VP - Strategic Partnerships & Channel Sales

The Role

We're looking for our first VP of Strategic Partnerships & Channel Sales to design, launch, and scale Forward's partner ecosystem from the ground up. You will be responsible for designing, building, and scaling a world-class partner ecosystem that includes Managed Service Providers (MSPs), System Integrators, Commercial & Government Resellers, Technology and Strategic Partnerships.

What You'll Do

• Architect our MSP/Systems Integrator strategy. Develop and execute partnerships with MSPs & Systems Integrators to ensure Forward is the preferred autonomous networking solution to support their customers.
• Lead our global channel strategy. Ensure that regional resellers and distributors are equipped with the technical and sales resources needed to identify and close "Land & Expand" opportunities.
• Develop strategic partnerships with key technology companies. Identify and cultivate relationships with complementary technical partners that supports product integrations and drives incremental revenue.
• Establish C-level relationships across top partners and act as the executive face of Forward within our partner ecosystem
• Design & manage our partner program. Build the foundations from scratch — tiering, margins and incentives, deal registration, co-sell motions, enablement, and the tooling needed to run it. Build partnerships where their teams can both sell and deliver our technology.
• Drive revenue. Partner closely with sales to drive sell-to and sell-through opportunities. Ultimately, own a partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline number and the closed revenue that follows
• Work cross-functionally. Work with Product, Sales, Operations, Finance & Marketing on various activities including partner-ready packaging, co-marketing and lead-gen, co-selling rules of engagement and partner enablement.

What We're Looking For

• 12+ years in channel/partner sales, with at least 6+ years in leadership, including hands-on selling, not just program management.
• Proven experience build the channel & partner function — you've built or substantially scaled a channel & partner function, ideally at a startup or small team where you didn't have existing playbooks or tooling to lean on.
• Consistent performance against partner goals for revenue, pipeline generation and closed won conversion rates.
• An existing network of relevant partners and connections in your ecosystem that you can leverage across MSPs, Systems Integrators, Resellers and technology partners
• Builder / Architect mentality — You can move seamlessly from strategy to execution, driving real outcomes in the field. You bring the urgency, ownership, and accountability required to transform a partner function into a growth engine
• Strong cross-functional collaboration with product, marketing, and direct sales.
• Excellent communication — credible with both a partner's CEO and their reps in the field.

Nice to Have

• Relevant Network or Network adjacent security experience You understand networks and how they work and have sold similar technology products to our buyers
• Familiarity with PRM and channel tooling (e.g., Crossbeam, PartnerStack, Salesforce PRM).
• Experience navigating channel conflict in a company running both direct and indirect motions.

Pay

The expected On-Target Cash Earnings for this role is between $390,000-$420,000 per year. Within this range, individual pay is determined by several factors including but not limited to, job-related skills, work experience, and relevant education/training'