Global Alliance Director - AMD

SUSE; California; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

SUSE is seeking a Global Alliance Director to own the AMD partnership strategy and execution, aligning AMD AI initiatives with SUSE’s infrastructure software offerings, and driving co-investment, reference architectures, and joint GTM across enterprise customers and OEMs.

You will lead a virtual, cross-functional team spanning sales, engineering, product, and legal, establish executive relationships with AMD and ecosystem players, manage agreements, funding models, and field enablement.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in enterprise infrastructure software/hardware industries.
• 5–7+ years leading enterprise alliance programs with commercial responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global AMD alliance strategy and execution plan.
• Develop joint market designs, reference solutions, blueprints, and integrations.
• Manage formal frame agreements, commercial terms, and co-marketing initiatives for the alliance.
• Inspire and lead a virtual cross-functional team across Sales, Services, Marketing, Technical, and Legal.

Skills

Strategic alliance leadership

Business development

Partner management

Executive relationship management

Negotiation

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

About Us

SUSE is a global leader of enterprise open source software. By transforming community innovations into secure, sovereign and AI-ready solutions, SUSE empowers customers to escape vendor lock-in and regain control of their IT destiny. Through industry-leading Linux, Kubernetes, Edge and AI infrastructure solutions, SUSE delivers the flexibility to innovate everywhere—from the data center to multi-cloud and out to the edge. Only SUSE also manages many Linux and Kubernetes distributions. At SUSE, Choice Happens because we prioritize community, interoperability and relentless innovation. Discover how we power mission‑critical resilience at www.suse.com.

Global Alliance Director - AMD Job Description

• Strategic AMD & AI Partnership Leadership: Own, develop, and drive the global alliance strategy and execution plan for the strategic relationship with AMD.
• Establish a comprehensive vision and annual business development plans that focus on building SUSE’s artificial intelligence stack across client desktop and enterprise server environments using AMD CPUs and GPUs.
• Ecosystem & Hardware Blueprint Execution: Orchestrate complex multi-partner solutions by bridging relationships across silicon partners (AMD), major enterprise OEMs (Dell, HP), and Neocloud providers (GPUs-as-a-Service).
• Drive the creation of joint market designs, reference solutions, blueprints, and integrations.
• Business Development & Funding Ownership: Apply a Management by Objectives (MBO) approach to establish a repeatable growth engine and co-sell motions. Lead the structuring of strategic joint proposals to secure partner funding for headcount, marketing (MDF), and dedicated engineering resources.
• Commercial & Operational Management: Manage all formal frame agreements, commercial terms, work streams, legal matters, and joint marketing initiatives for the alliance. Ensure operational cadence across partner touchpoints and maintain market alignment across competitive silicon dynamics.
• Technical Integration & Enablement: Partner closely with internal Engineering, Product, and Sales Enablement teams to ensure AMD technologies are properly integrated, tested, validated, certified, and launched. Build internal alignment to facilitate seamless field execution and technical readiness.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Inspire and lead a virtual team across Sales, Services, Marketing, Technical, and Legal organizations. Establish and nurture executive relationships across AMD and the broader hardware ecosystem to foster long‑term co-innovation.

What You’ll Bring

• A seasoned professional with 10+ years of experience in the enterprise infrastructure software and hardware industry, including 5–7+ years in strategic alliance leadership, business development, or partner management with commercial responsibility.
• A demonstrable track record of establishing a growth engine, joint GTM motions, and enterprise co-sell strategy with software and enterprise hardware partners, major OEMs (e.g., HP, Dell), or Neocloud providers.
• Deep familiarity and practical understanding of the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem, including silicon hardware integration (CPUs/GPUs), server architecture, and enterprise software stacks.
• Proven ability to structure and execute complex commercial frameworks, frame agreements, and funding models (MDF, engineering investment, headcount grants).
• Strong technical aptitude and strategic mindset, with hands‑on experience driving joint reference architectures, solutions blueprints, and product integration validation cycles.
• Expert-level ability to navigate multi‑partner ecosystem dynamics, driving collaboration across competing market forces and executive teams.
• Exceptional cross‑functional leadership, negotiation, and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence both technical teams and senior executives.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 30%, including global travel.

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