Vendor Partnerships Lead

Vendor Partnerships Lead

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About Softwire

Softwire is a leading UK technology and strategy consultancy. From enterprise to government, we help visionary organisations turn strategic ambitions into results at scale. Our practices cover AI transformation, data platforms, systems engineering advanced CX and experience design.

Softwire was founded on one simple idea: be the outstanding place to work for smart, passionate technologists who want to make an impact. Attract the best, create a culture where people thrive, and offer our customers access to capabilities that are truly market leading.

And it seems to be working - We were recently voted number 1 company to work for in the UK at the Best Company awards; we employ outstanding people across all capabilities (typical destinations after Softwire include Google, DeepMind, start-up founder, algorithmic trading, and AI research roles); and we have helped our clients deliver some of the hardest, most interesting tech programmes, across private and public sectors.

A big part of this is our culture and values and we are looking for people who share our core beliefs about what makes a great place to work:

· That if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly

· That work should be fulfilling but can also be fun

· That kindness matters and should be extended to employees and clients alike

· That by being trusting and trustworthy as an organisation and as individuals we can dispense with tedious bureaucracy and rules

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In brief

We’re looking for a Vendor Partnerships Lead to own and grow Softwire’s relationships with the cloud, data and AI vendors at the heart of our work. It’s a new role, reporting to our CTO, with real scope to shape how we partner and to grow into a commercial leadership position.

· Location: London, Manchester or Cambridge

· Contract: Permanent, full time

· Working pattern: At least three days a week in the office or on-site with clients and partners

· Reports to: CTO

· Level: Senior/Lead Consultant, with Principal considered for candidates with the right experience

The role

As an AI Transformation Consultancy, our relationships with the major technology platforms matter more than ever. They shape the programmes we win, the funding we can unlock for our clients and the credibility we bring into the room. You’ll be the person who makes those relationships work: owning our standing with AWS, Microsoft and Anthropic, and building our presence with Google Cloud, Databricks, Snowflake and OpenAI, driving technical enablement across our engineering and consulting teams, making the most of partner training, labs, early-access programmes and solution architect support so our people stay ahead on the latest cloud and AI capabilities

Day to day, you’ll:

· Own Softwire’s relationships with our core partners, AWS, Microsoft/Azure and Anthropic, acting as the main point of contact for their partner and account teams

· Build relationships with our wider partner ecosystem, including Google Cloud, Databricks, Snowflake, Vercel, OpenAI, and help decide where we invest next

· Own the plan for achieving and maintaining partner tiers, competencies and specialisations, working with practice leads to make sure we have the right people certified at the right time

· Track certification progress across the company and keep partner portals, programme requirements and renewals in good order

· Work with Client Directors and practice leads to spot co-sell opportunities, bring partners into client conversations and register opportunities with them

· Identify and secure partner funding and investment programmes that help our clients move faster

· Support our go-to-market on sales activity where working closely with a vendor is key to client success and winning new business

· Report on partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, and on the health of each partnership, to the CTO and leadership team

To begin with, success will be measured by our partner standing and the pipeline our partnerships help create.

Experience and qualifications

· Significant experience in partner or alliance management with one or more major cloud or AI vendors, whether at a consultancy, systems integrator or on the vendor side

· A solid working knowledge of how partner programmes work, such as the AWS Partner Network or the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, including tiers, competencies, designations and the certification requirements behind them

· A track record of moving partnerships forward in measurable ways, for example tier upgrades, co-sell wins, funded engagements or partner-sourced pipeline

· Enough understanding of cloud, data and AI platforms to hold credible conversations with engineers and vendor solution architects (you don’t need to be a hands-on engineer)

· Experience working in or closely alongside a professional services business, and an understanding of how consultancies win and deliver work

· Strong stakeholder management skills, and the confidence to influence senior people internally and at our partners

· Desirable: experience with AI platform partnerships (such as Anthropic or OpenAI) or data platform partnerships (such as Databricks or Snowflake)

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Your Approach

· You take ownership and you’re happy to define how it works rather than wait for a playbook

· You’re organised and persistent. Partner programmes have a lot of moving parts, and you enjoy keeping them on track

· You build trust quickly, and you’re the person partner teams want to pick up the phone to

· You lead through influence. You can get busy engineers and practice leads to prioritise certifications without needing to manage them

· You think commercially and put your energy where it will make the biggest difference

· You’re curious about AI and cloud, and keep up with how the vendor landscape is changing

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Package

Softwire operates transparent pay scales and a profit share scheme based on role and overall company performance

· Base salary is based on experience in role and ranges from £81,000 - £106,300

· You can expect to receive an average of between £11,500 - £20,000 in profit share depending on your experience and company performance.

· Pension: Additional 5% of salary

Additional benefits

· 25 days annual leave (with the option to buy 10 and sell 5)

· 3.5 days additional days off for company-wide morale activities

· AIG income protection

· Travel card loan scheme

· Zero emission car scheme

· Cycle to work scheme

· Enhanced maternity/paternity pay

· Time off for charitable activities

· Sabbatical available on request

· Payroll charity donations

· Headspace plus

· Free annual eye test

· Long service awards

· Flexible working options and patterns

o (Hybrid Working: At least 3dpw in the office or on-site)