Senior Manager, Partner Marketing – Security Partners

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business by combining cloud infrastructure, automation, analytics, and software delivery to support enterprise digital transformation. The Senior Manager, Partner Marketing – Security Partners leads security partner marketing strategy, MOU commitments, MDF governance, performance measurement, integrated planning, and team development to maximize partner investment impact.

Responsibilities:

• Own the overall marketing strategy and operating model for AHEAD's portfolio of security partners
• Develop annual and quarterly partner marketing strategies aligned to AHEAD business priorities, sales objectives, solution areas, and partner growth opportunities
• Establish segmentation and investment strategies that determine how marketing resources are allocated across strategic partners
• Partner with Alliances and Sales leadership to identify joint growth priorities and translate them into actionable partner marketing plans
• Ensure partner marketing activity supports AHEAD's broader field, campaign, event, and demand-generation strategies rather than operating as isolated partner programs
• Serve as a senior marketing advisor to internal partner leaders and key partner stakeholders
• Lead the marketing component of annual partner MOU planning, negotiation, activation, and performance management
• Translate MOU commitments into measurable annual marketing plans, investment priorities, and execution roadmaps
• Maintain visibility into partner commitments, AHEAD commitments, funding levels, utilization, performance, and outstanding obligations
• Partner with Alliances, Finance, Sales, and Marketing leadership to ensure MOU commitments are achievable, strategically aligned, and appropriately resourced
• Establish quarterly business reviews to evaluate MOU performance and recommend adjustments based on business priorities and results
• Identify gaps, risks, and opportunities within partner MOUs and proactively develop plans to address them
• Own AHEAD's MDF strategy and governance framework across the security partner portfolio
• Develop standardized processes for MDF planning, requests, approvals, utilization, tracking, reimbursement, and reporting
• Ensure MDF investments are directed toward programs with clear objectives, target audiences, expected outcomes, and measurable return
• Monitor MDF utilization and proactively identify unused, underutilized, or at-risk funding
• Establish investment guidelines and prioritization criteria to ensure funding is allocated to the highest-impact opportunities
• Partner with Finance and Operations to ensure accurate tracking, reconciliation, documentation, and reimbursement of partner funds
• Identify opportunities to increase available partner funding and maximize AHEAD's return on partner marketing investments
• Lead the development of annual and quarterly integrated marketing plans for priority security partners
• Connect partner investments to AHEAD campaigns, field programs, executive experiences, industry events, AHEAD Summits, digital programs, and solution-focused initiatives
• Identify opportunities for multi-partner and ecosystem campaigns that support AHEAD solutions and customer priorities
• Balance partner objectives with AHEAD priorities to ensure programs create value for both organizations
• Drive greater consistency and scalability across partner marketing programs while allowing for differentiated strategies for priority partners
• Establish KPIs and reporting standards for partner marketing performance
• Measure investment utilization, pipeline influence, sourced pipeline, engagement, target-account penetration, net-new logos, and ROI where appropriate
• Develop executive-level dashboards and quarterly partner marketing business reviews
• Provide leadership with visibility into partner investments, commitments, performance, risks, and opportunities
• Use performance insights to recommend where AHEAD should increase, reduce, or redirect partner marketing investments
• Demonstrate the contribution of partner marketing to AHEAD's broader revenue and growth objectives
• Establish clear expectations for partner planning, stakeholder management, execution, reporting, and financial stewardship
• Create repeatable playbooks, processes, and best practices that enable the team to operate consistently and efficiently
• Develop the team's ability to move beyond tactical execution and operate as strategic marketing advisors to partner and sales stakeholders
• Foster strong collaboration across Partner Marketing, Field Marketing, Events, Campaigns, Digital, Alliances, Sales, Finance, and Marketing Operations
• Percentage of available MDF successfully utilized and reimbursed
• MOU marketing commitment attainment
• Partner-influenced and partner-sourced pipeline
• ROI and pipeline-to-investment ratios
• Percentage of partner investments aligned to strategic AHEAD priorities
• Quarterly and annual partner plan execution
• Target-account and net-new-logo engagement
• MDF reimbursement accuracy and cycle time
• Partner and internal stakeholder satisfaction
• Identification and capture of incremental partner funding
• Team performance and development
• *Other job duties as assigned

Requirements:

• Minimum Required – 10+ years of B2B marketing experience, including significant experience in security, cybersecurity, or IT infrastructure partner, channel, alliance, or ecosystem marketing; experience managing MDF, co-marketing funds, partner investments, or similar funding programs
• Strong understanding of partner business planning, joint marketing plans, and MOU or contractual marketing commitments
• Demonstrated ability to manage significant marketing investments with strong financial discipline and accountability
• Experience developing integrated marketing strategies across events, field marketing, campaigns, digital, and demand generation
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate marketing performance into executive-level insights and recommendations
• Excellent executive communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills
• Ability to operate effectively across Marketing, Sales, Alliances, Finance, Operations, and external partner organizations
• Strategic operator who combines partner relationship expertise with financial discipline and strong marketing judgment; comfortable moving between executive-level partner conversations, investment decisions, team leadership, and performance analysis
• Understands that MDF is not simply funding to be spent, but an investment portfolio to be intentionally allocated, activated, measured, and optimized to accelerate AHEAD's growth
• Cybersecurity industry and complex security partner-ecosystem experience (e.g., Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Zscaler, or similar security vendors); prior experience with AHEAD's go-to-market (GTM) strategy, security partner ecosystem, and key competitors