Director, Partner Acquisition

F5 Remote Jobs; United States; Remote; USD 160,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Engine is seeking a Director, Partner Acquisition to lead and scale its channel partnerships across verticals, including GPOs, trade associations, marketplaces, and technology partners. The role focuses on high-throughput growth, signings, activations, and smooth handoffs to Partner Growth.

The leader will own the front end of partner-sourced growth, driving referrals, co-sell, and co-marketing agreements. Expect enterprise-grade execution and a data-driven culture.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in channel sales or partnerships, including 5+ years leading and scaling quota-carrying teams.
• A closer and a coach: proven record of converting complex, multi-stakeholder deals, and building teams that hit targets.
• A builder: created playbooks and scaled teams, not just inherited a process.
• Deep operational rigor in pipeline management, forecasting, stage discipline, and metrics.

Responsibilities

• Lead the team and own the number; scale to 6–8 specialists across verticals.
• Build the vertical playbook; define ICP, sourcing, and deal structures per vertical.
• Convert and executive-sponsor deals; push complex partnerships across the line.
• Run an operational funnel with disciplined stages, forecast accuracy, and clean Salesforce data.
• Structure, negotiate, and activate partnerships that hold up and deliver outcomes.
• Drive activation, timely handoffs to Partner Growth, and accountability to production targets.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to close deals quickly.
• Hire, onboard, and develop channel talent to increase output over time.

Skills

Channel sales

Partnerships

Leadership

Forecasting

Sales strategy

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Job Details

• Company: Engine
• Position: Director, Partner Acquisition
• Location: Remote - US

About Engine

Engine is the AI-native platform for intelligent travel. For a decade, Engine has built the proprietary technology and supply behind modern business travel, serving over 40,000 customers and nearly 2 million travelers, along with leading travel and AI companies that build on Engine's infrastructure. One system powers business travel, group travel, human agents, and AI agents.
That work has earned Engine recognition as TravelTech's Reservation Platform of the Year (2026), a spot on Inc.'s Power Partners list (2026), and one of Built In's Best Places to Work (2020–2026).
We're looking for bold, ambitious people to help redefine how businesses manage and experience travel. Working here, you can expect exponential growth, an ambitious pace, full ownership, and high-caliber colleagues who push you to do the best work of your career. Every hire raises the bar.
Come outpace the ordinary and build the future of travel with us.

Engine is building the travel and spend management platform for the businesses the rest of the industry overlooked — two products, one ecosystem, growing fast and already cash-flow positive. Partnerships are how we extend that reach, and this role runs the team that turns partnership opportunities into signed, activated, revenue-producing relationships.

We're looking for a Director, Partner Acquisition to lead and scale our channel partnerships team across verticals — GPOs, trade associations, marketplaces, franchise networks and conglomerates, and technology partners — chartered to sign referral, co-sell, and co-marketing partnerships across Engine's full ecosystem. This is an operationally rigorous, enterprise-grade sales leader — a player-coach who installs discipline, builds the vertical playbook from the ground up, and personally drives complex deals across the line.

Reporting to the VP, Business Development, this role owns the front end of partner-sourced growth: a high-throughput engine that prospects, signs, activates, and hands off producing partners to Partner Growth — across every vertical and product.

What You'll Do

• Lead the team and own the number. Build a team of channel professionals and scale it to 6–8 — at least one per vertical — against clear pipeline, signing, activation, and handoff targets. Set the standard, run the cadence, and hold the line on accountability.
• Build the vertical playbook. This is a ground-up build with direct influence over vertical strategy and the GTM motion: define the ICP, sourcing mix, and deal structures for each vertical, and codify what works into a repeatable playbook the team runs.
• Convert and executive-sponsor deals. Operate as a player-coach: step into live opportunities, unblock stalled deals, and personally push complex, multi-stakeholder partnerships across the finish line.
• Run an operationally rigorous funnel. Install and enforce pipeline discipline — stage gates, time-in-stage, win rates by tier, sourcing channel mix, forecast accuracy, categorized loss reasons, and clean Salesforce hygiene. Make partner-sourced growth predictable, not anecdotal.
• Sign quality across the full ecosystem. Drive referral, co-sell, and co-marketing agreements spanning Engine Travel and Spend — with at least one rep carrying the full platform into their vertical. Tier mix and committed volume matter as much as logo count.
• Structure deals that hold up. Negotiate commercially sound, operationally executable partnerships — economics, mutual commitments, and activation plans that survive contact with reality. Own days-in-contracting as a number, not an excuse.
• Drive activation and a clean handoff, not just signatures. Own time-to-activation, cohort activation rates, and the handoff trigger to Partner Growth — and hold your team accountable to production vs. projection at signing. A partner that signs but never produces is a miss, and the forecast your rep made is the forecast they answer for.
• Execute cross-functionally. Align Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to move deals from term sheet to live — fast.
• Raise the bar on talent. Hire, ramp, and level up channel talent; build a team that compounds in output as it gains context.

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years in channel sales or partnerships, including 5+ years leading and scaling quota-carrying teams — ideally in high-growth SaaS, fintech, marketplace, or travel technology.
• A closer and a coach: a proven record of personally converting complex, multi-stakeholder deals, and of building teams that consistently hit signing and activation targets.
• A builder: has walked into a small team, figured out the build, created the playbook, and scaled it — not just inherited a machine that already ran.
• Deep operational rigor — fluency in pipeline management, forecasting, stage discipline, and the metrics that make a partnership funnel predictable: conversion by tier, time-in-stage, activation cohorts, and production vs. projection. Salesforce proficiency expected.
• Multi-motion range: comfort selling and structuring across referral, co-sell, and co-marketing — and across partner types from GPOs and trade associations to marketplaces, franchise networks, and ERP/technology partners.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills with a bias toward partnerships that activate — not vanity logos.
• A direct, data-backed communicator who gives and receives hard feedback without flinching.
• Thrives on speed, high standards, and ambiguity; uses AI and automation to scale both personal and team output.
• Bonus: experience with two-sided marketplaces, embedded / API distribution, or corporate cards and spend management.

Compensation

Our compensation packages are based on several factors, including your experience, expertise, and location. In addition to a competitive base salary, all roles receive equity. Depending on the role, total compensation may also include an annual bonus. Your recruiter will share your complete compensation package as you move through the process.

Base Pay Range$160,000—$185,000 USD

The Engine Edge: Perks & Compensation

We believe in rewarding great work with great benefits:

• Compensation: Competitive base pay tied to role and experience, with equity for all employees. Some roles are also eligible for bonuses or commissions.
• Benefits: Check out our full list at engine.com/culture
• Environments for Success: Different roles have different needs in terms of the environments that drive success which is why we have a hybrid-hub model. Whether you are in one of our amazing offices or fully remote, we'll make sure you have what you need to succeed.

Perks and benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and more