The Senior Director, Partner Programs owns Shield AI's strategic global partner program across Influence, Transacting, and OEM partnerships. This is both a program-building and execution-focused role. The primary deliverable is establishing a functioning partner program, including signing and onboarding partners, developing incentive and margin structures that make each relationship successful, providing enablement that equips partners to sell, and generating analytics that demonstrate partner performance.
This role owns the execution of each partner's onboarding, governance, enablement, and accountability metrics. Success is measured through onboarding named partners on a predictable timeline, establishing a program governed by data rather than anecdotes, and building partnerships that generate measurable pipeline and revenue on both sides of the channel.
What You'll Do
- Own end-to-end onboarding for every named strategic global partner, whether Shield AI is reselling that partner's OEM products or the partner is reselling Shield AI's products. Establish onboarding plans, coordinate agreements through Legal and Deal Desk, implement the operational and commercial structures, and bring each partner to initial revenue on a predictable timeline.
- Collaborate on the development and ongoing evolution of a global partner program structure, including in-region execution, that governs all named partners. This includes partner tiering, agreements, rules of engagement, deal registration, and the operating cadence needed to maintain healthy relationships. Ensure consistency across regions while accommodating the unique requirements of each market.
- Facilitate the two-way flow of relevant information regarding program incentives, margins, and rebate structures across both sides of the channel. Drive partner accountability to ensure incentives and behaviors align with the business's desired outcomes.
- Develop both sides of the channel: partners who resell Shield AI products and OEM partners whose hardware and software Shield AI resells. Treat both as core components of the program, manage dependencies between them, and ensure the combined portfolio remains aligned with Shield AI's go-to-market priorities.
- Equip named partners to successfully sell and deliver. Develop onboarding content, certification paths, and joint business plans that drive partner productivity. Lead quarterly business reviews (QBRs) to maintain accountability and uphold consistent governance standards across every named partner relationship.
- Define and track the metrics that demonstrate program effectiveness, including partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, revenue, onboarding cycle time, incentive ROI, and partner health. Report results quarterly and use these insights to inform partner tiering, incentive structures, and future onboarding priorities.
- Onboard the current group of named strategic global partners on a predictable cadence across both sides of the channel. Develop a repeatable onboarding playbook and operating calendar that enables each new partner to reach first revenue without reinventing the process.
- Build channel coverage in priority international markets in both directions: partners who can resell Shield AI products and OEM partners whose hardware and software Shield AI can resell. Sequence development efforts in alignment with GTM Strategy's market priorities.
- Establish a single source of truth for partner performance, including pipeline, revenue, margin, onboarding velocity, and incentive ROI by partner. Leverage these insights to govern the program and guide partner tiering and investment decisions.
- Transform one-off onboarding and partner management activities into a repeatable, versioned program with standardized agreements, enablement resources, and QBR structures. Ensure each new named partner benefits from established processes and lessons learned rather than starting from scratch.
- Partner-Sourced and Partner-Influenced Pipeline: Pipeline generated through named partners on both sides of the channel, tracked against established targets.
- Partner Revenue and Margin: Booked revenue and realized margin by partner, including both Shield AI-resold and partner-resold products.
- Incentive ROI: Revenue and margin generated per dollar of incentive, rebate, or margin provided, measured by program and by partner.
- Partner Productivity and Health: Active selling partners, certification and enablement completion rates, and partner health scores that identify at-risk relationships early.
- Program Coverage: Named partners onboarded against the target market map across both directions of the channel.
Strategic Partner Recruitment and Onboarding
Global Partner Program Design
Incentive and Economics Design
Two-Way Channel Development
Partner Enablement and Governance
Partner Performance Analytics
Current Priorities — FY27 - The priorities below reflect the current business needs and are expected to evolve as the business grows.
Named Partner Onboarding Waves
Two-Way Channel Coverage
Partner Analytics and Reporting
Partner Program Systemization
Partner Metrics & KPIs
Success in this role is measured by partner-driven business outcomes, not simply the number of partners. Core performance indicators include:
Travel: Regular international travel required, approximately 40%.
What You'll Bring
- 10+ years of experience building and managing global partner programs, channel programs, or strategic alliances in B2B technology, with direct, end-to-end ownership of named partner relationships.
- Proven experience designing partner incentives, margin structures, and rebate programs, with the ability to demonstrate their return through data.
- Experience managing global partnerships across both hardware and software, including relationships where the company resells OEM products and where partners resell the company's products.
- Defense, dual-use, or public-sector partnership experience strongly preferred, including familiarity with long sales cycles, complex stakeholder environments, export and compliance considerations, and program-driven buyers.
- Strong analytical capabilities, including hands-on experience building partner performance reporting and leveraging data to guide tiering, incentives, and investment decisions.
- Willingness and ability to travel internationally on a regular basis, approximately 40% of the working calendar.
- Executive Presence and Influence: Strong presentation and communication skills, with the ability to influence internal leadership and partner principals.
- Partner-First Mindset: Builds programs around how partners actually sell and deliver, rather than relying solely on predefined templates.
- Organized Operator: Effectively manages the onboarding of named partners on a predictable cadence across multiple regions and complex workstreams.
- Strong Builder and Negotiator: Translates strategy and partner input into practical agreements, incentive structures, and enablement programs that succeed in the field.
- Data-Driven and Results-Oriented: Defines meaningful partner KPIs and uses performance data to demonstrate results and continuously improve the program.
- Cross-Functional Collaborator: Works closely with GTM Strategy on market priorities, Legal and Deal Desk on commercial terms, and Sales leadership on alignment, without requiring direct authority over these functions.
- Outcome-Focused: Understands the distinction between activity and impact, prioritizing partner-driven pipeline and revenue over partner count.
Required Qualifications
Skills and Disposition
Skills Required
- 10+ years of experience building and managing global partner, channel, or strategic alliance programs in B2B technology
- Direct end-to-end ownership of named partner relationships
- Experience designing partner incentives, margin structures, and rebate programs and demonstrating their return through data
- Experience managing global partnerships across hardware and software, including OEM resale and company-product resale relationships
- Strong analytical capabilities, including building partner performance reporting and using data to guide tiering, incentives, and investment decisions
- Defense, dual-use, or public-sector partnership experience, including familiarity with complex stakeholders, long sales cycles, export, and compliance considerations
- Willingness and ability to travel internationally approximately 40% of the working calendar
What the Team is Saying
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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