Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships

Aspire; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Aspire is seeking a Partnerships lead to build and own the partner motion for mid-market customers across Singapore and Hong Kong. You will define partner segments, sign initial partners, and design commercial models to enable co-sell with our direct sales team.

You'll work cross-functionally with Partnerships, Sales, Marketing, and Product to scale the program, travel within the APAC region, and create a repeatable playbook for future markets.

Qualifications

• Built a partner or channel programme from zero and drove partner-sourced revenue.
• 6-8 years in strategic partnerships, channel sales, or ecosystem development.
• Direct experience with ERP/accounting software ecosystems and partner programmes.
• Track record in partner-led demand generation and co-marketing.
• Strong commercial instincts for revenue sharing or reseller margins.
• Ability to work independently and own the plan, deck, and pipeline.
• Willingness to travel regularly within the region (Singapore/Hong Kong).
• Existing network in accounting, ERP, SI, or consulting communities in Singapore or Hong Kong is a plus.
• Familiarity with NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Xero, or QuickBooks ecosystems is a plus.
• Knowledge of treasury, AP/AR, expenses, or accounting workflows is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the partner-sourced revenue plan for mid-market across Singapore and Hong Kong.
• Identify, recruit, and sign key partners in Singapore/Hong Kong.
• Build ERP reseller and VAR channel with margins, registrations, and rules.
• Negotiate partnership agreements and design scalable commercial models.
• Lead joint business planning and quarterly reviews with partners.
• Develop partner enablement—collateral, training, and certification.
• Develop associations and industry body programs to grow partner access.
• Design and run co-marketing campaigns and joint events with partners.
• Represent Aspire at regional conferences, trade shows, and partner events.
• Measure ROI and optimize or retire underperforming initiatives.
• Collaborate with product/engineering on integrations and field feedback.
• Run co-sell motion with Sales: mappings, routes, and joint pursuits.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Channel sales

Ecosystem development

Demand generation

Commercial instincts

Travel willingness

ERP/accounting network

Mandarin/Cantonese

AI concepts

Tools

NetSuite

SAP

Microsoft Dynamics

Oracle

Xero

QuickBooks

Job description

About The Company

Founders today are building global companies from day one - but the systems that manage their money were built for a different era. Aspire exists to change that!

We're building the financial operating system for global founders, bringing banking, software, and automation into a single platform so businesses can move faster across borders and stay focused on building.

Aspire is built by people who think from first principles, care deeply about solving hard problems, and take real ownership of their work. Our team brings global experience from leading fintech and technology companies, and many of us are former founders and operators who understand what it takes to build thoughtfully, make trade-offs, and deliver at scale in a global environment.

Backed by leading global investors including Y Combinator, Peak XV, and Lightspeed, Aspire has been trusted by more than 50,000 startups and growing businesses worldwide to manage their finances since 2018. Together with partners like J.P. Morgan, Visa, and Wise, we're building for the next generation of global companies.

About The Role

Aspire is moving up-market, and partnerships is how we intend to get there.

Mid-market companies - think 50 to 500 employees - don't choose their finance stack from a website. They choose it on the advice of their accountant, their ERP implementation partner, or the systems integrator who's been in their business for three years. This role builds Aspire's presence in that ecosystem across Singapore and Hong Kong.

You’ll be building the partner motion, not inheriting one. That means defining the partner segments, signing the first partners in each, designing the commercial models and enablement, and standing up the co-sell motion with our direct sales team. You’ll do it as an individual contributor with the full weight of the Partnerships, Sales, Marketing, and Product teams behind you - and with the expectation that what you build here becomes the template for the next market.

If you want a role where the programme already exists and your job is to run it, this isn’t it. If you want to own a channel from a blank page and have the commercial results attributed to you, read on.

About The Team

Our Partnerships tribe builds and manages the relationships that extend Aspire's reach. You’ll work with banks, platforms, and other partners to unlock new opportunities for our customers.

What You’ll Own

• Own the partner-sourced revenue plan for mid-market across Singapore and Hong Kong, with broader APAC expansion as the motion proves out
• Identify, recruit, and sign the partners that mid-market finance teams already trust: large and mid-tier accounting firms, ERP vendors, systems integrators, ISVs, and technology consultants
• Build and manage the ERP reseller and VAR channel - partner tiering, margin and revenue-share structures, deal registration, and clear rules of engagement with direct sales
• Negotiate partnership agreements and design commercial models that hold up for both sides
• Run joint business planning and quarterly reviews with top partners: agreed targets, named pipeline, and a shared plan to deliver against it
• Build partner enablement - the collateral, training, and certification that lets a partner's own team position and sell Aspire without you in the room
• Build Aspire's relationships with trade associations, chambers of commerce, and industry bodies across Singapore and Hong Kong, negotiating access to member bases through endorsed supplier programmes, member benefit schemes, sponsorships, and speaking platforms
• Design joint programmes with associations that put Aspire in front of members with their credibility behind it - held to a pipeline outcome, not an attendance figure
• Build a repeatable association playbook so the sixth one takes a fraction of the effort of the first
• Design and run co-marketing campaigns, joint webinars, workshops, and industry programmes with partners, each with a pipeline target attached
• Represent Aspire at industry conferences, trade shows, and partner events across the region
• Measure programme ROI honestly and retire what doesn't convert
• Work with Aspire's product and engineering teams on integrations with the platforms our partners and their clients already run, feeding the field view back into the roadmap
• Run the co-sell motion with Sales: account mapping, lead routing, deal registration, and joint pursuit on named accounts
• Co-own the joint campaign and event calendar with Field and Partner Marketing, and the partner marketing spend behind it
• Share playbooks and reusable commercial structures across markets and partner types with the wider Partnerships team

What You Need To Be Successful

• You’ve built a partner or channel programme from close to zero and carried a partner-sourced revenue number against it - contributing to someone else's established programme isn't the same thing
• 6-8 years in strategic partnerships, channel sales, or ecosystem development
• Direct experience in the ERP, accounting software, fintech, SaaS, or B2B technology ecosystem - you understand how these partners make money and what makes a partnership worth their time
• A track record in partner-led demand generation - co-marketing, joint webinars, industry programmes - measured in pipeline rather than activity
• Strong commercial instincts: you can structure and negotiate a revenue share, a referral fee, or a reseller margin, and you know which one fits the situation
• Comfortable as the only person doing this job - building the plan, the deck, the contract, and the pipeline yourself
• Willing to travel regularly within the region, including to Hong Kong
• An existing network across the accounting, ERP, SI, or consulting communities in Singapore or Hong Kong is a plus
• Familiarity with the NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Xero, or QuickBooks ecosystems, including their partner and reseller programmes, is a plus
• Working knowledge of treasury, AP/AR, expense, or accounting workflows is a plus
• Experience standing up referral or reseller programmes from scratch is a plus
• Mandarin or Cantonese proficiency is a plus
• Has a strong grasp of artificial intelligence concepts and the ability to apply AI tools (e.g. Claude, n8n, etc.) and frameworks to solve real-world problems at Aspire