Regional Partner Director Strategic Partnerships

Job Description

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Global Strategic Services Partner team is responsible for driving Board-sponsored strategic partnerships. The team engages with all SAP Board areas to prioritize and optimize partnerships that will enable SAP to pursue significant market opportunities. The group’s work is essential to SAP’s ability to deliver end-to-end solutions to customers, expand routes to market, drive adoption of SAP’s platforms, and accelerate growth of SAP solutions. The Global Strategic Services Partner team embodies the entrepreneurial energy, responsive clockspeed, and opportunism of a start-up environment with the breadth, network, and resources of a leading global organization.

We practice and value a collaborative and trust-based working model across an extended global team at SAP and the partner.

YOUR FUTURE ROLE

The Global Partner Director (GDP), Strategic Partnerships is a member of a team that is responsible for driving SAP’s relationship with strategic partners in a Business Development role. Our strategic partners work with SAP to deliver market impact and support the long-term growth of SAP. This is a highly visible role that works closely with the highest levels of partner leadership and SAP to drive the planning and execution of strategic partner initiatives supporting our mutual customers’ journey to an Intelligent Enterprise.

The GDP, Strategic Partnerships is responsible for driving SAP’s relationship with SAP’s strategic partners in a Business Development role. Our strategic partners work with SAP to deliver market impact and support the long-term growth of SAP. This is a highly visible role that works closely with the highest levels of partner leadership and SAP leaders across the region, market unit and with global teams to drive the strategic planning and execution of strategic partner initiatives supporting our mutual customers’ journey to an Intelligent Enterprise.

This highly motivated Regional Partner Director will drive Innovation program initiatives with one or more of our strategic partners – securing alignment between partner initiatives, market opportunities leveraging new technology and our priorities:

• • Establish SAP as a Suite First, AI and Data company
  • Build market impacting initiatives
  • Drive impacted and indirect pipeline
  • Optimize Customer lifetime value including adoption metrics
  • Incubate new innovations
  • Accelerate Industry specific growth initiatives

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

End-to-end ownership of selected strategic initiatives or time-critical projects. Inclusive but not exhaustive:

• Strategic Partnership and New Business Development. Draw upon deep understanding of complex market dynamics and working with LoB and Industry Leadership to identify and drive new “win-win” market opportunities for the partnership. Develop and build out the Global Partnership strategy for a multi-year horizon. Structure appropriate partner models to achieve mutually beneficial business results and drive execution of related partnership agreements. Secure the necessary internal and external stakeholder support across involved Board areas and business units, including Industry, LoB and regional partner management and sales teams.
• Co-innovation and Co-Development. Drive co-innovation and co-development initiatives with strategic partners in concert with SAP development, solution management, and field stakeholders. Facilitate development of joint solutions and technology roadmaps including new offerings built on BTP, capitalizing on partner industry and domain expertise. This includes identifying, evaluating, developing business cases and justification for investment and executing new innovative business technology opportunities to drive incremental revenues to SAP, secure faster Cloud adoption and support engaging the strategic partner to be SAP flagships for the market.
• GTM Engagement. Work with Regional and LoB leaders for the successful execution of joint go-to-market activities with the strategic partners and the SAP extended organisation. Achieve partner-driven revenue targets and directly engage in key sales opportunities.
• Partnership Governance. Manage SAP’s overall corporate relationship with the strategic partner. Create strategic business plan for partnership to enhance mutual value and impact. Facilitate top-to-top meetings and ensure effective preparation, briefing, alignment, and execution for key executive meetings and Board updates. Manage partner escalations and drive issue resolution. Operate with a “One SAP” approach across the broader SAP organization to ensure effective and coherent partner engagement across Board areas, geographies, and business / market segments.
• Best Practice Champion. Serve as a collaborative luminary for raising SAP’s strategic partner management capabilities across the company’s other strategic relationships, proactively sharing best practices and mentoring/advising other partner managers. Openly embrace and capitalize on the winning practices of others to drive continuous improvement. Identify and, as appropriate, spearhead enhancements to SAP’s partner management processes and structures.
• Internal Governance. Serve as a general manager for the partnership and team. Lead the strategy and set the tone for the regional and market unit teams. Establish a collaborative leadership environment that that is results oriented. Act as collaborative luminary for raising SAP’s strategic partner management capabilities.

EXPECTATIONS AND TASKS:

• Lead and execute SAP GSSP Strategic Imperatives within the partner – build incremental business with the partner leveraging the existing operational framework with focus on Cloud ERP, Business AI innovation, Business Data Cloud, Cloud LoB solutions, overall Cloud Growth, Industry Cloud, Partner-specific initiatives and next generation partnering opportunities.
• Lead the development of the regional Partner strategy over a multi-year horizon.
• Proactively develop current and long-term relationships across all relevant roles in the Partner’s and our organization (executives, sales, marketing, product development/technical, etc.)
• Professional stewardship of all relevant Partner / SAP interactions within scope of role.
• Collaborate with internal SAP teams acting as a strategic liaison between the Partner and SAP to ensure sales successes, aligned strategies, and effective communications.
• Discover potential opportunities for co-innovation, co-development and GTM collaboration between SAP and Partner.
• Identify potential problems and work with extended team to resolve conflicts between Partner and SAP before they become escalations.
• Ensure Partner collaborates to build and execute joint demand generation activities with SAP local, regional, and industry Sales, Ecosystem and Marketing Teams to grow pipeline and agree to account plans.
• Influences Partner to effectively invest in Marketing and Demand Gen activities within SAP Focus Areas.
• Supports the Regional Partner Business Managers on pipeline development planning to meet Partner’s pipeline multiplier goals, net new name goals, revenue commitments and customer reference targets.
• Diagnoses and prescribes corrective action for underperforming initiative/s.
• Ensures Partner and SAP teams operate in a professional and ethical manner; take action or escalate if professionalism and ethics standards are not being met.
• Establish and manage governance to ensure proper planning and execution of joint Sales, Marketing, and Enablement.
• Operates with a sense of urgency. Brings an awareness of and sensitivity to field concerns and perspectives. Artfully brings “24x7” responsiveness while maintaining personal balance.
• Measurement, accountability and reporting on results on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

YOUR PROFILE:

• 10+ years of leadership experience in Sales, Business Development and/or Partner-facing roles including a track record of working closely with SVP, EVP, President, and Board levels of SAP and partner / customer equivalents within their organizations.
• Proficient knowledge of SAP Intelligent Enterprise offerings and SAP product strategy to the Cloud.
• Strong understanding of SAP, its products and solutions, partners, markets and competition
• Experience in leading and managing complex contractual and IP relationships and negotiations.
• Expertise coupled with business acumen for cloud commercial consumption platform-based models in bringing co-innovation to market with the field sales organizations.
• Able to lead, own, coordinate and deliver programs, end-to-end, in a complex setting with external (partner) and internal (multiple SAP organizations) stakeholders with aggressive timelines.
• Ability to lead by influence, working with stakeholders from multiple teams and board areas across the SAP and Partner organizations to achieve long-term objectives, often across several quarters or years.
• Brings high energy, fosters open collaboration, and thrives as a supportive team player
• Business development planning and execution experience in driving sales pipeline, demand gen, and enablement with partners.
• Ability to respond and thrive in a fast-paced, high energy, global team environment, including working with stakeholders in multiple time zones and with diverse cultures.
• Experience structuring and engaging in multiple partnering models (e.g., co-selling, value-added reselling, MSP, OEM).
• Highly analytical.
• Brings a high level of integrity and confidence and is positive and flexible.
• Works at speed with purpose.
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.

In summary, the optimal candidate is an effective leader who demonstrates a collaborative approach and possesses the ability to lead and influence stakeholders within both SAP and its partners. This individual consistently delivers joint business outcomes, drives adoption and business development through technology, and exhibits strategic and operational leadership with pragmatism.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

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Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 438840 | Work Area: Sales | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid