Director – Partner Programs

Job Description

Acumatica sells through partners, so the programs that govern how partners are recruited, paid, certified and held accountable are the go-to-market engine. Acumatica is seeking a leader to own five partner program operations: Value Added Reseller (VAR), Independent Software Vendor (ISV), Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Services, and Alliance (referral). Over the next 12-24 months you will streamline the program architecture, shift incentives from activity toward growth, adoption and customer outcomes, establish one trusted partner data and attribution model, and scale the ISV and marketplace motion for the AI era. The VAR and ISV programs carry the most revenue and strategic weight and will receive the majority of your investment; OEM, Services and Alliance are held to the same standards of governance, economics and accuracy, with proportionate effort. You will be the single leader accountable for how the programs are structured, measured and operationalized, and how they incent and compensate partners across all five engagements.

You will work closely with our channel, isv, oem and alliance partner management organizations to drive towards measured targets with minimums established by each of the program frameworks. In addition to the frameworks, you will own the compliance, the economics, the data and the infrastructure, and the tools those relationships run on. You will present general proposals for program structure and economics to executive leadership.

You will work closely with the partner recruiting, education and enablement teams to ensure that the established program frameworks provide definitional direction to the development of educational content for use in the enablement motion as well as for partners who are struggling to meet minimum standards or even not live up to their fullest potential. You will stand up tools and reporting mechanisms which support the various functional motions within the organization, including account managers, that will help all parties track and measure partner success and failure.

You will also be responsible for overseeing onboarding and offboarding of partners and your team will lead compliance efforts when partners underperform.

Strong cross-functional leadership is an essential element of success in this role.

This role reports to the SVP, Partner Strategy and Programs.

What you own:

• Responsibilities Across All Five Programs (VAR, ISV, OEM, Services and Alliance).
• Each program is in a different stage of maturity. You will design, govern and evolve each program as needed, including standards, eligibility, tiers, benefits, requirements, and operating standards.
• Own the program roadmap and annual refresh cycle, incorporating partner feedback, competitive benchmarking, financial modeling, executive approval and launch.
• Maintain consistent internally and externally facing documentation across all programs, including governance documents, program guides, policies, and FAQs.
• Perform compliance reviews and audits to ensure minimum standards are met and benefits are awarded correctly.
• Build automation to manage top of funnel prospective partner pipeline and manage initial qualification prior to introducing candidates to the appropriate recruiting team.
• Manage the operations of partner onboarding and offboarding and interface with legal to ensure proper execution and tracking of legal agreements, amendments and addendums across all programs. This includes transitioning partners between programs on an as needed basis and managing the rules of engagement and the partners participating in multiple programs.
• Oversee deal attribution, conflict resolution and payment rules across the programs where it applies. Manage the approval workflows and handle exceptions which occur outside of policy.
• Own program economics—including margins, discounts, incentives, rebates, MDF, referral fees, revenue sharing and contra-revenue—and model the P&L impact of changes before launch. Serve as the approver prior to payment of fees such as MDF and referrals as well as oversee and approve margin exceptions.
• Manage the incentive lifecycle from modeling and calculation through accrual, documentation, audit, reporting and payment. Partner with Finance on forecasts, payment accuracy, audit readiness and alignment with company margin targets.
• Equip account managers with scorecards, segmentation, business-plan frameworks and a monthly performance cadence.
• Maintain a common partner data model and metrics framework across Sales, Finance and Marketing. Report consistently on partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue, customer attach, partner health, retention, program ROI as well as additional metrics measured for each program.
• Program-Specific Responsibilities (In addition to responsibilities across all programs)

VAR Program

• Own the VAR tier, margin and discount architecture and the partner profitability model, so that a well-run VAR earns an attractive return on subscription margin and services.
• Define and report the productive-partner ratio, partner concentration and time to productivity for new VARs; run an annual portfolio review (invest, fix, exit) with Channel Management.
• Align VAR incentives to net-new ACV, installed-base expansion, retention and ISV or product attach rather than activity.
• Define geographic and segment coverage and white-space analysis with Channel Management and RevOps.

ISV Program

• Partner with the ISV business development team, own admission decisions based on alignment with product strategy and roadmap, market fit and technical quality.
• Own solution certification standards for architecture, security and privacy, including review, renewal triggers and removal.
• Govern marketplace listing standards and the listing lifecycle, including quality thresholds and removal of solutions that no longer qualify.
• Define when referral, resale and revenue-share models apply.
• Run strategic ISV business reviews against agreed targets and give Account Managers visibility into certified and listed solutions.

Alliance Program

• Partnering with partner recruiting team, manage and optimize the framework for referring Alliance members, systems integrators, consulting firms and strategic technology alliances, joint business-plan standards, co-sell rules and governance cadence.
• Manage lead and opportunity tagging, referral fees and payment timing, keeping referral processes simple enough to operate at scale.

General Leadership and Operational Responsibilities

• Own the ecosystem strategy and multi-year plan, including market coverage, partner mix, priority ISV solution categories, geographic expansion, segment investment and build-versus-partner decisions.
• Run partner advisory boards and executive sponsor programs, translating feedback into program improvements.
• Own the partner technology stack, including PRM/portal, CRM, deal registration, certification, marketplace listings, referral tracking and reporting, maintaining one authoritative partner record.
• Serve as the primary channel counterpart to Finance, FP&A, Revenue Accounting, Deal Desk and Legal; present data-backed program economics and margin decisions to the CRO, CFO and executive/board as required.
• Build, lead and develop the programs and operations team; set priorities, manage budgets and hold the team accountable for measurable outcomes.
• Coordinate execution with RevOps, Education, Recruiting, Enablement, Legal and Channel Management.

How success is measured

This role is measured on partner program operations – ability to drive and influence partner growth and volume, customer retention and expansion as well as influenced revenue. Operational excellence: deal-registration approval, onboarding and payment cycle times; scorecard coverage and adoption by Channel Managers; and quarterly compliance and remediation results.

What success looks like:

• First 90 days: complete a current-state audit of all five programs, baseline the metrics above and agree attribution definitions with Sales, Finance and Marketing.
• By 12 months: launch a simplified program framework with outcome-based incentives, a single partner data model and a decision-rights matrix adopted by Sales and Finance, and a defined ISV and marketplace roadmap.
• By 24 months: demonstrate measurable improvement against agreed targets for partner productivity, ISV attach and partner retention, with program cost as a percentage of channel revenue at or below plan.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in partner programs, channel operations or channel management at a software company; 5+ years leading teams.
• Demonstrated ownership of VAR or reseller programs, including tier, margin and incentive design, and of and ISV programs.
• Direct experience running an ISV or technology partner program, including eligibility criteria, solution certification or marketplace listing, and ISV agreements.
• Proven financial modeling skill: margin, discount and incentive structures, with a track record of presenting them to senior finance leaders and executives.
• Hands-on command of PRM and CRM platforms and partner reporting. AI and Excel or equivalent analytical fluency.
• Experience writing and administering partner agreements and program policy, in coordination with Legal.
• Experience in a company with the majority of revenue through indirect channels, and with services-led partners that implement the product.
• Experience rationalizing or sunsetting program elements and managing partner change, including grandfathering and communication.
• Executive communication: board-ready materials, clear written program documentation.
• Working knowledge of revenue recognition and control considerations for channel incentives (rebates, MDF, referral fees), or the ability to partner effectively with Revenue Accounting.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience designing referral programs and alliance or systems integrator programs.
• ERP, SaaS or vertical software channel experience.
• Experience with marketplace or app store platforms, and with technical certification of partner solutions.
• International or multi-region program experience.
• Experience in a company with a majority of revenue through indirect channels.
• Managing the contract negotiation process for redlining a plus.

Additional Information

Acumatica is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
If you have a disability and you believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to submit an online application, please e-mail [email protected]. This email is created exclusively to assist disabled job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Only emails sent for this purpose will be returned. Emails sent for other purposes, such as following up on an application or technical issues not related to a disability, will not receive a response. 

For this role, the salary range is $190,000-210,000 annually. This range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this job and may vary based on location. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including skills, qualifications, experience and other relevant elements.

At Acumatica, certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, including annual bonus and stock. These awards are allocated based on individual performance. In addition, certain roles also have the opportunity to earn sales incentives based on revenue or utilization, depending on the terms of the plan and the employee’s role.

Benefits/perks listed here may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Acumatica and the country where you work. US-based employees gain access to healthcare benefits (medical, dental and vision insurance for you and your dependents), employer paid Short-Term/Long-Term Disability and Basic life coverage, 401(k) plan with company match, Flexible time off, sick and safe leave, among others.