Director, Strategic Partners

Qualys; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualys is seeking a Director of Strategic Partners to lead and scale the national partner ecosystem across North America. You will drive partner strategy, programs, and executive relationships to accelerate revenue and customer acquisition.

The role requires building joint business plans, enabling partners, and expanding partner-driven pipeline across a broad range of security solutions. Collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Product teams is essential.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years in channel sales, alliances, partnerships, or cybersecurity sales.
• Proven cybersecurity channel experience.
• Track record of developing partner strategies that generate measurable pipeline and revenue.
• Strong relationships with national partners.
• Experience developing joint business plans and GTM strategies with strategic partners.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the national partner strategy aligned with business goals.
• Define the vision, priorities, programs, and operating model for the national partner ecosystem.
• Establish partner segmentation and engagement strategies based on revenue potential and fit.
• Expand indirect sales coverage through new and existing partners.
• Create annual and quarterly partner business plans with targets and pipeline goals.
• Establish KPIs for recruitment, activation, pipeline, revenue, enablement and retention.
• Build scalable processes to improve partner productivity.
• Maintain executive relationships with key partner organizations.
• Evaluate prospective partners by market opportunity, capabilities, and alignment.
• Grow the partner pipeline with focus on long-term revenue potential.
• Deepen relationships with existing strategic partners.

Skills

Channel sales leadership

Cybersecurity channel experience

Partnership strategy development

Executive relationship building

Go-to-market strategy

Salesforce / CRM

Education

Bachelor's degree (preferred)

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Come work at a place where innovation and teamwork come together to support the most exciting missions in the world! Qualys is a leading provider of cloud-based cybersecurity and compliance solutions, helping organizations identify, understand, and manage their security and compliance risks. Through the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management platform, customers gain visibility across their IT environments and the ability to prioritize and remediate critical risks. Our partner ecosystem is a critical component of our growth strategy.

The Director of Strategic Partners will be responsible for expanding and accelerating Qualys’ National Partner ecosystem across North America. This leader will develop the strategy, programs, relationships, and execution framework necessary to increase partner engagement, partner-sourced pipeline, and revenue.

Role Overview

The Director of Strategic Partners will lead the strategy and execution of Qualys’ national partner business across the region. This is a strategic leadership role responsible for building a high-performing partner ecosystem that extends Qualys’ market reach, accelerates customer acquisition, and drives incremental revenue. The Director will develop and execute a comprehensive partner strategy aligned with Qualys’ broader sales and go-to-market objectives.

This includes identifying and recruiting strategic partners, developing executive relationships, establishing joint business plans, improving partner enablement, and creating scalable programs that increase partner productivity and revenue contribution. The ideal candidate is a proven cybersecurity channel leader with a strong network across the national partner ecosystem. The successful candidate will bring a combination of strategic thinking, commercial acumen, operational discipline, and exceptional relationship-building skills.

This leader will work closely with Sales, Sales Engineering, Marketing, Customer Success, Operations, Product, and other cross-functional teams to ensure partners have the resources, training, tools, and support required to successfully position and sell Qualys solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the national partner strategy in alignment with Qualys’ overall business and go-to-market objectives.
• Define the vision, priorities, programs, and operating model for the national partner ecosystem.
• Establish partner segmentation and engagement strategies based on revenue potential, capabilities, customer reach, and strategic fit.
• Identify opportunities to expand Qualys’ indirect sales coverage and market reach through new and existing partners.
• Develop annual and quarterly partner business plans with measurable objectives, revenue targets, pipeline goals, and engagement strategies.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for partner recruitment, activation, pipeline generation, revenue, enablement, and retention.
• Develop scalable processes and programs that improve partner productivity and reduce friction throughout the partner lifecycle.
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with key partner organizations.
• Evaluate prospective partners based on market opportunity, technical capabilities, customer base, geographic reach, and alignment with Qualys’ strategy.
• Create a strong pipeline of prospective partners while maintaining a focus on quality and long-term revenue potential.
• Expand and deepen relationships with existing strategic partners to increase their Qualys business.

Partner Enablement & Activation

Establish a comprehensive partner enablement strategy covering sales, technical, product, and business competencies. Ensure partners understand Qualys’ technology, solutions, competitive positioning, and value proposition. Ensure partner sales and technical teams are equipped to independently identify, position, demonstrate, and sell Qualys solutions.

Deliver executive-level, business, sales, and technical presentations to partners and their customers.

Revenue & Pipeline Growth

Own the national partner-driven pipeline and revenue strategy for North America. Drive partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline generation through joint selling, demand generation, account mapping, and go-to-market initiatives.

Develop strategies to increase partner-led customer acquisition, upsell, cross-sell, and expansion opportunities. Work closely with sales leadership to establish effective rules of engagement and joint account strategies.

Support strategic partner opportunities throughout the sales cycle, including discovery, presentations, demonstrations, proposals, negotiations, and closing activities. Identify and remove obstacles that prevent partners from successfully progressing opportunities.

Establish mechanisms to measure and improve partner contribution to overall company revenue.

Executive & Cross-Functional Collaboration

Build strong executive relationships and serve as a senior point of escalation and strategic alignment. Partner with Marketing to develop joint marketing, demand generation, events, and campaign strategies.

Work with Sales Engineering and Product teams to ensure partners receive appropriate technical resources and support. Collaborate with Customer Success to identify opportunities for partner engagement throughout the customer lifecycle.

Represent the partner organization internally and advocate for investments and resources that will accelerate channel growth.

Partner Programs & Operations

Oversee partner onboarding, contracts, program requirements, and ongoing relationship management. Establish clear partner performance expectations and accountability.

Develop reporting and dashboards that provide visibility into partner performance, pipeline, revenue, training, and engagement. Ensure accurate and timely reporting.

Analyze partner performance and market trends to identify opportunities, risks, and areas for improvement.

Establish consistent operating rhythms, including business reviews, pipeline reviews, partner planning sessions, and executive briefings.

Leadership Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop channel sales professionals as the organization and partner ecosystem scale. Establish a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and continuous improvement.

Set clear objectives and performance expectations. Develop talent and create career growth opportunities within the partner organization.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years of experience in channel sales, alliances, partnerships, or cybersecurity sales, with significant experience in a leadership capacity.
• Proven cybersecurity channel experience is required.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing partner strategies that generate measurable pipeline and revenue.
• Strong relationships and established credibility with security-focused national partners.
• Demonstrated ability to develop joint business plans and go-to-market strategies with strategic partners.
• Proven track record of achieving or exceeding revenue and pipeline objectives through channel partners.
• Exceptional executive presence and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to communicate complex cybersecurity technologies and business value to both technical and executive audiences.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and operational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Experience using Salesforce or another enterprise CRM platform for pipeline management, forecasting, and reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within the cybersecurity, cloud security, vulnerability management, exposure management, compliance, or IT risk management markets.
• Existing executive relationships within the national partner ecosystem.
• Experience working in a partner-first or channel-led go-to-market organization.
• Experience with MSSP, managed services, or security service provider business models.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or a related field preferred.
• Existing executive relationships within the national partner ecosystem.

What Success Looks Like

• Significant growth in partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline.
• Increased partner-driven revenue and contribution to overall company growth.
• Recruitment and activation of high-value strategic partners.
• Increased productivity and revenue contribution from existing partners.
• Strong executive relationships with key strategic partners.
• Higher levels of partner sales and technical enablement.
• Successful execution of joint go-to-market and demand-generation programs.
• Increased partner-led upsell, cross-sell, and expansion opportunities.
• Improved partner satisfaction, engagement, and retention.
• A scalable partner operating model with clear metrics, accountability, and reporting.
• Development of a high-performing national partner organization capable of supporting Qualys’ continued growth.

#LI-Remote

Qualys is an Equal Opportunity Employer, please see our EEO policy.

Join our talent community and receive the latest Qualys news, content, and be first in line for new job opportunities. Join our Talent Community!

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a pioneer and leading provider of disruptive cloud-based security, compliance and IT solutions with more than 10,000 subscription customers worldwide, including a majority of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100. Qualys helps organizations streamline and automate their security and compliance solutions onto a single platform for greater agility, better business outcomes, and substantial cost savings.