Alliances & Channels Leader at Canonical

Alliances & Channels Leader at Canonical

Canonical, a leading provider of open source software and operating systems, is seeking an experienced Alliances & Channels Leader. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely adopted in key enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. We serve top-tier public cloud and silicon providers, as well as industry leaders globally. Canonical champions global distributed collaboration, with over 1200 colleagues across 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. Teams gather two to four times annually in diverse international locations for strategic alignment and execution. The company is founder-led, profitable, and experiencing growth.

We are expanding our Global Alliances and Channels organizations with new senior leadership opportunities, focusing on business development and strategic partnerships with critical players in the global technology sector. As the publisher of Ubuntu and a major open source provider, Canonical collaborates with a broad ecosystem including global system integrators (GSIs), value-added resellers (VARs), regional distributors, independent software vendors (ISVs), independent hardware vendors (IHVs), silicon companies, public clouds, and other strategic technology brands. These partners are crucial in shaping the platforms, solutions, marketplaces, hardware, and delivery mechanisms that enable enterprise adoption of open source at scale.

We are searching for exceptional partner leaders capable of building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships, developing joint solutions, executing global go-to-market programs, and converting partner potential into measurable customer impact, revenue growth, and market expansion for Canonical. Opportunities are available for both people leaders and senior individual contributors. In these roles, you will spearhead, develop, or scale strategic partner motions for Canonical, either by managing a team or by directly driving high-impact partner initiatives. You will engage closely with partners throughout their sales, product, delivery, and executive planning cycles to establish Canonical as their trusted partner for enterprise open source solutions. Depending on your experience and Canonical’s business priorities, your focus may include Channels, GSI, ISV, IHV/OEM, Silicon, Cloud, or cross-ecosystem partnerships.

Our Alliances and Channels teams are responsible for cultivating trusted executive-level relationships with partners, increasing Canonical's market share and attach rate, championing partnerships, and leading business interactions from engineers to CxO level. This role will own the strategy, sell-to, sell-through, and sell-with motions across assigned partners or sectors, as well as promoting partner-related activities, including campaigns, enablement, executive engagement, strategic opportunities, and partner events.

Responsibilities of the Alliances & Channels Leader:

• Own and drive partner strategy, forecast, bookings, and revenues for Canonical across one or more indirect routes to market.
• Lead and evolve a team or strategic partner portfolio toward accelerated revenue growth and market impact.
• Build strategic relationships with global and regional partners at executive levels.
• Design and execute joint go-to-market plans with partners, sales, product management, product marketing, and engineering teams.
• Develop partner capability through sales engagement, technical enablement, joint marketing, and disciplined business planning.
• Guide our offering from product management to product marketing and scale it through the support of our global sales organization.
• Establish operating cadence, pipeline governance, and data-driven accountability across complex partner relationships.

What Canonical Looks For in a Candidate:

• 10+ years of experience in alliance, channel, partner, ecosystem, or indirect sales management roles.
• Experience in one or more of GSIs, VARs, distributors, ISVs, IHVs/OEMs, silicon, public cloud, marketplaces, or strategic technology alliances.
• Deep commercial experience encompassing revenue, margins, pipeline, forecasting, and partner economics.
• Proven leadership and presentation skills, with the ability to engage confidently from engineer to CxO level.
• Ability to build trusted executive relationships while aligning product, sales, marketing, engineering, and operations teams.
• Insight into open source, Ubuntu, enterprise infrastructure, cloud, AI, security, and Canonical’s competition and opportunities.
• Track record of data-driven decision-making and disciplined execution across complex, global relationships.
• An autonomous, disciplined, hands-on, get-it-done mentality.
• An exceptional academic track record from high school and university.
• Business level written and spoken English.
• Sincere personal motivation aligned with Canonical's mission.
• International travel 2-4 times a year for company events, up to two weeks long.

In addition, we expect you to embody our values:

• Precise: Delivering correctness and clarity.
• Reliable: Delivering high-quality work that builds trust and confidence.
• Accessible: Collaborating to build usable products and systems.
• Adroit: Blending enthusiasm, knowledge, adaptability, style, and character.

What Canonical Offers Colleagues:

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation globally. Compensation is reviewed annually (more often for graduates and associates) to recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. We provide all team members with additional benefits that reflect our values and ideals, balancing programs to meet local needs and ensure global fairness.

• 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 leading the global shift to open source. As the publisher of Ubuntu, a crucial open-source project and platform for AI, IoT, and the cloud, we are transforming the software world. We recruit globally, setting high standards for new team members, as excellence is key to our success. Most Canonical colleagues have worked from home since our inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future, challenging you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and elevate your game.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer, fostering a workplace free from discrimination. We believe diversity of experience, perspectives, and background creates a better work environment and superior products. Your application will receive fair consideration regardless of your identity.