The Requirements
To meet the basic qualifications for this role you will have legal authorization to work permanently in the United States for any employer without requiring a visa transfer or visa sponsorship. To be a good fit for as a Director of Global SI Alliances, you should also have:- A bachelor's degree; an MBA is a plus
- Significant business development experience in partnerships & alliances and/or channel sales
- 8+ years managing customer or partner C-Level relationships including financial (revenue) and legal (contractual) interactions
- Multiple years of SI business experience, either working for an SI firm or managing an SI partnership
- The ability to build and maintain executive relationships with selected leaders of EMEA partners Quick question for you - click here
- The ability to manage all aspects of partner relationship, including sales enablement, demand generation campaigns, executive meetings, and metrics
- The willingness to be an escalation point to help resolve field conflicts using a network of key contacts within both companies as well as knowledge of mutual businesses
- The ability to obtain critical buy-in for DLR by positioning, educating, and marketing DLR’s value proposition and offerings across partner organizations
- Strong technical knowledge, including BOTH:
- An understanding of what goes on inside a server rack, and
- The ability to see the big picture: hardware, integration, managed services, network delivery, security, etc.
- Direct or indirect exposure to the data center industry
- Solid customer-facing experience and a proven ability to discuss challenges, present value propositions and find a fit between the customer's issues and DLR’s solutions
- Business savvy and a basic understanding of ROI, P&L, etc.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills
- Experience working cross-functionally and leading people through indirect means
- An entrepreneurial spirit, and the desire to take ownership of your role
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple activities and priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Experience working in a senior management role for a technology vendor or service provider / partner of a vendor would be helpful
The Role
You will report to Bill Bradley, SVP, Partners, Alliances, and Strategy (based in NY City) and work collaboratively with Mike Bohlig, Director of Global Alliances (based in San Francisco) and Jim Harris, Director of Channel Sales (based in Salt Lake City). You will also work closely with a new Director who will join the team later this year (based in London) who will focus on EMEA-based Strategic Partners and Alliances. You will also work with colleagues across several functional areas of the firm including legal, sales & marketing, finance, accounting and tax among others located in the U.S., EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.We have customers in common with IT service providers in a number of areas, including consultants, system integrators, network and cloud services providers, VARs and traditional channel partners among others. Your specific area of responsibility will be to target systems integrators (SIs) and IT outsourcers (ITOs) to build partnerships where we can offer services that are beneficial to their clients. You'll develop and bring structure to our alliances with SIs and ITOs, combining solutions and creating an even better story than we have now -- one that resonates with the concerns that are foremost in our customers' minds.
This is a support role for sales, with your key goal to identify the right target companies to work with, build the relationships, and create a partnership agreement that can be handed over to the sales team to generate revenue. Your overall objectives will include:
- Finding new partners and working with existing ones to align them with our Global Partner Strategy
- Driving global strategy and planning for the development of global SI and ITO alliances
- Developing executive relationships within the alliance partner and DLR
- Defining joint solutions and other mutually beneficial offerings
- Monetizing those offerings and driving incremental revenue growth
- Crafting documents that will dictate the governance structure, rules of engagement for client-facing opportunities, targets, legal parameters, indemnification obligations, confidentiality, etc.
- Working with the Product Team to develop a set of products derived jointly from the services provided by the network of Strategic Partners and DLR Quick question for you - click here
- Managing partner relationships
- Educating the sales teams at both Digital Realty and our partners
- Continually assessing and refining the model
- Supporting existing channel sales as needed
Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.
Why Digital Realty
Help build and shape a new initiative -- this is not a case of "inheriting" a role already set in stone by a predecessor. You'll have a blank slate to start, and the direction you take will make a positive change to the company. The initiative and your role will continue to evolve, and you'll guide that evolution.Career growth -- we work in a niche field that is on fire! This role could be both challenging and fulfilling if you jump in with both feet, and have the aptitude and ambition. We'll look to you to "own" this new model as if it were your own business and, as it grows, your responsibilities could grow too. Our growth will create advancement opportunities for strong performers, and you'll be in a great position to make a positive impression on upper management. While this role can provide you with challenges and fulfillment for years to come, it will also open the door to many opportunities to build your career here.
Broad exposure -- you'll work with diverse partners, from regional to global companies, and develop solutions for business of all sizes and industries. We have 33 markets, many across the U.S. but you’ll also have the chance to work with global teams in Western Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. You'll have your finger on the pulse of our own industry and adjacent industries, putting you in an ideal position to identify new opportunities.
The "best of both worlds" -- you'll find that working for our company may be a little bit different. We are small enough, with only 900 employees across our global portfolio, that your hard work will be visible throughout the organization, yet our extensive offering of services and solutions and proven track record of growth, stability, and industry-leading innovation give you the resources and tools you need to take your career to the next level.
Great culture -- at Digital Realty we value transparency and collaboration, and understand the value that each employee brings. We are collaborative and people-focused, with a dedication to quality and continuous improvement. When you join our team, you receive our commitment to your continued development and support.
Green standard for sustainability -- we are committed to improving the performance and energy efficiency of our data centers through the creation, adoption and promotion of industry-leading best data center practices and experience. We are pioneers in thinking about green data centers, as well as a Contributing Member of The Green Grid.
Strong foundation -- our financial strength and stability provide our customers with the assurance that Digital Realty will be their data center partner for current data center needs and those in the future, and our investment credit ratings provide us access to paths for more capital. We view each of our customers as a long-term partner. At Digital Realty “the success of your business is our business.”
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary and bonus opportunities, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision plans; flexible spending plans for multiple purposes; a health savings account; a 401(k) plan with company match and much more.
Keys to Success
If you're looking for a straight-up direct enterprise sales role, this is not the position for you. This is a "softer" business development role. You'll help key up sales, and you may accompany Sales team members to support client presentations, but you'll rarely be involved beyond the front end. At the same time, the success of this initiative will pivot on the sales organization. The better you can train them to understand the offerings as well as the value propositions, the faster you'll see results. And fast is good: we believe others will follow in this approach, so our goal is to get it up and running as quickly as possible. This will require drive and energy, as well as a strong sense of ownership and accountability.To excel in this role you will be flexible and adaptable. No one will hand you a playbook, so you'll need to spend a fair amount of time in our offices, interacting with various members of our team to soak up "tribal knowledge." YOU will create the structures and processes, so you'll need to be comfortable operating without those, at least at first. Some of the things you try will work and others won't, so it will be important for you to strike the right balance between taking calculated risks and limiting our exposure.
Our ideal candidate has the maturity and experience to instill confidence, the ability to build relationships from a position of knowledge and strength, and the leadership skills to work with both internal and external customers. This industry is evolving rapidly, so if you’re the kind of entrepreneur who enjoys pushing boundaries and you’re ready to bring your capabilities to the largest provider of this type of service in the industry, then this could be a great fit for you.
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. supports the data center and colocation strategies of more than 600 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products.Digital Realty is a publicly traded company (NYSE: DLR) with investment grade ratings from all three major ratings agencies.
Digital Realty offers a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions.
Digital Realty is an equal opportunity employer, EOE/AA/M/F/Vets/Disabled
Please do not forward unsolicited resumes to any employee of Digital Realty and its subsidiaries. Digital Realty is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited referrals.
Video: the Digital Realty Ecosystem provides customers with a neutral, efficient and connectivity-rich environment to connect with carriers, business partners and service providers. It also provides an underlying, redundant infrastructure for carriers and service providers to deliver their entire portfolio of products and services to customers in any Digital Realty data center, without capital-intensive deployment costs.