Partnership & Alliance Head - Deputy General Manager

Role Overview

The Partnership & Alliance Manager is responsible for building, managing, and governing a global partner ecosystem for a Telco System Integrator. The role covers strategic, tactical, and point-based partnerships, with strong emphasis on structured governance, executive engagement, and long-term partner relationships. The objective is to convert partnerships into sustained revenue growth, delivery excellence, and competitive differentiation across global markets.

Key Responsibilities

Global Partnership Strategy & Ecosystem Development

• Define and execute a global partnership strategy aligned to the SI’s portfolio across network transformation, 5G/Private 5G, OSS/BSS, cloud, AI/automation, and enterprise digital solutions.
• Identify, evaluate, and onboard global and regional partners including OEMs, ISVs, hyperscalers, cloud platforms, system vendors, and emerging technology providers.
• Establish structured engagement models ranging from strategic global alliances to regional tactical and deal-specific partnerships.

Strategic, Tactical & Point-Based Partnerships

• Manage long-term strategic alliances with joint roadmaps, executive sponsorship, and co-investment.
• Enable tactical partnerships to address regional, regulatory, or delivery-specific requirements.
• Support point-based partnerships for RFPs, large deals, and niche capabilities, ensuring speed and governance.

Alliance Governance & Relationship Management

• Own end-to-end partner relationships, acting as the single point of accountability globally.
• Drive governance through executive connects, steering committees, and QBRs.
• Ensure alignment across sales, solutioning, delivery, product, and partner teams.

Go-to-Market & Co-Innovation

• Co-create joint solutions, reference architectures, and industry use cases with partners.
• Execute joint GTM strategies, including co-selling, account mapping, and pipeline development.
• Enable regional sales teams with partner propositions and playbooks.

Commercials, Contracts & Compliance

• Lead negotiations of global and regional partnership agreements, covering commercials, SLAs, KPIs, IP, and compliance.
• Collaborate with legal, finance, procurement, and risk teams to ensure adherence to global and local regulations.

Performance, Risk & Market Intelligence

• Define and track partnership KPIs (revenue, pipeline, delivery performance, innovation impact).
• Identify risks related to dependency, compliance, or delivery continuity and drive mitigation plans.
• Continuously scan the market for new partners, startups, and emerging technologies; track competitor alliances and ecosystem trends.

Education /Skills & Experience

Educational Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Telecom, Business, or a related discipline (mandatory).
• MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification in Strategy, Marketing, or Operations (preferred).

Experience & Skills

• 15+ years of experience in partnerships, alliances, or ecosystem management within global telco SIs, telecom vendors, or technology services organizations.
• Strong understanding of telecom and digital ecosystems, including 4G/5G/Private 5G, OSS/BSS, cloud, AI/analytics, and enterprise platforms.
• Proven experience managing global strategic alliances alongside regional and opportunity-based partnerships.
• Demonstrated success supporting multi-country RFPs, large transformation programs, and multi-vendor solution delivery.
• Strong negotiation, executive communication, and cross-cultural stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a matrixed, multi-region environment.

Key Success Factors

• Ability to convert partnerships into global revenue growth, pipeline creation, and delivery leverage.
• Strong global network across OEMs, ISVs, hyperscalers, and emerging technology providers.
• Balance of strategic vision and hands-on execution.
• Data-driven approach to partnership performance and governance.
• Collaborative mindset focused on customer success and win-win outcomes.