Software Alliances Director, EMEA

Canonical; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Canonical is seeking a seasoned business development or product management leader to shape Alliance programs with major accounts across global markets. You will set account strategy, work with product, engineering and marketing to align open-source initiatives and drive Ubuntu adoption.

This remote-first role requires strong communication skills, the ability to influence C-suite stakeholders, and experience in technology strategy across diverse sectors.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership and influence.
• Experience setting account strategies for major accounts or regions.
• Background in software development or system architecture is a plus.
• Customer-facing experience in software engineering, product management, or business development.

Responsibilities

• Set the account strategy in a major account, region, and/or vertical.
• Collaborating with product, engineering, alliance and marketing teams at partners to align on open-source strategies.
• Capturing partner requirements, evaluating gaps, and identifying Canonical opportunities.
• Coordinating with marketing and product teams on messaging, content creation, and launch plans.
• Creating partner- and customer-facing materials like reference architectures, joint blueprints, webinars, presentations, videos, and white papers.
• Driving Ubuntu adoption within targeted alliance accounts, advocating its benefits to stakeholders and working with partners on enablement training for their development, delivery, support and commercial teams.
• Influencing alliance partners to build with Canonical technology.
• Up to 25% travel, including internationally, for internal conferences and to drive partnerships in person.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Open source experience

Account strategy

Influence & communication

Remote collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in science/technology/engineering

Post-graduate degree in science/engineering

Job description

The Software Alliances team at Canonical works with leading software companies to optimize and enable their products with Ubuntu and other Canonical software, for instance our AI offerings. We develop joint product roadmaps, drive delivery, and formulate go-to-market plans, content and processes, enabling differentiated offerings and robust product life-cycle support anchored to best-in-class Canonical products. Enterprises are able to receive the benefits of open source, securely maintained, and validated solutions from cloud to edge, whether purchased from Canonical, embedded in Alliance partners’ products, or accessed through the cloud. The successful candidate is someone who has demonstrated success in business development or product management, both as a leader and an individual contributor in major accounts. If you are someone who is passionate about open source, can navigate complex new technical challenges, learn quickly, and architect solutions and strategies across global teams, this challenging role is for you. This role is ideal for professionals with 7+ years of experience.

Location: This role will be based remotely in the EMEA region.

The role entails.

• Setting the account strategy in a major account, region, and/or vertical.
• Collaborating with product, engineering, alliance and marketing teams at partners to align on open-source strategies.
• Capturing partner requirements, evaluating gaps, and identifying Canonical opportunities.
• Coordinating with marketing and product teams on messaging, content creation, and launch plans.
• Creating partner- and customer-facing materials like reference architectures, joint blueprints, webinars, presentations, videos, and white papers.
• Driving Ubuntu adoption within targeted alliance accounts, advocating its benefits to stakeholders and working with partners on enablement training for their development, delivery, support and commercial teams.
• Influencing alliance partners to build with Canonical technology.
• Up to 25% travel, including internationally, for internal conferences and to drive partnerships in person.

What we are looking for in you.

• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership and influence.
• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path.
• Bachelor's degree in science, technology and/or engineering.
• Experience in software development and system architecture.
• Customer-facing experience in software engineering, product management, business development, technology strategy or similar functions.
• Excellent communication skills across all levels of stakeholders - individual contributors to the C-suite; ability to grasp complex material and synthesize key points.
• Ability to think and work at both strategic and tactical levels.
• Disciplined and self motivated for a remote-first workplace environment.
• Nice-to-have skills and experience.
• Experience with open source software and open source business models.
• Product management or program management experience.
• Understanding of marketing and go-to-market strategy.
• Sector-specific experience in finance, telecommunications, automotive, or public sectors.
• Working knowledge of independent hardware and software vendor go-to-market motions.
• Post-graduate degree in science, technology or engineering field.