Global Frontier Alliances Lead

SoftwareONE Deutschland GmbH; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous pay with bonus structure

Full medical coverage

401k with employer matching

Wellness program

EAP and concierge services

Discretionary time off and holidays

Employee stock purchase plan

Tuition reimbursement

Remote-friendly organization

Job summary

SoftwareOne is scaling from a trusted software and cloud partner into the global distribution and delivery engine for frontier AI. You will define the strategy, stand up the certification and delivery infrastructure, build the sales motion, and personally carry both relationships with Anthropic and OpenAI.

This is a build role with no existing team; you will establish the foundational processes, governance, and operating rhythms across regions while planning for a founding team as the practice

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of experience in strategic alliances, partnerships, channel, or business development.
• Proven success building a greenfield partnership, practice, or revenue motion.
• Demonstrated quota‑carrying or revenue ownership experience.
• Strong understanding of cloud, SaaS, enterprise tech, or AI ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the strategy to achieve top tier/preferred partner status with Anthropic and OpenAI by January 2027.
• Build the foundational alliance infrastructure from the ground up, including certification plans, co-sell governance, deal registration, partner reporting, and internal operating rhythms.
• Launch the go-to-market and revenue motion across resale/distribution, advisory, implementation, and managed services; personally help secure early anchor deals to prove the model.
• Serve as SoftwareOne’s primary relationship owner with Anthropic and OpenAI, representing the company in senior partnership, business development, and tier-review discussions.
• Coordinate globally across sales, marketing, Cloud, Data & AI, Managed Services, Finance, and regional teams to ensure delivery readiness keeps pace with commercial commitments.
• Provide clear executive and board-ready updates on progress, risks, milestones, revenue impact, and resourcing needs.
• Build the business case, budget, and hiring plan for a future Frontier Alliances team as the practice reaches its initial milestones.
• Must be able to work across time zones to support global alliance and delivery teams.
• Regular domestic and international travel expected, including to partner headquarters and regional SoftwareOne offices.

Skills

Strategic alliances

Channel / business development

Executive presence

Global partnerships

Cloud / AI ecosystems

Quota ownership

Job description

Why SoftwareOne?

SoftwareOne and Crayon have come together to form a global, AI-powered software and cloud solutions provider with a bold vision for the future. With a footprint in over 70 countries and a diverse team of 13,000+ professionals, we offer unparalleled opportunities for talent to grow, make an impact, and shape the future of technology. At the heart of our business is our people. We empower our teams to work across borders, innovate fearlessly, and continuously develop their skills through world-class learning and development programs. Whether you're passionate about cloud, software, data, AI, or building meaningful client relationships, you’ll find a place to thrive here. Join us and be part of a purpose-driven culture where your ideas matter, your growth is supported, and your career can go global.

SoftwareOne is an AI-forward company. We actively use AI across our business to improve productivity, decision‑making, and outcomes - and we are intentional about hiring people who are curious, hands‑on, actively apply AI, and lead by example as technology continues to evolve.

The role

Job Summary

SoftwareOne is scaling from a trusted software and cloud partner into the global distribution and delivery engine for frontier AI. Anthropic and OpenAI are building the most capable AI models in the world — but neither has global reach, delivery depth, nor enterprise trust that SoftwareOne has built across 80,000+ customers in 70+ countries. We're creating this role to close that gap.

This is a build role, not a maintain role. There is no existing team, no established playbook, and no inherited partner-management motion for this mandate. You will define the strategy, stand up the certification and delivery infrastructure, build the sales motion, and personally carry both relationships — while building the case to grow a founding team as the practice earns the right to scale.

Role & Responsibilities

• Define and execute the strategy to achieve top tier/preferred partner status with Anthropic and OpenAI by January 2027.
• Build the foundational alliance infrastructure from the ground up, including certification plans, co-sell governance, deal registration, partner reporting, and internal operating rhythms.
• Launch the go-to-market and revenue motion across resale/distribution, advisory, implementation, and managed services; personally help secure early anchor deals to prove the model.
• Serve as SoftwareOne’s primary relationship owner with Anthropic and OpenAI, representing the company in senior partnership, business development, and tier-review discussions.
• Coordinate globally across sales, marketing, Cloud, Data & AI, Managed Services, Finance, and regional teams to ensure delivery readiness keeps pace with commercial commitments.
• Provide clear executive and board-ready updates on progress, risks, milestones, revenue impact, and resourcing needs.
• Build the business case, budget, and hiring plan for a future Frontier Alliances team as the practice reaches its initial milestones.
• Must be able to work across time zones to support global (EMEA, APAC, LATAM) alliance and delivery teams.
• Regular domestic and international travel expected, including to partner headquarters and regional SoftwareOne offices. Travel up 40%

What we need to see from you

What you offer

• 8–10+ years of experience in strategic alliances, partnerships, channel, or business development, with proven success building a greenfield partnership, practice, or revenue motion.
• Demonstrated quota‑carrying or revenue ownership experience, including the ability to personally influence and close strategic enterprise deals.
• Strong understanding of cloud, SaaS, enterprise technology, or AI ecosystems, including partner tiering, co-sell, certification, and marketplace or deal‑registration motions.
• Proven ability to create structure in ambiguity by standing up processes, governance, reporting, enablement, and operating rhythms in a fast‑moving environment.
• Executive presence and credibility with senior internal stakeholders and partner leadership, including C‑suite, business development, and alliance decision‑makers.
• Ability to work globally across time zones and travel domestically or internationally as needed.

Nice to haves

• Existing senior relationships within Anthropic's and/or OpenAI's partnerships, business development, or alliances organizations — preferred, not required.
• Experience with AI-specific commercial models — token‑based pricing and FinOps, Agentic AI delivery, or LLM procurement.
• Background in IT/software asset management (SAM), cloud distribution, or managed services businesses.
• Prior experience operating as “employee #1” for a new practice, product line, or geography inside a larger organization.

The preceding job profile has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by associates within this role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required. Additional duties may be assigned and may be subject to change at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasons.

Success Criteria

• Anthropic Claude Partner Network: Preferred Partner tier achieved by January 2027, including engineer certification, joint customer registration, and published customer story requirements.
• OpenAI: equivalent top‑tier / preferred partner designation achieved by January 2027.
• A founding revenue motion launched and generating attributable pipeline within Year One, against targets finalized with Finance.
• Delivery and certification readiness established across regions outside North America within the first 12 months.

Organizational Alignment

• Reports directly to the Global Alliances Leader, a member of SoftwareOne's Executive Board.
• Dotted line reporting to the Regional President of the America’s, also a member of SoftwareOne’s Executive Board.
• Individual contributor role at launch; expected to build and lead a founding team as the practice scales, subject to milestone achievement and budget approval.

What we offer

• Generous pay with bonus structure.
• Independent environment without a lot of red tape where you are empowered to make decisions.
• Substantial benefits package that includes:
  • Full suite of medical coverage with A+ carriers, Dental, and Vision with strong employer contributions plus additional voluntary coverage available for Pets, Identity Theft Protection, Accident & Critical Illness
  • 401k program with employer matching 50% up to the first 10% of employee’s contributions
  • Wellness plan that includes credits to premiums and employer contributions towards the savings plan of your choice
  • Access to EAP and concierge services plus pre‑paid legal at no cost
  • Abundant time off that includes paid holidays, floating holidays, your birthday off, a volunteer day, and discretionary time off
  • Employee stock purchase plan
  • Learning and development opportunities galore, tuition reimbursement, and much more.
• Specific to Nashville and Milwaukee‑based office employees: company‑paid parking.
• Winning culture, inclusive environment, and friendly people all over the world. A remote‑friendly organization, with colleagues working remotely either part or full‑time.

Target compensation for this role will be $220-250k USD (mix of base salary and bonus). Actual offers may be higher or lower than this range and will be determined based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to candidates’ qualifications, experience, education, and work location. We are not able to consider candidates residing in the state of Hawaii currently.

Job Function

Sales

Accommodations

SoftwareOne welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and abilities to apply. If you require reasonable adjustments at any point during the recruitment process, email us at [e-mail]. Please include the role for which you are applying and your country’s location. Someone from our organization that is not part of the decision‑making process will be in touch to discuss your specific needs, and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Any information shared will be stored securely and treated in the strictest of confidence in line with GDPR.

At SoftwareOne, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Additionally, we encourage experienced individuals that have taken an intentional career break and are now prepared to return to work to explore our SOAR program.