Partner Manager – Strategic Partners, Distributors and SI’s

SmartSights is a leading innovator in industrial automation software, delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive efficiency and productivity in various industries. Our mission is to empower businesses with advanced technology and unparalleled support, revolutionizing the way they operate. 

The Partner Manager will be responsible for developing, managing, and expanding a portfolio of strategic partnership accounts, with a focus on Industrial Automation System Integrators, Distributors, and other partner types aligned to the company’s Partner Program. 

This role combines key partner account management with new partner recruitment and ecosystem expansion. The successful candidate will own the commercial relationship with assigned partners, drive partner-led pipeline and revenue, and identify, recruit, onboard, and activate new partners that can accelerate market coverage and customer acquisition. 

The ideal candidate is a commercially driven partner sales professional who can build trusted executive and field-level relationships, create joint business plans, enable partners to sell effectively, and manage a disciplined pipeline across both existing and newly recruited partners. This person will play a critical role in scaling the company’s partner ecosystem and increasing revenue contribution from partner-led and partner-influenced sales motions. 

Experience working within a structured Partner Program, including partner recruitment, onboarding, enablement, co-selling, MDF execution, and partner performance management, is essential for success in this role. 

The Partner Manager will be accountable for: 

• Managing and growing assigned partner accounts across a territory and/or technology partnership.  

• Recruiting new partners aligned to the company’s Ideal Partner Profile and Partner Program strategy.  

• Building partner-led and partner-influenced pipeline across new logo, expansion, upsell, and cross-sell opportunities.  

• Driving revenue growth through existing strategic and key partners and newly onboarded partners.  

• Developing joint business plans with priority partners, including revenue targets, pipeline goals, enablement plans, and marketing activities.  

• Increasing partner engagement, activation, and productivity through structured enablement and regular business reviews.  

• Maintaining accurate pipeline, forecast, partner activity, and opportunity data in CRM.  

• Collaborating cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Product, Customer Success, Renewals, and Support to ensure partner success.  

• Supporting the continued evolution and execution of the company Partner Program.  

 

Existing Partner Account Management 

• Own the commercial relationship with assigned key partners, including Distributors, System Integrators, and other strategic partner types.  

• Build deep, multi-threaded relationships across partner executive, sales, technical, marketing, and delivery teams.  

• Develop and execute joint business plans with priority partners, aligned to company revenue goals and partner program objectives.  

• Identify opportunities to expand partner contribution through new customer acquisition, existing customer expansion, cross-sell, and upsell motions.  

• Conduct regular partner performance reviews, including pipeline health, revenue attainment, enablement progress, marketing activity, and overall engagement.  

• Act as the primary point of contact for partner sales engagement, escalation, commercial alignment, and internal coordination.  

 

New Partner Recruitment & Ecosystem Expansion 

• Proactively identify, prospect, qualify, and recruit new partners that align with the company’s target markets, solution areas, and Partner Program requirements.  

• Build a target partner recruitment plan based on territory coverage, industry focus, technical capabilities, customer access, and revenue potential.  

• Engage prospective partners through outbound prospecting, referrals, industry events, ecosystem mapping, and internal sales collaboration.  

• Evaluate new partner fit using defined qualification criteria, including market reach, customer base, technical capability, sales capacity, and strategic alignment.  

• Lead prospective partners through the recruitment process, including discovery, value proposition alignment, commercial discussions, program positioning, and onboarding.  

• Ensure newly recruited partners are activated quickly through enablement, account mapping, joint pipeline development, and early opportunity support.  

 

Partner-Led Selling & Revenue Growth 

• Drive partner-led and partner-influenced sales motions across assigned and newly recruited partners.  

• Support partners in identifying, qualifying, positioning, and progressing opportunities through the sales cycle.  

• Help partners clearly articulate the company’s solutions, use cases, business value, and differentiation.  

• Collaborate with direct sales teams on co-selling opportunities, account mapping, deal strategy, and customer engagement.  

• Support partner-led deals from qualification through close, including pricing, commercial alignment, solution positioning, and internal coordination.  

• Ensure partners have the tools, training, and confidence required to independently generate and progress qualified opportunities.  

 

Pipeline Development & Opportunity Management 

• Build and maintain a healthy, well-distributed pipeline across existing partners, newly recruited partners, and partner-led campaigns.  

• Work with partner marketing and field teams to create demand generation initiatives that produce measurable pipeline and revenue outcomes.  

• Identify upselling, cross-sell, and expansion opportunities within partner-influenced customer accounts.  

• Maintain strong pipeline coverage to meet or exceed quarterly and annual targets.  

• Use a structured, value-based sales methodology to qualify opportunities, manage deal progression, and improve conversion rates.  

• Maintain accurate forecasting, CRM hygiene, activity tracking, and partner opportunity reporting.  

 

Partner Program Execution 

• Execute the company’s Partner Program in the field, ensuring partners understand program requirements, benefits, expectations, and success criteria.  

• Support partner onboarding, enablement, certification, and activation activities.  

• Help define and track partner performance metrics, including pipeline creation, revenue contribution, deal registration, enablement completion, and marketing ROI.  

• Ensure partner activities are aligned to program tiers, incentives, commercial policies, and go-to-market priorities.  

• Provide feedback to leadership on partner program effectiveness, market needs, partner experience, and opportunities for improvement.  

• Promote consistent partner engagement through regular communication, structured reviews, and clear accountability.  

 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Partner closely with Marketing on joint campaigns, events, webinars, partner communications, and MDF-funded activities.  

• Collaborate with Product and Product Marketing to share partner and customer feedback, market insights, competitive intelligence, and use-case requirements.  

• Work with Customer Success, Renewals, and Support to ensure smooth customer handoffs, partner delivery alignment, adoption, renewal readiness, and expansion opportunities.  

• Coordinate with Sales leadership and account teams to align partner activity with territory plans and target accounts.  

• Act as an internal advocate for partners while ensuring partner activities remain aligned with company strategy and commercial goals.  

Knowledge Required 

• Strong understanding of B2B partner sales models, including partner-led, co-sell, resale, referral, distribution, and system integrator motions.  

• Experience working within or executing a structured Partner Program.  

• Understanding of partner recruitment, onboarding, enablement, activation, and performance management.  

• Familiarity with subscription-based revenue models, including ARR, renewals, expansions, upsell, and cross-sell.  

• Knowledge of B2B SaaS sales fundamentals and value-based selling.  

• Understanding of industrial software, manufacturing, automation, IIoT, OT, or related technology environments is preferred.  

• Awareness of how System Integrators and Distributors build business cases, influence customers, and drive technology adoption.  

 

Commercial & Sales Skills 

• Proven ability to manage strategic partner accounts while also recruiting and activating new partners.  

• Strong prospecting, discovery, qualification, negotiation, and closing skills.  

• Ability to build partner business plans that translate into measurable pipeline and revenue.  

• Strong commercial judgment and ability to prioritize partners based on growth potential and strategic fit.  

• Ability to sell value, outcomes, and business impact rather than product features alone.  

 

Partner & Relationship Management 

• Experience working with Distributors, System Integrators, channel partners, or technology alliance partners.  

• Ability to build trust-based relationships across executive, sales, technical, marketing, and operations stakeholders.  

• Comfortable influencing internal and external stakeholders without direct authority.  

• Strong communication, presentation, and business planning skills.  

• Ability to manage partner conflict, competing priorities, and complex multi-party sales cycles.  

 

Tools & Technology 

• Experience using CRM systems, preferably Salesforce. 
• Familiarity with sales and marketing tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Gong, DealHub, or similar.

• 5–7 years of experience in B2B sales, partner sales, channel sales, alliances, business development, or account management.  

• Demonstrated success in a hybrid partner role involving both strategic account management and new partner recruitment.  

• Experience selling through, with, or alongside partners is highly desirable.  

• Experience with Industrial Automation System Integrators, Distributors, industrial software, manufacturing technology, SaaS, IIoT, or OT environments is preferred.  

• Proven record of meeting or exceeding revenue, pipeline, or partner recruitment targets.  

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.  

By the end of the first year, the Partner Manager will have: 

• Built strong relationships with assigned key partners and establish clear joint business plans.  

• Recruited and onboarded new high-potential partners aligned to the company Partner Program.  

• Created a balanced pipeline across existing partner expansion, new partner activation, and partner-led customer opportunities.  

• Increased partner engagement, enablement, and measurable contribution to revenue.  

• Supported successful partner-led and co-sell opportunities from qualification through close.  

• Established strong internal collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Product, Customer Success, Renewals, and Support.  

• Maintained accurate forecasts, clean CRM data, and consistent partner performance reporting.  

• Demonstrated clear progress toward partner ecosystem expansion and revenue growth targets.  

• Competitive Salary package with Base and Commissions 

• Remote first company 

• Medical Insurance

• Competitive benefits 

• Generous annual leave allowance, plus bank holidays

The pay range above represents the anticipated high and low end of the pay range for this position and may change in the future. The pay range is based on various factors, including but not limited to work experience and performance.