Partner Sales Director - IHV Alliances

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution. The company is founder‑led, profitable, and growing.

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced IHV Alliance Sales Director to join our strategic partnerships team who will be responsible for leading IHV Alliances in the EMEA or APAC regions. Reporting to the Head of IHV Alliances, the IHV Alliance Sales Director will work closely with IHV and Canonical teams in those geographies to develop and maintain strong relationships with senior executives at strategic partner organizations, fostering collaboration and alignment on joint business objectives. The IHV Alliance Sales Director will manage and grow a team of Business Development Managers and help them identify and pursue new business opportunities with IHVs, driving revenue growth and market expansion, develop and execute go‑to‑market strategies for joint offerings, oversee the day‑to‑day management of alliances including contract negotiations and performance tracking, and issue resolution.

The Director is responsible for building trusted relationships with IHV partners, increasing Canonical market share and attach rate, evangelising the partnership and leading all business interactions from engineer to CxO. They will often run customer workshops focused on particular initiatives at that customer, attend sales events, give public presentations and lead executive engagements.

Location: This role will be based remotely in EMEA or APAC regions.

As an IHV Alliance Sales Director you will:

• Build strategic relationships with IHV partners at all levels
• Grow their awareness of open source capabilities on Canonical Ubuntu
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of the Linux and cloud software ecosystem
• Negotiate contracts and commercial business terms
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of large and complex organizations
• Lead partnerships in APAC with companies like Lenovo, Huawei, Quanta, Fujitsu, Inspur, H3C, NEC, Asus etc.
• Lead partnerships in EMEA with companies like Ericsson, Nokia, Bull, Siemens
• Lead partnerships in the Americas with companies like Dell, HPE, IBM, Supermicro
• Work closely with marketing, sales engineering and product management
• Deliver on targets, objectives and provide a voice of the partner
• Lead executive interlocks between IHV and Canonical leadership
• Travel regularly - sometimes internationally - to drive partnerships in person

Valued skills and experience

• Experience in alliance or indirect sales management roles
• Autonomous, disciplined, hands‑on, get‑it‑done mentality
• Ability to capture customer requirements, evaluate gaps, identify and create opportunities
• Passionate about Ubuntu products and mission
• Comfortable in fast‑paced and high‑pressure environments with measurable goals
• Experience with Linux, virtualization, containers, and other cloud technologies.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills

What we offer colleagues

• Distributed work environment with twice‑yearly team sprints in person
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
• Annual compensation review
• Recognition rewards
• Annual holiday leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long‑haul company events

About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open‑source projects and the platform for AI, IoT, and the cloud, we are changing the world of software. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence; in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since our inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.

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