Director of Product Marketing (Ecosystems & Growth)

Illumio; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and Dependent Savings Accounts

Life and Disability Programs

Paid Parental Leave

Voluntary Benefit Programs

Company Sponsored Wellness Program

Wellness Reimbursement Program

Retirement Savings

Equity Opportunities

Paid time off and Paid Holidays

Employee Incentive Program

Medical, Dental, Vision Coverage

Job summary

Illumio in Sunnyvale, CA is seeking a Director of Product Marketing for Ecosystems & Growth to unify alliance-led and product-led motions into a single strategic system that accelerates pipeline and value realization. You will lead a team of three product marketers, shape partner messaging, and drive joint campaigns with technology and cloud partners.

You will personally architect and demo technical proof points, own the technical depth behind launches and partner integrations, and ensure

Job description

• The Product Marketing team at Illumio focuses on understanding the customer, technology, the ecosystem, market drivers, competition and customer needs with the responsibility of communicating product messaging and value to internal and external audiences
• You will be part of a team responsible for developing positioning and differentiated messaging, defining go-to-market strategy, launching new solutions and driving thought leadership for the Illumio solutions
• You will ‘roll up your sleeves’, ‘dig in’, learn, problem solve, be creative and do what it takes to win the market
• Ecosystems and Growth are two of Illumio’s most important accelerants to pipeline and time-to-value: our technology and cloud alliance partnerships extend our reach into other vendors’ install bases, and our Product Led Growth (PLG) motion turns Web Trial and Marketplace experiences into a fast, self-serve path to value for prospects and customers
• As Director, Product Marketing, Ecosystems & Growth, you will lead both disciplines as one connected strategy — building a bench that thinks about partner-led and product-led growth as a single system rather than two separate motions
• You will lead a team of three: a Product Marketing Manager driving our strategic technology and cloud alliances, a Product Marketing Manager driving our Growth/PLG trial and marketplace experience, and a Technical Marketing Manager providing the technical depth behind both
• You will report to the Head of Product Marketing and represent Ecosystems & Growth in cross-functional and executive planning
• This role also serves as the technical arm of product marketing
• You are not just directing technical work through your Technical Marketing Manager — you are personally credible in front of a technical audience, comfortable architecting and building a compelling product demo yourself, and able to step in and own technical proof points for a launch, a partner integration, or a Trial experience when it matters
• Strategy and vision – Set the strategic direction for Illumio’s Ecosystems & Growth practice, unifying alliance-led and product-led growth motions into a coherent plan for accelerating pipeline and customer time-to-value
• Technical demo ownership – Architect and build the product demos that prove Illumio’s value to partners, prospects, and the field — for joint alliance integrations, for the Trial and Marketplace experience, and for major launches. Set the technical bar the team’s demo environments and assets are held to, and be hands-on building or rebuilding a demo yourself when the moment calls for it
• Alliance marketing leadership – Own the joint messaging, positioning, and value propositions for Illumio’s key technology and cloud partners, and ensure partner campaigns, co-sell enablement, and joint launches land with impact
• Growth and PLG leadership – Direct the strategy for the Web Trial and Marketplace experience — the journeys, landing pages, nurtures, and trial assets that turn prospects into active users — and guide your team through execution
• Team leadership and development – Lead, coach, and grow a team of three product marketers across alliance and growth disciplines, setting priorities, raising the bar on craft, and building their paths to the next level
• Cross-functional and executive partnership – Act as the senior marketing voice to Business Development, Partner Sales, Product Management, and the Office of the CTO, and represent Ecosystems & Growth priorities at the leadership table
• Integrated go-to-market planning – Build and direct integrated GTM plans that generate demand and pipeline through both alliance channels and PLG motions, tracking performance and reallocating investment based on results
• Launch integration – Ensure every major product launch has both an alliance/partner motion and a Trial/Marketplace motion built in from the start, in partnership with the broader product marketing team
• Market intelligence – Stay ahead of partner ecosystem trends, PLG and trial best practices from other vendors, and the competitive landscape, and translate that intelligence into strategy your team can act on

Benefits

• Health and Dependent Savings Accounts
• Life and Disability Programs
• Paid Parental Leave
• Voluntary Benefit Programs
• Company Sponsored Wellness Program
• Wellness Reimbursement Program
• Retirement Savings
• Equity Opportunities
• Paid time off and Paid Holidays
• Employee Incentive Program
• Medical, Dental, Vision Coverage

Comfortable setting and tracking KPIs for alliance and growth marketing programs, and adjusting strategy based on what the data showsCan independently architect, build, and demo a working product environment — not just narrate a deck — for Illumio’s own platform, a partner integration, or a Trial/Marketplace flowUnderstands the technical fundamentals of Zero Trust, microsegmentation, and hybrid/multi-cloud environments well enough to build demos that hold up under technical questioningTrack record building technology alliance/partner marketing programs, PLG or trial-led growth motions, or bothHands-on fluency with generative AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot for research, content drafting, competitive analysis, and positioning workAble to translate a product or partner integration’s technical capability into a demo narrative that lands with both technical and business buyersDemonstrates an “AI-first” mindset: uses AI tools daily to improve the speed, quality, and reach of your own work, and sets that same expectation for your teamProven success setting strategic goals for a marketing function and translating them into operational plans that a team executes againstComfortable acting as the technical arm of product marketing: the person Sales, Solutions Engineering, and partners call when a demo needs to be built, fixed, or leveled up under a deadlineStrong storytelling, positioning, and messaging skills — able to translate complex technology and integrations into differentiated, customer-facing valueHands-on technical depth (required, not preferred): you have personally built product demos yourself, not just briefed someone else to build them, and can speak credibly to a technical buyer or a partner’s engineering team. Candidates without direct, hands-on demo-building experience will not be considered for this role, regardless of strategic or people-leadership strengthWorking understanding of how AI fits into the marketing and sales systems your team touches — including tools like Marketo, Salesforce, Pendo, 6sense, and Highspot — enough to identify where AI can remove manual work from trial journeys, partner enablement, and campaign reportingExcellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to influence and guide senior executivesAbility to manage competing priorities across two distinct disciplines — partner marketing and growth/PLG — with a deadline focus8+ years of product marketing experience in enterprise security, cloud, or infrastructure software, including at least 3 years leading and developing marketers directlyExceptional cross-functional leadership: comfortable driving alignment across Marketing, Product, Sales, Business Development, and executive stakeholdersWorks closely with Product Management and Engineering to keep demo environments current as the platform evolvesUnderstands the basics of responsible AI use — what data can and can’t go into a given tool — and coaches the team to the same standardComfortable evaluating and piloting new AI tools and making a clear-eyed build, buy, or adopt call for the teamDemonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with key industry and technology partnersExperience working with or marketing to public cloud or hybrid cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)Familiarity with Zero Trust, segmentation, or breach containment strategiesMBA or advanced degree in Marketing, Business, or a technical field.