowance, virtual GP, Employee Assistance plan and more.
Equal Opportunities
Aker Systems fosters a diverse environment that encourages openness in its communications and is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, age, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, disability, veteran status or other personal characteristics. We embrace differences of opinion and diversity because they help challenge us and find new groundbreaking technical solutions.
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