Partner Account Executive - Architecture

Job description

Owns the Partner business relationship. Establishes, develops and maintains trusted advisor relationships with Partners and understands their business models, strategy and capabilities. Guides partner business strategies towards Cisco, encouraging the adoption and expansion of Cisco technologies and business practices and driving Cisco preference. Leverages market trends and insights to position Partners as preferred providers of Cisco technologies, expanding their practices to align with key products, services, and segments. Develops and executes strategic partner account plans, identifying priorities for performance optimization and transformation, while enabling capability development. Builds and/or strengthens Partner capabilities & practices and develops differentiated GTM strategies to drive growth across each practice. Orchestrates Partner ecosystems to align with the company’s technology portfolio, driving innovation, market expansion, and competitive differentiation. Engages sales teams early to align Partner capabilities with Cisco strategies, exposing and building upon services to enhance partner profitability and co-sell opportunities. Advocates for Partners within internal teams, integrating their capabilities into account plans and engaging specialists (e.g., solution engineers, practice sellers) to support Partner readiness and solution development. Plans and drives demand generation activities aligning Partner offerings and customer needs to create pipeline. Manages and maximizes business performance. Maximizes Partner programs and incentives, leverages and drives Partner investments, and drives operational excellence through integrated planning, forecasting, and performance monitoring (e.g., QBRs). Monitors and optimizes Partner performance through data-driven insights, utilizing profitability programs and methodologies to strengthen Partner success • Specialization and Focus - Guide and influence Partners to align with the full portfolio of Cisco products and services with Partner’s strategic priorities; and fully utilize Cisco's programs, promotions and resources • Customer Engagement and Accountability - Strong/primary influencer in Partner’s decision to make an investment, 80% of time spent on relationship orchestration, strategy & planning, practice development and business development with assigned Partner(s) • The Internal Sales Process - All stages of the deal • Corporate Interlock - Low to medium corporate interlock (interaction with BE, region leaders) • Typical Sales Cycle - Sales cycle varies, Deal complexity varies (may be high complexity if the Partner is moving toward more complex deals as solution selling becomes more prevalent, or involve ecosystem, software and/or architecture) • Success Measures - Annual Business Plan with Key Initiatives and Revenue Goals ($ Target), Partner’s Cisco business growth (% Y/Y), Partner’s Value Index Score across the Portfolios (#), ROI on investments and Demand Generation activities (%) What You'll Do: • Typically manages a few large Partners or multiple smaller Partner relationships • Book of Business: Responsible for a substantial book of business • Partner Profile: Partners may sell advanced solutions within an architecture, requiring deep integration and co-development, and occasionally products/services from other related architectures • Uses competitive intelligence, and business data to develop multi-year strategy and roadmaps, gaining internal executive reviews and alignment as well as Partner leadership • Plans complex initiatives for market differentiation with Partners, developing business case for Partner executives and internal leaders • Guides go-to-market plans for new solutions, tracking advanced KPIs (e.g., market share) to adjust strategies dynamically • Shares predictive market analyses (e.g., emerging tech shifts) in forums, summits, cementing trust as a strategic partner • Advises on high-impact opportunities (e.g., global expansions), co-developing strategies • Mitigates strategic risks (e.g., competitive threats) with scenario planning, reinforcing trust with senior leaders • Builds long-term loyalty by advocating for Partner needs internally, securing resources to amplify joint success • Co-develops technical roadmaps with Partners and SMEs, ensuring strategies address systemic challenges impacting multiple Partners or Partner types • Suggests changes to Partner programs to align with industry or geopolitical shifts • Helps drive new, enhanced functionality in Cisco products by gathering Partner feedback and collaborating with product teams to align with market needs • Modifies Partner governance frameworks • Focuses on enablement with Partners to develop sales talent, skills and capabilities • Develops and implements advanced Partner engagement frameworks that become standard practices across the Partner organization • Influences C-level executives at Partner organizations through compelling business narratives • Drives profitability and differentiation moving beyond standard program utilization • Mentors other PAEs across teams at differing seniority levels and shares success stories Minimum Qualifications: Bachelors + 7 years of related experience, or Masters + 4 years of related experience, or PhD + 1 year of related experience Preferred Qualifications: Varies based on the team and business needs | Preferred Qualifications are desired education, experience, and skills that are in addition to Minimum Qualifications. THIS JOB DESCRIPTION DOES NOT APPLY FOR EMPLOYEES IN AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, FRANCE, GERMANY & NETHERLANDS Why Cisco? At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.