About the Role
Aivar Innovations is looking for a Head of Partners to build and lead our partnerships function from the ground up. As an AWS Advanced Partner and AI-native services company, Aivar's growth is deeply tied to our partner ecosystem — AWS field teams, Anthropic, OpenAI, GSIs, ISVs, and channel partners who can accelerate enterprise deals and expand our market presence.
This is a strategic, high-impact role: you will own the full partner motion across co-sell, enablement, program participation, and ecosystem development across our three hyperscaler and foundation model alliances. You will report directly to the COO and work cross-functionally with Sales, Delivery, and Marketing to make partnerships a core revenue lever.
What You Will Do
AWS Alliance & Co-Sell Leadership
- Own and execute Aivar's AWS co-sell strategy, driving joint pipeline and revenue across Convogent, Velogent, and Kubogent accelerator platforms.
- Embed with AWS field teams — PDMs, PSAs, and regional sales leadership — to build joint account plans, territory strategies, and coordinated deal motions alongside Aivar's Sales team.
- Identify and advance high-impact co-sell opportunities through AWS programs including ISV Accelerate, AWS Marketplace, AWS Generative AI Competency, and relevant funding initiatives.
- Manage and optimize pipeline within the AWS ACE portal, ensuring co-sell eligibility and seamless coordination with AWS sellers.
- Lead executive business reviews, strategic account mapping sessions, and regular cadence meetings to maintain alignment and accelerate opportunity progression.
Anthropic & OpenAI Alliance Management
- Own and develop Aivar's strategic relationships with Anthropic and OpenAI, positioning Aivar as a preferred implementation and delivery partner for enterprise customers deploying Claude and GPT-based solutions.
- Engage with Anthropic's and OpenAI's partner and go-to-market teams to identify co-sell opportunities, joint account plays, and referral motions that align with Aivar's accelerator platforms.
- Drive Aivar's participation in Anthropic and OpenAI partner programs, including co-marketing opportunities, solution showcases, and early access to new model capabilities.
- Translate Anthropic and OpenAI model capabilities into Aivar-specific delivery differentiators — helping customers understand how Aivar's accelerators (particularly Convogent and Velogent) leverage frontier AI to deliver production-grade outcomes.
- Stay ahead of roadmap developments at Anthropic and OpenAI, feeding insights back into Aivar's product, delivery, and sales teams to maintain competitive positioning.
Ecosystem & Channel Development
- Build and activate a partner network spanning GSIs, boutique consultancies, and ISVs that can design and execute go-to-market plays with Aivar across fintech, healthcare, and technology verticals.
- Develop triangulated deal plays involving AWS, Anthropic or OpenAI, channel partners, and Aivar — driving multi-partner pipeline creation and compressing enterprise deal cycles.
- Lead Aivar's presence at flagship partner events including AWS re:Invent, AWS Summits, Anthropic and OpenAI partner events, and industry-specific conferences.
New Partner Identification & Ecosystem Expansion
- Proactively identify, evaluate, and onboard new strategic partners — including GSIs, boutique consultancies, MSSPs, ISVs, and regional SIs — that can accelerate Aivar's market reach across fintech, healthcare, and technology verticals.
- Develop and maintain a structured partner pipeline — tracking prospective partners from initial outreach through contract execution — with clear criteria for fit, revenue potential, and strategic alignment with Aivar's accelerator platforms.
- Design and execute expansion strategies for existing partners — deepening engagement, increasing co-sell activity, and unlocking new verticals or geographies within current relationships.
- Conduct ongoing competitive and market landscape analysis to identify whitespace opportunities and emerging partner categories that align with Aivar's growth trajectory.
Pricing Negotiation & Commercial Strategy
- Lead commercial negotiations with partners — including reseller agreements, referral arrangements, co-sell terms, and Marketplace pricing structures — ensuring deals are structured to protect Aivar's margins while incentivising partner commitment.
- Define and maintain partner pricing frameworks, discount structures, and commercial incentive models across VAR, MSSP, SI, and hyperscaler relationship types — balancing competitiveness with profitability.
- Collaborate with Finance and Legal to structure partner agreements, ensure contractual compliance, and manage renewals and renegotiations as relationships evolve.
- Develop pricing strategy for joint solution bundles and co-sell motions, working with Sales and Delivery to ensure partner-influenced deals are commercially sound and scalable.
Partner Enablement & Program Activation
- Translate Aivar's technical and business value — across Convogent, Velogent, and Kubogent — into engagement plays and repeatable co-sell motions aligned to AWS, Anthropic, and OpenAI partner frameworks.
- Enable AWS sellers, Anthropic and OpenAI partner teams, and channel partners with clear positioning, enterprise customer use cases, and competitive messaging tailored to complex AI and cloud transformation scenarios.
- Drive Aivar's progression within the AWS Partner Network and foundation model partner programs, including competency attainment, Marketplace growth, and program tier advancement.
Revenue Growth & Pipeline Accountability
- Own measurable co-sell sourced and influenced pipeline across all three alliance relationships — AWS, Anthropic, and OpenAI — with clear revenue targets.
- Track, forecast, and report on key metrics including partner-originated opportunities, Marketplace transactions, influenced ARR, and program participation across alliances.
- Identify performance gaps by alliance, region, and account segment, designing targeted engagement plans to accelerate growth.
Cross-Functional & Executive Alignment
- Build and maintain trusted relationships across AWS, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Aivar leadership, operating credibly at both the field and executive levels.
- Collaborate internally with Sales, Marketing, Delivery, and Leadership to remove execution blockers and align on joint priorities across all partner relationships.
- Contribute to Aivar's broader go-to-market strategy, bringing partner-sourced market intelligence and model roadmap insight into product and sales planning.
About You
- 15+ years of partner sales, alliances, or channel leadership experience within SaaS, cloud infrastructure, or AI-native services.
- Proven success managing hyperscaler alliances, particularly AWS, with deep familiarity with ISV Accelerate, ACE, and AWS Marketplace mechanics.
- Experience engaging with AI foundation model providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, or equivalent — in a partner, alliance, or GTM capacity is a strong differentiator.
- Demonstrated track record of building a partnerships function, not just inheriting one — comfortable with ambiguity and a builder's mindset.
- Ability to manage multiple high-stakes alliance relationships simultaneously without losing depth or momentum on any one.
- Strong technical acumen — able to understand and credibly position AI and cloud-native platforms, including LLM-based solutions, to both technical and business audiences.
- Experience working with or selling into fintech, healthcare, or enterprise technology verticals is a strong plus.
- Exceptional relationship builder who can operate at the C-suite and field levels simultaneously.
- Data-driven and metrics-oriented, with the ability to translate partner activity into board-level pipeline reporting.
- Collaborative, low-ego, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where priorities evolve quickly.
- Proven ability to identify, recruit, and onboard new partners — including experience building partner evaluation frameworks, conducting outreach, and managing the full partner lifecycle from prospecting to activation.
- Strong commercial acumen with hands-on experience in pricing negotiation, partner agreement structuring, discount framework design, and deal commercials across reseller, co-sell, and Marketplace arrangements.