Business Development Director, Marketplace

salesforce.com, inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 197,000 - 345,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Principal Marketplace Business Development Manager to lead high‑touch co‑selling and the evolution of a nascent marketplace. This senior role sits at the intersection of Revenue, Strategy, and Partner Operations, accountable for marketplace GMV velocity and ACV growth.

Ideal candidates have 8+ years in enterprise software, 4–5 years in a marketplace overlay, and a history of $5M+ cloud marketplace transactions, plus the ability to influence at the C‑suite level and design

Qualifications

• 8+ years of enterprise software experience.
• Deep understanding of hyperscaler marketplace dynamics and private offers.
• Proven history of managing significant cloud marketplace transactions (e.g., $5M+).
• Ability to influence partner C-suite level and define new business motions.

Responsibilities

• High-Touch Marketplace Co-Selling & Deal Architecture: drive marketplace value and structure complex partnerships.
• Partner Revenue Transformation & Advisory: guide revenue models, billing, and incentives for a marketplace-first approach.
• Feedback Loops & AI-First Governance: capture product feedback and govern AI-enabled processes.
• Supporting the Products + Services GTM Motion: design bundled software + services plays and pilots.

Skills

Marketplace expertise

Enterprise software

Partner revenue

Strategic selling

Job description

To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.

Job Category

Sales

Job Details

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn't a buzzword - it's a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You're in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

Role Purpose & Ecosystem Context

As an elite, high-touch commercial overlay and marketplace specialist driving the transactional evolution of the Salesforce ISV ecosystem, the Principal Marketplace Business Development Manager sits at the direct intersection of Revenue, Strategy, and Partner Operations. This role is responsible for marketplace GMV velocity, owning the adoption of evolved marketplace functionality to deliver meaningful incremental ACV growth and accelerating overall GTM automation and transformation.

Convincing established enterprise partners to commit their core products, services and revenue streams to a nascent marketplace is an exceptionally difficult, deeply sophisticated sales pitch. This role is not a traditional partner management function; it is a senior, strategic co-selling position.

Furthermore, as the GTM App evolves, this individual will architect a brand-new commercial capability for Salesforce: building the end-to-end framework that allows partners to list and transact their entire solutions‑comprising both software products and attached professional/managed services‑directly with customers. This role will be responsible for driving incremental revenue through Salesforce's transactable partners, customers and sellers.

Core Responsibilities & Deliverables

1. High-Touch Marketplace Co-Selling & Deal Architecture

• Elite Partner Overlay: Act as the specialized marketplace execution expert, stepping into high-stakes, complex partner engagements alongside the AgentExchange GTM Transformation team to deliver the marketplace value proposition and secure structural commitments.
• Enforce Marketplace Routing Discipline: Maintain strict ownership over the transaction pipeline, stepping into active enterprise deals to unblock multi‑party commercial structures and accelerate deal velocity.
• Custom Commercial Design: Define custom deal mechanics, private offer frameworks, and flexible pricing models, partnering directly with Strategy, Legal, RevOps, and Deal Desk to ensure the field is completely unblocked and ready to transact.

2. Partner Revenue Transformation & Advisory

• C‑Suite Business Advisory: Act as a trusted strategic consultant to partner C‑suites (CEOs, CFOs, CROs), guiding them through the intense revenue model, billing infrastructure, and internal sales compensation transformations required to successfully shift to a marketplace‑first business model.
• Change Management Execution: Treat the roll‑out of the GTM App as a profound change management program rather than a simple feature launch, directly addressing partner friction regarding margin preservation and field sales alignment.

3. Feedback Loops & AI-First Operational Governance

• Structured Product Advocacy: Act as the strategic feedback loop between strategic partners and the Product organization. Collect and prioritize input on missing features (especially regarding services monetization), building data‑driven business cases that separate true roadmap priorities from one‑off requests.
• AI-First Infrastructure: Own the pipeline tracking, KPIs, reporting, and roadmap reviews for this motion. Ensure all internal workflows and program management strategies are AI‑first by default, leveraging automation to maximize ecosystem scale.

4. Supporting the "Products + Services" GTM Motion (0-to-1 Blueprint)

• Collaborate on the Complete Solution Motion: Work as part of the team responsible for designing, building, and institutionalizing the net‑new commercial playbooks that allow partners to package and sell multi‑element offers (core software subscriptions bundled with professional, advisory, implementation, or managed services) via the GTM App.
• Operational Framework Definition: Work cross‑functionally to establish the baseline mechanics for how services procurement, milestone tracking, and complex billing allocations are structured and approved within the marketplace ecosystem.
• Execute Lighthouse Pilots: Identify, target, and sign tier‑1 anchor partners to pilot the bundled software‑and‑services model, capturing deep operational learnings to build a scalable, repeatable playbook for the broader Global Partnerships team.

Key Performance Indicators (Success Metrics)

• Marketplace GMV & ACV: Direct, shared accountability for achieving the $5M ISV revenue target.
• Partner Activation Velocity: Ensure the successful adoption and operational change management to ensure partners are prepared to sell through the marketplace.
• Bundled Solution Launch: Successful transactional execution of the first enterprise‑grade "Software + Services" bundled listing pilot with a major global partner.
• Sales Velocity: Achieve a measurable, documented reduction in "Time-to-Contract" for complex marketplace transactions.
• Ecosystem Activation: Build and execute comprehensive enablement plans across partner account managers, partners, field sales teams, and end customers. Track and report on readiness milestones to ensure seamless support and execution for marketplace deals.

Candidate Profile & Experience Requirements

• Experience Baseline: 8+ years of professional enterprise software experience, with a minimum of 4-5 years specifically operating as a specialized marketplace overlay, category lead, or business development manager within a software marketplace ecosystem.
• Domain Expertise: Deep, firsthand understanding of hyperscaler marketplace dynamics, including Custom Private Offers, multi‑party transactional frameworks, and the monetization of third‑party professional services.
• Commercial Track Record: Proven history of managing and driving $5M+ in cloud marketplace transactional volume, with a demonstrated ability to navigate matrixed global sales organizations.
• Transformation Capability: Comfortable operating in high ambiguity and defining net‑new business motions from scratch. Proven ability to influence and consult at the partner C‑suite level regarding revenue operations and business model shifts.

Unleash Your Potential

When you join Salesforce, you'll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we'll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form.

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non‑discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that's inclusive, and free from discrimination. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications - without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

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In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $197,300 - $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $237,700 - $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.