Director, Partner Programs & Operations

We are looking for a Director of Partner Programs & Operations to work with Partner, Sales and Operations leadership to design, build, and run the partner ecosystem at ClickHouse. The function covers four capabilities: partner programs, partner operations, channel development, and partner enablement.

This is a design and build role before it is a management one. The program, the systems and data underneath it, the onboarding and readiness motions, and the way the ecosystem is measured are yours to design.

Working closely with the VP, Global Partners and Alliances, and reporting to the VP, Revenue Operations, you share accountability for what the partner ecosystem produces and for what it can deliver: partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, and the certified capacity to implement ClickHouse. You own the programs, standards, and measurement behind both.

You will inherit a small team and grow it as the partner business does. The function runs globally, working through the regional field operations teams.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own the partner program definition and the annual refresh: tiering, benefits, requirements, the partner business planning cadence across cloud, ISV, and SI partners, and the MDF budget with the rebate and funding mechanics behind it. Design the program so it pays for the behavior we want.
• Own the operational counterpart relationships at the hyperscalers and our top-tier partners: program compliance, competencies, the funding and credits those programs make available, and the standing reviews that keep us qualified and keep the joint motion moving.
• Own how the partner business is measured. Set what pipeline contribution and certified delivery capacity mean, and own the reporting that shows where that capacity exists and where it is thin. Defend the numbers to sales leadership, Finance, and the partners.
• Design and own the partner systems, process, and data layer everything else runs on: the PRM, the partner data model in Salesforce, deal registration rules and SLAs, conflict resolution with direct sellers, and co-sell submission hygiene and partner-of-record accuracy. You define the requirements and the logic, and the systems team builds and maintains against them.
• Co-own channel development with the Partners team. You own the onboarding and activation framework that carries a partner from signed to productive, and you run it directly for the long tail. The Partners team leads development for strategic partners and works from the same framework.
• Own partner enablement and readiness: certification paths, competency requirements, and the partner-facing curriculum and content library, built with the enablement and learning teams that own the platform and delivery. You own the readiness bar that determines whether an SI can implement ClickHouse well without us in the room.
• Own the partner-of-record and attribution side of marketplace transactions, with the commercial team owning execution.
• Develop the team and build out the capability the partner business needs next. Design how a small function supports a global partner surface, and expect to carry work yourself before it is staffed.

What You Bring Along

• 10+ years in partner operations, channel operations, alliances, or revenue operations with direct partner scope, including at least five years leading a team.
• A builder's bias. You would rather design a program than administer one, and you have taken one from early to real: you can point to the tiering, economics, and deal registration you designed or rebuilt, and what it produced. You are comfortable making the platform, process, and data model decisions the function needs, and standing up a motion from a thin starting point.
• Direct hyperscaler experience, required. You have worked AWS, GCP, or Azure partner programs from the operational side: co-sell, program tiers and competencies, marketplace mechanics, and funding.
• Experience building SI and services partner capability, not only transacting partners. You know what it takes for a partner to deliver competently on a technical product: certification that means something, real practice investment, and delivery quality you can measure rather than assume.
• Fluency with partner economics. Margin, referral fees, rebates, and MDF, and how each shows up in revenue, in the P&L, and in partner behavior.
• Owner-operator mindset. You treat partner programs and operations as a system you own end-to-end: you build it, you run it, you fix it when it breaks, and you measure it by what it produces, not by activity.
• Systems depth. Strong working knowledge of the Salesforce partner data model and a PRM platform (Impartner, Allbound, Salesforce PRM, or similar), with enough depth to specify what needs to be built rather than describe the problem.
• SQL fluency required. Comfortable building your own analysis on partner performance.
• Exposure to consumption-based or usage-based business models strongly preferred. You understand marketplace transaction mechanics, commit drawdown, and why a marketplace deal is not just a differently-papered direct deal.
• Able to partner with Legal and Finance on partner agreements, margin structure, MDF accrual and payout, and the revenue recognition implications of channel and marketplace transactions.
• Credible with partners externally and with the field internally. You can sit in a hyperscaler partner review and in a regional pipeline call, and be useful in both.
• Excellent written and verbal communication. Comfortable presenting to executives and to senior partner stakeholders.
• Bachelor's degree; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.