Director, Business Development and Partnerships

What You’ll Do

• Strategy Development: Design Hazelcast’s global partner strategy from the ground up, defining partner archetypes (GSI, Regional SI, OEM, Cloud, VAR) and use-case-specific GTM motions (e.g., BFSI, payments, real-time analytics).
• Executive Alignment: Develop and present clear, data-backed recommendations for approval to the CEO and executive team, whilst defining success metrics, economic models, and investment tradeoffs for the partnerships function.
• Partner Acquisition: Personally source, negotiate, and close foundational partnerships with Strategic GSIs, consulting partners, and key technology alliances.
• Deal Formation: Own early-stage partner economics, including margin structures, referral/resale models, and joint solution packaging.
• GTM Execution: Build and execute joint GTM plans, including target account mapping, joint solution narratives, and field enablement for both Hazelcast Sales Directors and partner sellers.
• Revenue Impact: Accountable for Partner-sourced pipeline, Partner-influenced ACV, Time-to-first-deal per partner and act as a deal quarterback on strategic partner-led opportunities.
• Internal Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with Sales leadership on rules of engagement, and with Product, Engineering, and Marketing (partner messaging, co-marketing, events) to execute the partner-driven roadmap and strategy.
• Team Building: Once the motion is proven, you will hire, build, and scale the global partnerships team.

What You Have Experience

• 10–15+ years in Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, or Alliances within the enterprise software space.
• A demonstrated track record of creating (not just inheriting) partner strategies and programs.
• Proven ability to source, negotiate, and close complex, multi-party enterprise deals and OEM distribution opportunities.
• Experience with complex, infrastructure-level technologies (distributed systems, data streaming, or in-memory computing) is strongly preferred.
• Strong instincts for designing economic models that drive partner motivation while protecting company margins.
• Comfortable operating at the CEO and Board level, with the ability to present data-backed recommendations.
• Experience operating in global markets with high cultural fluency.

Benefits

• Unlimited PTO
• Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance
• HSA/FSA
• Basic & Supplemental Life & AD&D insurance
• Short & Long-term Disability Insurance
• 401k
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)