Strategic Alliances - AWS Partner Development Specialist

Zs Associates; Bellevue, Northern (WA, KY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ZS Associates seeks an experienced AWS Partner Development Specialist to own the overall management, health, and growth of the AWS-ZS alliance in the U.S. market.

You will coordinate strategy, funding programs, and enablement across client teams and practices to translate partnership into revenue and differentiated capabilities. The role requires 5+ years in strategic alliances or enterprise technology sales, with direct AWS partner-program experience preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in strategic alliances, partner development, cloud ecosystems, business development, or enterprise technology sales; direct AWS partner-program experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a complex, multi-dimensional technology partnership and build credibility with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of AWS partner programs and motions, including funding, certifications, opportunity registration, competencies, co-selling, and marketplace activation.
• Proven ability to build pipeline, influence sales cycles, and connect alliance activity to measurable revenue and client outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Own the AWS relationship: Manage the overall health and well-being of the alliance, establish governance and operating rhythms, maintain stakeholder maps, coordinate executive engagement, and serve as the primary point of accountability for the partnership.
• Develop and execute joint strategy: Create and maintain the AWS alliance plan, including priorities, target industries and accounts, joint solutions, investment requirements, success measures, and quarterly business reviews.
• Drive AWS funding: Identify, secure, track, and optimize applicable AWS funding and investment programs; coordinate business cases, submissions, approvals, delivery evidence, and financial reconciliation with internal stakeholders.
• Build certifications and enablement: Increase AWS certifications and accreditations across priority roles by setting targets, mobilizing learning plans, monitoring progress, and partnering with ZS talent, practice, and delivery leaders.
• Manage opportunity registration: Establish a disciplined process to identify and register eligible opportunities, maintain registration quality and status, resolve exceptions, and connect ZS sellers with the appropriate AWS field teams.
• Advance AWS competencies: Lead the pursuit and ongoing maintenance of relevant AWS competencies, service validations, and partner designations by coordinating requirements, evidence, audits, references, and remediation actions.
• Grow pipeline and revenue: Own partnership revenue and pipeline objectives; drive account mapping, co-sell motions, joint pursuits, marketplace opportunities, and conversion of AWS-sourced and ZS-sourced demand.
• Activate go-to-market programs: Develop joint campaigns, events, sales plays, enablement, presentations, demos, and reusable assets that make it easier for ZS and AWS teams to position and sell together.
• Run alliance operations: Maintain dashboards, forecasts, action logs, partner-portal data, benefits utilization, program compliance, contracts, communications, and reporting. Ensure operational details are accurate, timely, and decision-ready.
• Mobilize ZS stakeholders: Collaborate across client teams, industry and practice leaders, marketing, finance, legal, procurement, operations, learning and development, and delivery teams to execute alliance priorities.
• Represent the partnership: Act as a trusted advisor and internal AWS expert, communicate program changes and opportunities, remove execution barriers, and advocate for ZS within AWS and for AWS across ZS.

Skills

AWS Partner Programs

Strategic Alliances

Relationship Management

Business Development

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

AWS

Co-Selling

Partner Programs

Job description

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you’ll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client-first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.

ZS's Strategic Alliances and Investments (SAI) group identifies, designs, and executes strategic partnerships across ZS's global business. Leveraging ZS's market intelligence, deep industry expertise, trusted client relationships, and credibility in the market, SAI works with partners to bring innovation to market and drive measurable client impact.

The Opportunity. We seek an experienced AWS Partner Development Specialist to own the overall management, health, and growth of ZS's relationship with AWS. This role combines strategic alliance leadership, field engagement, pipeline development, partner-program execution, and operational rigor. The successful candidate will serve as the connective tissue across AWS, ZS client and practice teams, and ZS corporate functions to translate the partnership into revenue, differentiated capabilities, and repeatable go-to-market outcomes.

What You’ll Do

• Own the AWS relationship: Manage the overall health and well-being of the alliance, establish governance and operating rhythms, maintain stakeholder maps, coordinate executive engagement, and serve as the primary point of accountability for the partnership.
• Develop and execute joint strategy: Create and maintain the AWS alliance plan, including priorities, target industries and accounts, joint solutions, investment requirements, success measures, and quarterly business reviews.
• Drive AWS funding: Identify, secure, track, and optimize applicable AWS funding and investment programs; coordinate business cases, submissions, approvals, delivery evidence, and financial reconciliation with internal stakeholders.
• Build certifications and enablement: Increase AWS certifications and accreditations across priority roles by setting targets, mobilizing learning plans, monitoring progress, and partnering with ZS talent, practice, and delivery leaders.
• Manage opportunity registration: Establish a disciplined process to identify and register eligible opportunities, maintain registration quality and status, resolve exceptions, and connect ZS sellers with the appropriate AWS field teams.
• Advance AWS competencies: Lead the pursuit and ongoing maintenance of relevant AWS competencies, service validations, and partner designations by coordinating requirements, evidence, audits, references, and remediation actions.
• Grow pipeline and revenue: Own partnership revenue and pipeline objectives; drive account mapping, co-sell motions, joint pursuits, marketplace opportunities, and conversion of AWS-sourced and ZS-sourced demand.
• Activate go-to-market programs: Develop joint campaigns, events, sales plays, enablement, presentations, demos, and reusable assets that make it easier for ZS and AWS teams to position and sell together.
• Run alliance operations: Maintain dashboards, forecasts, action logs, partner-portal data, benefits utilization, program compliance, contracts, communications, and reporting. Ensure operational details are accurate, timely, and decision-ready.
• Mobilize ZS stakeholders: Collaborate across client teams, industry and practice leaders, marketing, finance, legal, procurement, operations, learning and development, and delivery teams to execute alliance priorities.
• Represent the partnership: Act as a trusted advisor and internal AWS expert, communicate program changes and opportunities, remove execution barriers, and advocate for ZS within AWS and for AWS across ZS.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in strategic alliances, partner development, cloud ecosystems, business development, or enterprise technology sales; direct AWS partner-program experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a complex, multi-dimensional technology partnership and build credibility with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of AWS partner programs and motions, including funding, certifications, opportunity registration, competencies, co-selling, and marketplace activation.
• Proven ability to build pipeline, influence sales cycles, and connect alliance activity to measurable revenue and client outcomes.
• Strong program-management and operational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, deadlines, dependencies, and reporting requirements.
• Ability to understand cloud, data, analytics, and AI solutions sufficiently to engage technical and commercial stakeholders and translate capabilities into business value.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, executive presence, structured problem-solving, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Customer-first mindset, high ownership, sound judgment, maturity, adaptability, and personal initiative in a fast-paced environment.

How Success Will Be Measured

• Health and depth of the AWS relationship, including effective governance, executive sponsorship, field connectivity, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Growth in AWS-influenced and AWS-sourced pipeline, revenue, registered opportunities, and joint wins.
• Funding secured, utilized, documented, and reconciled in support of agreed priorities.
• Progress against AWS certification, accreditation, competency, validation, and designation goals.
• Quality and timeliness of alliance operations, reporting, program compliance, and cross-functional execution.
• Adoption and impact of joint solutions, marketplace motions, go-to-market programs, and enablement activities.

How you’ll grow

• Cross-functional skills development & custom learning pathways
• Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities
• Internal mobility paths that empower growth via s-curves, individual contribution and role expansions

Perks & Benefits

At ZS, your growth matters. We offer a comprehensive total rewards package that supports your health and well-being, financial future, time away, and professional development. With robust skills-building programs, multiple career progression paths, internal mobility, and a deeply collaborative culture, you’ll have the opportunity to do meaningful work, expand your capabilities, and thrive as part of a global community. For details on total rewards in United States, visit United States and ZS US office locations | Where we work | ZS.

Hybrid working model

We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients/ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.

Travel

Travel is a requirement at ZS for client facing ZSers; business needs of your project and client are the priority. While some projects may be local, all client-facing ZSers should be prepared to travel as needed. Travel provides opportunities to strengthen client relationships, gain diverse experiences, and enhance professional growth by working in different environments and cultures.

Considering applying

At ZS, we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences, and belief systems—the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are, and make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are integral to your success here. We are committed to building a team that reflects a broad variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Learn more about our inclusion and belonging efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces and obtaining the resources they need to thrive.

ZS is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment and advancement opportunities without regard to any class protected by applicable law.

Work Authorization

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.